Charles Own- Invested in the future of District 30

Charles Owen is a native of Louisiana.  He was born in New Orleans and adopted at the age of 6 weeks by Creighton and Gloria Owen of Leesville.  

He attended and was graduated from Leesville High School in 1981.  In high school, Charles Owen was a varsity letterman in three sports, earned All-District honors as a football player, and was on two State Championship Track and Field Teams.  

Representative Owen attended Louisiana Tech, earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees.  While at Tech, he was a walk-on for the cross-country and track teams.  

In 1985, Owen was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force; he entered active duty and served for 20 years, primarily as an Intelligence Officer.  During his career, he was deployed to four wartime engagements and was decorated after each deployment.  

He retired honorably as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2006 and returned to Louisiana.  Between 2006 and 2014, he and his family resided in Benton, Louisiana, and he worked as a consultant to the United States Air Force, and Intelligence Community.  

In 2014, he and his wife Carolyn returned to their hometown of Leesville.  

In 2019 and 2023, Owen was elected as State Representative for District 30 and represents portions of both Beauregard and Vernon Parishes.  In the House of Representatives, he serves on the Education, Appropriations, and Local/ Municipal Affairs Committee. He also serves as Chairman of the House of Select Committee for Military and Veteran Affairs, and Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Homeland Security.

Rep Owen has authored several bills on the licensure reform, free speech, support for the military and veteran affairs and adoption-related affairs. In 2023, he was awarded a Congressional-level award for his landmark legislation that returned the right of adopted citizens to gain access to their Original Birth Certificates. In 2024 Owen authored Govenor Landry's "Let the Teacher's Teach Bill", an effort that eliminated dozens of unnecessary training requirements, allowing public school teachers more time to teach Louisiana's children.

He also carried the "Cash is King" Bill for the Govenor-legislation that directed state universities and airports to accept cash payments.  Also in 2024, Owen passed legislation to ensure that no citizen would be left along at a hospital or nursing home during a health emergency; too many citizens died alone and his law in 2024 put an end to this cruelty once and for all.

In 2022, Owen joined two other legislators and traveled to Washington DC to lobby the US Congress to eliminate a 40-year theft of Social Security benefits known as WEP/GPO. Thankfully, Congress approved this legislation, and Charles Owen was a vocal supporter for Louisiana's citizens and helped right this terrible mistake.

Charles is married to the former Carolyn Van Dine of Leesville and the couple has two grown daughters, one son-in-law and one grandchild.   

He has authored four books, three in sports (football) history, and one was a fiction novel based on a true story.