Meet Our Staff

Melissa R. Hamilton
Public Counsel
The current Public Counsel, Melissa Hamilton, was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott in December 2017 and began serving as Public Counsel on January 2, 2018.
Before being appointed, Ms. Hamilton served as the Director of Government Relations for the Texas Department of Insurance. Prior to her tenure at TDI, Ms. Hamilton worked as Staff Counsel for Texas State Senator Glenn Hegar. Ms. Hamilton has also previously served as a regulatory attorney for the Nationwide Insurance Company, as a staff attorney for The Justice Project, and as a Fair Trial Initiative Fellow at Texas Defender Service.
Ms. Hamilton graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M University and received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Marion Grant
Deputy Public Counsel
Marion Grant is the Deputy Public Counsel. She serves as the agency’s general counsel, acts as the agency’s human resources lead, assists with payroll and budget matters, develops and maintains agency policy manuals, and performs other duties as assigned.

Ken Lovoy
Deputy Director
Ken Lovoy is Deputy Director at OPIC. He is responsible for review and analysis of personal lines rate filings as well as insurance market research.

Patricia Zapata
Chief of Operations

Kimberly Donovan
Chief Policy Analyst

Talia Bright
Policy Analyst
Talia Bright serves as OPIC’s Policy Analyst, assisting in personal lines insurance policy form review and analysis; and maintenance of the agency’s Policy Comparison Tool.

Riki Lee Burhans
Communications & Media Specialist, ISO, IRM
Riki Lee Burhans is our Communications & Media Specialist responsible for all communications at OPIC. Riki manages our website, social media channels, and creates all our communications materials. She also serves as the agency’s Information Security Officer and Information Resource Manager.

Mary Alice Costilla
Administrative Assistant III

Christina Muniz
Administrative Assistant II, Wellness Liaison
Christina Muniz joined OPIC as an Administrative Assistant in 2012 and is in charge of the office’s wellness program.