In 1994, Bishop Strickland earned a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America and became rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler. He was appointed judicial vicar for the Diocese of Tyler in 1995, and named a prelate of honor with the title monsignor by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in 1996.
From March 2000 to January 2001, Bishop Strickland served as administrator of the Diocese of Tyler. He continued to serve as rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and judicial vicar of the diocese until February 2010, when Bishop Alvaro Corrada named him vicar general. He served in that capacity until September 2011, when Bishop Corrada, newly installed as the second bishop of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, appointed him as delegate of the apostolic administrator.
In 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. He was ordained on Nov. 28, 2012, by His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
Watch: An Interview With Bishop Joseph Strickland