Switched reluctance motor (SRM) is getting increasing attention in the motor drive industry because of its suitability for variable speed and servo applications. Genetic algorithm based SRM control approach can give a robust, adaptive response of the drive. Tuning of PID controller parameters is an iterative process and needs complete optimization to achieve the desired performance. Genetic algorithm (GA) is a well established tool for optimization. In this paper GA based PID controller is used for the speed control of the SRM motor. Different error models are used for evaluating the GA fitness function. Speed control is demonstrated using MATLAB/SIMULINK modeling.