Darlene Byrne

Darlene Byrne (Democratic Party) is a judge for Chief Justice of the Texas Third District Court of Appeals. She assumed office on January 1, 2021. Her current term ends on December 31, 2026.

Byrne (Democratic Party) ran for election for the Chief Justice judge of the Texas Third District Court of Appeals. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Byrne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Byrne was the judge of Texas District 126.^[1] She was re-elected without opposition in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.^[2]^[3]

Biography

Byrne received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. She worked as a private practice attorney.^[4]

Elections

2020

General election

General election for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Darlene Byrne defeated incumbent Jeff L. Rose in the general election for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Darlene Byrne (D)	52.2	710,399
	Jeff L. Rose (R)	47.8	650,206

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,360,605
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Darlene Byrne defeated Keith Hampton in the Democratic primary for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Darlene Byrne	72.9	215,184
	Submit photo	Keith Hampton	27.1	80,090

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 295,274
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Incumbent Jeff L. Rose advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff L. Rose	100.0	183,719

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 183,719
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Click here for a link to Byrne's endorsements.

2016

See also: Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2016

Texas held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on March 1, 2016. A primary runoff election was held on May 24, 2016, for any seat where the top vote recipient did not receive a majority of the primary vote.^[5] Incumbent Darlene Byrne ran unopposed in the Texas 126th District Court Democratic primary.^[2]

Texas 126th District Court, Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Darlene Byrne Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	105,246
Total Votes		105,246
Source: Travis County Clerk, "Unofficial Results: Democratic Cumulative Results," accessed March 2, 2016

Darlene Byrne won without opposition in the general election.

Selection method

See also: Partisan election of judges

The judges of the Texas District Courts are chosen in partisan elections. They serve four-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.^[6]

Though Texas is home to more than 400 district courts, the courts are grouped into nine administrative judicial regions. Each region is overseen by a presiding judge who is appointed by the governor to a four-year term. According to the state courts website, the presiding judge may be a "regular elected or retired district judge, a former judge with at least 12 years of service as a district judge, or a retired appellate judge with judicial experience on a district court."^[7]

Qualifications
To serve on the district courts, a judge must be:

a U.S. citizen;
a resident of Texas;
licensed to practice law in the state;
between the ages of 25 and 75;*^[8]
a practicing lawyer and/or state judge for at least four years; and
a resident of his or her respective judicial district for at least two years.^[6]

*While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to continue serving until their term expires.^[6]

2012

Byrne was re-elected without opposition to the 126th District Court.^[9]

See also: Texas judicial elections, 2012

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

Darlene Byrne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Byrne's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Darlene Byrne and I am running for the Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas. Since 2001, I have been privileged to serve as a District Judge in the 126th Judicial District Court in Travis County. I have a proven track record of serving my constituents, working hard on and off the bench, and am fortunate enough to have been recognized for judicial leadership accomplishments and contributions to the community. I am a firm believer in running my court according to best practices, using peer-vetted model courts, and data driven practices when available. After 20 years at the district court level, I have decided to pursue the next phase of my career at the appellate court level. As a judge who presided over literally thousands of hearings each year and who has led a national judges organization, I am the most qualified candidate to lead the Austin Court of Appeals as its Chief Justice.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

EFFICACY I understand the urgency of justice when dealing with people who find themselves in Court. Time is of the essence when making decisions that impact the lives of real Texans, whether that be in family court, civil court, or criminal court. I will take this same sense of urgency with me to the Appellate Court so that people's lives do not languish with delayed justice through delayed decision making.
ENGAGEMENT Getting off the bench and supporting my community as a volunteer is important to my understanding of the needs of the community I serve, and knowing what is important to my community. Through this type of active engagement, I not only thrive on giving back, but stay grounded and in touch with the people I am entrusted to serve.
LEADERSHIP I am not afraid of hard work and long hours, both on and off the bench. I have led a national judges' organization, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, on their board for a decade and as its President in 2015. These are but a few of her leadership roles, many of which have taken her all across the country to teach and consult other jurisdictions on best practices when it comes to making judicial decisions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe in the urgency of justice and efficient, timely and just decisions for all who appear before me, whether that be children, families, children, individuals, businesses or governmental entities. I believe in running a court by being data driven, best practice oriented and research based.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

EFFICACY

I understand the urgency of justice when dealing with people who find themselves in Court. Time is of the essence when making decisions that impact the lives of real Texans, whether that be in family court, civil court, or criminal court. I will take this same sense of urgency with me to the Appellate Court so that people's lives do not languish with delayed justice through delayed decision making.

ENGAGEMENT
Getting off the bench and supporting my community as a volunteer is important to my understanding of the needs of the community I serve, and knowing what is important to my community. Through this type of active engagement, I not only thrive on giving back, but stay grounded and in touch with the people I am entrusted to serve.

LEADERSHIP

I am not afraid of hard work and long hours, both on and off the bench. I have led a national judges' organization, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, on their board for a decade and as its President in 2015. These are but a few of her leadership roles, many of which have taken her all across the country to teach and consult other jurisdictions on best practices when it comes to making judicial decisions.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Key messages

Byrne submitted the following key messages to Ballotpedia on February 19, 2020.^[10]

“

Key Messages:
EFFICACY
I understand the urgency of justice when dealing with people who find themselves in Court. Time is of the essence when making decisions that impact the lives of real Texans, whether that be in family court, civil court, or criminal court. I will take this same sense of urgency with me to the Appellate Court so that people’s lives do not languish with delayed justice through delayed decision making.

ENGAGEMENT
Getting off the bench and supporting my community as a volunteer is important to my understanding of the needs of the community I serve, and knowing what is important to my community. Through this type of active engagement, I not only thrive on giving back, but stay grounded and in touch with the people I am entrusted to serve.

LEADERSHIP
I am not afraid of hard work and long hours, both on and off the bench. I have led a national judges’ organization, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, on their board for a decade and as its President in 2015. These are but a few of her leadership roles, many of which have taken her all across the country to teach and consult other jurisdictions on best practices when it comes to making judicial decisions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I believe in the urgency of justice and efficient, timely and just decisions for all who appear before me, whether that be children, families, children, individuals, businesses or governmental entities. I believe in running a court by being data driven, best practice oriented and research based.^[11]

”