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Judges appointed by Rick Perry
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This page lists judges appointed by Rick Perry (R) during his term as Governor of Texas. As of today, the total number of Perry appointees was 125. For the full profile of Perry, click here.
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population. Some Texas judges are outside of that coverage scope. As a result, this page does not provide an exhaustive list of all judges appointed by Gov. Perry.
Appointment process
In Texas, the governor makes judicial appointments in the event of a midterm vacancy. Before joining a court, the nominee must be confirmed by the Texas Senate.[1]
Appointed judges
The tables below list the governor's appointees to the courts across the state.
State Courts
Supreme Court
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Texas Supreme Court Place 1 Chief Justice |
October 1, 2013 - December 31, 2024 |
|
|
Texas Supreme Court Place 3 |
June 21, 2010 - Present |
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Texas Supreme Court Place 4 |
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|
Texas Supreme Court Place 4 |
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|
Texas Supreme Court Place 6 |
2013 - 2019 |
|
|
Texas Supreme Court Place 7 |
December 3, 2012 - September 1, 2025 |
|
|
Texas Supreme Court Place 8 |
2005 - December 31, 2018 |
|
|
Texas Supreme Court Place 9 |
October 9, 2009 - June 11, 2021 |
Court of Appeals
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8 |
||
|
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 9 |
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|
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals Place 2 |
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|
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
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Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals Place 2 |
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Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2013 - 2018 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 10 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 11 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 12 |
||
|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 13 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
September 3, 2013 - September 13, 2019 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 4 |
2009 - December 31, 2022 |
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|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 5 |
||
|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 7 |
January 7, 2015 - December 31, 2022 |
|
|
Texas First District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
2004 - December 31, 2022 |
|
|
Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 4 |
2002 - 2020 |
|
|
Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 6 |
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|
Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 8 |
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|
Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 9 |
||
|
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals Place 4 |
||
|
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals Place 7 |
2013 - Present |
|
|
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Place 2 |
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|
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Place 7 |
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|
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2013 - Present |
|
|
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4 |
2004 - December 31, 2024 |
|
|
Texas Second District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
2015 - Present |
|
|
Texas Second District Court of Appeals Place 7 |
August 1, 2010 - December 31, 2020 |
|
|
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
2005 - Present |
|
|
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2006 - 2022 |
|
|
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
2002 - December 31, 2022 |
|
|
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
December 9, 2003 - December 31, 2024 |
|
|
Texas Third District Court of Appeals Chief Justice |
November 12, 2010 - December 31, 2020 |
|
|
Texas Third District Court of Appeals Place 2 |
||
|
Texas Third District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2006 - December 31, 2012 |
|
|
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals Place 2 |
August 28, 2006 - Present |
|
|
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2002 - 2003 |
|
|
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals Place 3 |
2015 - Present |
Local Courts
| Name | Court | Active |
|---|---|---|
|
Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 1 |
October 10, 2013 - Present |
|
|
Texas 100th District Court |
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|
Texas 106th District Court |
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Texas 113th District Court |
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|
Texas 128th District Court |
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|
Texas 144th District Court |
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|
Texas 157th District Court |
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|
Texas 161st District Court |
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Texas 173rd District Court |
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Texas 180th District Court |
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|
Texas 183rd District Court |
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Texas 189th District Court |
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|
Texas 198th District Court |
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|
Texas 1st District Court |
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|
Texas 20th District Court |
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Texas 217th District Court |
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Texas 219th District Court |
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Texas 221st District Court |
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|
Texas 222nd District Court |
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Texas 230th District Court |
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|
Texas 231st District Court |
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|
Texas 234th District Court |
||
|
Texas 237th District Court |
2009 - Present |
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Texas 243rd District Court |
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|
Texas 244th District Court |
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|
Texas 248th District Court |
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|
Texas 258th District Court |
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|
Texas 266th District Court |
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|
Texas 277th District Court |
||
|
Texas 277th District Court |
2014 - Present |
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|
Texas 281st District Court |
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Texas 286th District Court |
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Texas 291st District Court |
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Texas 295th District Court |
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Texas 309th District Court |
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Texas 311th District Court |
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Texas 315th District Court |
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Texas 319th District Court |
2014 - Present |
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Texas 334th District Court |
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|
Texas 347th District Court |
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|
Texas 352nd District Court |
2015 - 2017 |
|
|
Texas 356th District Court |
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|
Texas 357th District Court |
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|
Texas 360th District Court |
||
|
Texas 366th District Court |
2014 - 2019 |
|
|
Texas 368th District Court |
||
|
Texas 36th District Court |
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|
Texas 378th District Court |
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|
Texas 380th District Court |
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|
Texas 400th District Court |
2014 - December 31, 2020 |
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|
Texas 412th District Court |
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|
Texas 414th District Court |
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|
Texas 416th District Court |
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|
Texas 419th District Court |
||
|
Texas 420th District Court |
||
|
Texas 421st District Court |
||
|
Texas 422nd District Court |
2004 - Present |
|
|
Texas 428th District Court |
||
|
Texas 429th District Court |
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|
Texas 431st District Court |
2011 - December 31, 2020 |
|
|
Texas 432nd District Court |
||
|
Texas 435th District Court |
||
|
Texas 439th District Court |
||
|
Texas 43rd District Court |
||
|
Texas 441st District Court |
||
|
Texas 442nd District Court |
January 13, 2015 - Present |
|
|
Texas 443rd District Court |
||
|
Texas 452nd District Court |
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|
Texas 47th District Court |
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|
Texas 506th District Court |
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|
Texas 50th District Court |
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|
Texas 55th District Court |
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|
Texas 58th District Court |
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|
Texas 5th District Court |
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|
Texas 72nd District Court |
2006 - December 12, 2020 |
|
|
Texas 76th District Court |
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|
Texas 83rd District Court |
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Texas 90th District Court |
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|
Texas 92nd District Court |
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|
Texas 96th District Court |
2010 - December 31, 2020 |
Opinions on selections
| “ | I do think he made historic appointments that will be influential for future governors for years to come, to know that a high judicial office should be open, regardless of ethnicity or gender.[2] | ” |
| —Former Justice Wallace Jefferson, Republican[3] | ||
| “ | His appointees reflect a very narrow way of looking at the law that invariably reinforces his pro-defendant outlook. They are not conservative from a legal point of view; they are conservative from a political point of view.[2] | ” |
| —Jason Stanford, Democratic judicial campaign strategist[3] | ||
Judicial selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Texas
| Judicial selection in Texas | |
 | |
| Texas Supreme Court | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 6 years |
| Texas Court of Criminal Appeals | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 6 years |
| Texas Court of Appeals | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 6 years |
| Texas District Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
| Texas County Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
| Texas Justice of the Peace Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 4 years |
Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.
This article covers how state court judges are selected in Texas, including:
- Texas Supreme Court,
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,
- Texas Court of Appeals, and
- Limited jurisdiction courts
As of April 2025, judges for all courts in the state were selected through partisan elections. Term lengths vary, but all judges were required to run for re-election at the ends of their terms if they wished to continue serving.[4]
Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.
| Appellate state court selection in the United States, by general selection method[5] |
|---|
|
|
| State courts and their selection methods across the U.S., including the District of Columbia[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Supreme Court (of 53)[6] | Courts of Appeal (of 46) | Trial Courts (of 147) |
| Partisan elections (PE) | 8 | 6 | 39 |
| Nonpartisan elections (NPE) | 13 | 16 | 34 |
| Legislative elections (LE) | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Gubernatorial appointment of judges (GA) | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Assisted appointment (AA) | 22 | 18 | 46 |
| Combination or other | 3[7] | 1[8] | 17[9] |
State profile
| Demographic data for Texas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Texas | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 27,429,639 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 261,232 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 74.9% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 11.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 4.2% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 38.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 81.9% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 27.6% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $53,207 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19.9% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Texas
Texas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Texas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[10]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Texas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Texas
- United States congressional delegations from Texas
- Public policy in Texas
- Endorsers in Texas
- Texas fact checks
- More...
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Appointment Process," accessed March 26, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Texas Lawyer, "Gov. Perry Leaves Lasting Mark on Texas Judiciary," January 16, 2015
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Texas," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
- ↑ Both Oklahoma and Texas have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ Michigan and Ohio use nonpartisan general elections with candidates selected through partisan primaries or conventions. In the District of Columbia, judges are selected in the same manner as federal judges.
- ↑ Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are appointed on an as-needed basis by the supreme court justices.
- ↑ Most courts that use combination/alternative methods (for example, mayoral appointment) are local level courts. These courts are often governed by selection guidelines that are unique to their specific region.
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
