Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals

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The Texas Ninth Court of Appeals is one of 15 intermediate appellate courts in Texas.

Published opinions of the Ninth District Court of Appeals can be found here.

 

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	4
Salary:	Associates: $192,500
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years

Jurisdiction

The Ninth District Court of Appeals has appellate jurisdiction over appeals arising from district and county courts in 10 counties:

• Hardin
• Jasper
• Jefferson
• Liberty
• Montgomery
• Newton
• Orange
• Polk
• San Jacinto
• Tyler

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Kent Chambers	January 1, 2025 - Present
Leanne Johnson	2013 - Present	Rick Perry
Jay Wright	January 1, 2023 - Present
Scott Golemon	January 1, 2021 - Present

Salary

See also: Texas court salaries and budgets

In 2025, associate judges serving on the Texas District Courts of Appeals in districts 1 through 14 received a base salary of $192,500, according to the Office of Court Administration. Judges on the Fifteenth District Court of Appeals earned a base salary of $205,000.

Judicial selection

See also: Partisan election of judges and Judicial selection in Texas

The justices of the Texas Court of Appeals are selected in district level partisan elections. The elected justices serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.

Qualifications

To serve on the Texas Court of Appeals, a justice must be:

• a U.S. citizen;
• a resident of Texas;
• licensed to practice law in the state;
• between the ages of 35 and 75;* and
• a practicing lawyer and/or judge for at least 10 years.

Chief justice

The chief justice of each district court is selected by voters at large. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.

Vacancies

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement who must be confirmed by the Texas Senate. The appointee serves until the next general election, in which he or she may compete to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2030

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2026

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Incumbent Scott Golemon (R) is running in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Scott Golemon (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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

The Democratic primary scheduled for March 3, 2026, was canceled.

Republican primary

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Incumbent Scott Golemon (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Scott Golemon

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

Incumbent Leanne Johnson (R) won election in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Leanne Johnson (R)	100.0	437,253

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 437,253
= 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.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for March 5, 2024, was canceled.

Republican primary

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

Incumbent Leanne Johnson (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Leanne Johnson	100.0	124,284

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 124,284
= 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.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

Kent Chambers (R) won election in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kent Chambers (R)	100.0	432,908

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 432,908
= 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.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for March 5, 2024, was canceled.

Republican primary

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

Kent Chambers (R) defeated Kenna Seiler (R) in the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kent Chambers	63.2	83,403
	Submit photo	Kenna Seiler	36.8	48,535

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 131,938
= 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.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2

Jay Wright (R) defeated Bob Mabry (D) in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Wright (R)	75.7	285,428
		Bob Mabry (D)	24.3	91,397

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 376,825
= 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.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2

Bob Mabry (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bob Mabry	100.0	23,885

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,885
= 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

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2

Jay Wright (R) defeated Stephanie Hall (R) in the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Wright	58.7	66,929
		Stephanie Hall	41.3	47,039

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 113,968
= 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.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Scott Golemon (R) won election in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Scott Golemon (R)	100.0	413,116

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 413,116
= 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 runoff

Republican primary runoff for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Scott Golemon (R) defeated Jay Wright (R) in the Republican primary runoff for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Scott Golemon	50.4	20,056
		Jay Wright	49.6	19,734

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,790
= 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.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for March 3, 2020, was canceled.

Republican primary

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Scott Golemon (R) and Jay Wright (R) advanced to a runoff. They defeated Chuck Meyer (R), Colleen Cordts Rice (R), and Jarrod Walker (R) in the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Scott Golemon	25.1	28,570
✔		Jay Wright	25.1	28,510
		Chuck Meyer	19.6	22,304
		Colleen Cordts Rice	16.4	18,679
	Submit photo	Jarrod Walker	13.8	15,638

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 113,701
= 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.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

Incumbent Leanne Johnson (R) won election in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Leanne Johnson (R)	100.0	289,065

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 289,0650
= 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

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3

Incumbent Leanne Johnson (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 3 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Leanne Johnson

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= 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.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

Incumbent Hollis Horton (R) won election in the general election for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Hollis Horton (R)	100.0	287,666

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 287,666
= 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

Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4

Incumbent Hollis Horton (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 4 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Hollis Horton

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= 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.

Previous election results

2016

Main article: Texas judicial elections, 2016

Candidates

Place 2

■ Charles Kreger (R) (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Election results

November 8 general election

Incumbent Charles Kreger ran unopposed in the general election for the Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals, Place 2.

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals, Place 2, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Charles Kreger Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	321,978
Total Votes (100% reporting)				321,978
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

March 1 primary election

Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Charles Kreger Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	122,151
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				122,151
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

2014

Unopposed	Judge Steve McKeithen (Chief Justice)

Place 3

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
StoverEarl Stover III	No	Republican	43.8%
JohnsonLeanne Johnson	Yes	Republican	56.2%A

2012

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Place	Primary Vote	Election Vote
GaultneyDavid Gaultney   A	Yes	Republican	Place 3	100%A	100%   A
HortonHollis Horton   A	Yes	Republican	Place 4	100%A	100%   A

2010

Appellate Court, Place	Candidates	Details	Results
Ninth District, Place 2	(R): Charles Kreger (D): Ron Mangus	Charles Kreger was up for re-election.	Charles Kreger won with 73.8% of the vote.

Ethics

The Texas Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Texas. It consists of eight overarching canons:

• Canon 1: Upholding the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
• Canon 2: Avoiding Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All of the Judge’s Activities
• Canon 3: Performing the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially and Diligently
• Canon 4: Conducting the Judge's Extra-Judicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with Judicial Obligations
• Canon 5: Refraining from Inappropriate Political Activity
• Canon 6: Compliance with the Code of Judicial Conduct
• Canon 7: Effective Date of Compliance
• Canon 8: Construction and Terminology of the Code

The full text of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Court of Appeals judges in Texas may be removed in one of three ways:

• Removal or retirement by a review tribunal upon a Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct recommendation to the Supreme Court. The Commission investigates and, if warranted, prosecutes allegations of judicial misconduct. After a Commission recommendation, the Supreme Court selects a review tribunal made up of Court of Appeals judges to verify the Commission's findings and enter a judgment. Decisions are subject to appeal to the Supreme Court.
• By the governor on the address of two thirds of the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives.
• By a two-thirds vote of the Senate, upon impeachment by a majority vote of the House.

History

Below are some key highlights in the court's history:

• Texas appeals courts were established by amendment to the Texas Constitution in 1891.

• The Texas Legislature authorized courts of civil appeals to issue writs of mandamus and all other writs necessary to enforce their jurisdiction in 1892.

• The Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals was created by the legislature in 1915.

External links

• Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals

Footnotes

Texas courts

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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