| [1] Born in Ireland. Was appointed judge of the 3rd District of the Republic of Texas, January, 1839-December, 1840. When the Republic was redistricted, he was appointed to the 7th District 1842-1845. When Texas became part of the United States, he served as Judge in various district courts from 1846 to 1850. Mills County is named for him. |
| [2] Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor served in the Kentucky Militia in War of 1812. He was later a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1819-20); Alabama House in 1824; US Congress from Alabama (1829-30). He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Creek War in 1836 and fought at the Battle of Plum Creek near Lockhart, Texas against a Comanche war party led by Chief Buffalo Hump in 1840. He was a delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention in 1845. Co-founder of Baylor University. |
| [3] Travis County was redistricted out of the 3rd District in 1846. Baylor remained as judge of the 3rd until 1863. |
| [4] Newspaper editor and Congressman of the Republic of Texas. Was one of the 53 men captured by the Mexicans in San Antonio in 1842 and imprisoned in Mexico City until 1843. He presided in Perry, Executor of the Estate of Stephen F. Austin v. Sam Houston in which he ordered the State of Texas to convey 10 Leagues of land (about 44,000 acres) or pay its value of $11,070.00 to Austin's estate. |
| [5] Later served in the Texas Legislature but was expelled for refusing to take the Confederate oath of allegiance. He refused to appear and practice in any of the courts of the Confederacy, although he did appear in Texas courts. He did not want to lend the courts of the CSA any legitimacy. Later served four terms in US Congress. |
| [6] Became the Federal District Judge for the Western District of Texas (1857-80). Was one of 2 federal judges in seceded states not to resign. He left Texas, and even went to Washington to present his plan to end the war to Lincoln (and to collect 3 years of back wages), but returned after the war to continue to serve as Federal Judge until his death.. |
| [7] United States Minister Plenipotentiary to Turkey 1893-97, by appointment of President Cleveland. |
| [8] Elected August, 1863. Mortally wounded at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. Taken prisoner then died July 21, 1863 |
| [9] Was previously District Attorney of the 2nd District which at that time included, at minimum, Travis, Hays, Guadalupe, Bastrop and Caldwell Counties. See Hall v. Claiborne, 27 Tex. 217, 1863. After the War, he returned to the private practice of law. |
| [10] Member of the Texas Legislature in 1851. In 1867 he was appointed to the 1st District. Then in 1870, he became judge of the 29th District. |
| [11] Deputy Sheriff of Hart County, KY. Mayor of Seguin, TX 1858. Delegate to 1861 Secession Convention. Was removed from his judicial office in 1868 when the Radical Republicans took power. Was later State Representative 1872, Justice of Supreme Court of Texas 1875, Delegate to State Constitutional Convention 1875. Lost his job on Supreme Court when that convention voted to reduce the number of Justices. As Governor of Texas 1883-7, he selected pink granite as the construction material for the new Capitol. |
| [12] Later Federal District Judge, succeeding DuVal. (1880-88) Was Attorney General of Texas 1867-70. |
| [13] In 1858 Walker was elected district attorney for the Seventeenth Judicial District. He was a states' rights Democrat, and when the Civil War broke out he joined the Confederate Army. In 1862, while serving in the army, he was elected district judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District; he held the office until 1865 when he was removed from office as an "impediment to Reconstruction." The firm of Terrell and Walker became the reporters for the Texas Supreme Court in 1872.Walker became the founding editor-in-chief of the Austin Statesman in 1873. In 1879 Gov. Oran Roberts appointed Walker to the newly-formed commission of appeals, which consisted of three judges appointed to assist the Supreme Court in hearing cases. Walker served until the following year, when he was elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District (Travis County). He was reelected to the position and he held it until 1888, when Gov. L. S. (Sul) Ross appointed him associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He served on the Supreme Court for ten months. Following his service on the bench, he resumed his duties as reporter for the Supreme Court. (Tarleton Library, Justices of Texas 1836-1896.) |
| [14] First dean of the U.T. Law School, 1907-23. Previously Judge of the 33rd District, stretching from Llano to San Angelo. |
| [15] County judge of Williamson County in 1885. He served as district judge from 1888 to 1892, when he was named associate justice of the Third Court of Civil Appeals. In 1910 he was appointed chief justice of that court. Served on the Court of Civil Appeals for 30 years. |
| [16] Filled out term of Judge Key upon his appointment to the Court of Civil Appeals. |
| [17] Represented Williamson County in the 18th Legislature 1883. District Attorney of Travis and Williamson Counties 1885-1891. James Stephen Hogg appointed him district judge in May 1891; Robertson resigned the judgeship in 1895 and worked as Hogg's law partner until 1902. From 1907 to 1911 he represented Travis County in the Texas House. |
| [18] Was Judge of the 26th when it encompassed both Travis and Williamson Counties. When the 53rd was created, limited to Travis County, he resigned to be appointed to the 53rd. |
| [19] Brooks and Morris both resigned to seek their fortunes in oil. Brooks went to Spindle Top to the oil business and Morris to Beaumont to represent land claimants. |
| [20] Born in San Felipe de Austin in Austin County. Like many children born in 1864, named Robert Lee. |
| [21] When Morris resigned in October, 1902, Rector was appointed to fill the term which expired December 31, 1902. |
| [22] Previously was County Attorney and County Judge. Was President of the Travis County Bar Association. Later served as Reporter for the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. When the Administration Law was enacted in 1928, he became the first Presiding Judge of the 3rd Administrative District. |
| [23] He was Austin City Attorney under Mayor Emmett White. The two were credited with saving Austin from bankruptcy after the Austin Dam broke in 1900. (Handbook of Texas) |
| [24] Lived in Judges' Hill at 809 W. MLK (Magnolia Street, later 19th Street) in a house that is now The Inn at Pearl Street (B and B) and is reported by some to be haunted by the spirit of a woman carrying a child. |
| [25] Father-in-Law of J. Chrys Dougherty, III. Together, they founded Graves, Dougherty in 1946. He was elected President of the Travis County Bar Association three times. |
| [26] Was a candidate for Congress in 1926. Appointed to the first Board of Pardons and Paroles in 1929 (between "Ma" Ferguson's non-consecutive terms as Governor). That board was restructured by Constitutional Amendment in 1935 to cure perceived abuses during the Ferguson family's Governorships. |
| [27] Owner of the historic Judge Cooper Sansom house at 1252 Main Street in Georgetown, TX. He served as the state representative from Williamson County in the 26th Texas Legislature (1899-1900). In 1921, Governor Pat M. Neff appointed Sansom to fill the unexpired term of Judge Ireland Graves of Austin, who retired. In 1924 the district was divided to include only Williamson County |
| [28] Was Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1, then JP3. Travis County District Attorney 1925-28. |
| [29] Was also President of the Travis County Bar Association. Was later a candidate for Governor of Texas, served as LTC (USA) in WWII, elected United States Senator from Texas 1957-1971. |
| [30] Travis County District Attorney 1933-37; Justice, Texas Supreme Court 1947-1950; Chancellor, University of Texas System 1950-53. |
| [31] Was chosen by the lawyers of Travis County to be their District Judge while Ralph Yarborough took a leave of absence to run for Texas Attorney General. |
| [32] The trial judge in Sweatt v. Painter, he was later Judge of the Third Court of Appeals 1948-66. Travis County Attorney 1926-30. President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [33] Served in France in WWI. Austin School Board 1927-1940. Travis County’s first juvenile judge, helped establish the first juvenile detention center. Gardner-Betts is named, of course for him. President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [34] Of course, the other person for whom Gardner-Betts is named. President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [35] Was President of the Travis County Bar Association in 1932. Admitted to the bar 1896. |
| [36] Father of Federal District Judge Sam Sparks. President of the Travis County Bar Association. He played football at UT in 1930 and 31. Sam Sparks told me that his father was not one to take insult graciously, whether in the courtroom as a judge or as an advocate or elsewhere. |
| [37] Was a judge for 50 years. Started as JP#1, which he won as a write-in candidate in a field of 13 in 1941. His father had served as JP in the same precinct. |
| [38] Travis County District Attorney 1946-48; Federal District Judge 1966-88. |
| [39] Was Justice of the Peace, Pct. 3 1948-60. |
| [40] Uncle of J. Woodfin “Woodie” Jones, Chief Justice of the 3rd Court of Appeals. Herman Jones served as a State Representative from Wise County and practiced law with Governor Dan Moody and later with Homer Thornberry. |
| [41] Supreme Court of Texas 1968-77; Justice of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 1979- . |
| [42] Travis Blakeslee told me that when the new 167th Court was created, John Allen, Tom Blackwell and Travis Blakeslee each thought that Governor John Connally had promised it to him. Connally had just been shot in the Kennedy assassination. He appointed Reavely. |
| [43] Appointed by the County Commissioners as a placeholder in the new Court #2 until the election of 1964. He was born in New York, the child of Polish immigrants. He joined the Army Air Corps as a flight cadet in September, 1941 and served until 1953. His tombstone in Sam Houston National Cemetery says her served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, ending his service as a Lieutenant Colonel. |
| [44] Was President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [45] Jerome Anthony Dellana erved as Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 before he came to the County Court at Law. In 1966, it was his duty to conduct inquests into the cause of death of Charles Whitman and all of his victims in the Tower shooting at UT. Shots were still being fired as he arrived.He later said that he thought about that day every time he drove toward the Tower. |
| [46] Former County Attorney (1955-61) and District Attorney (1962-68, Tom Blackwell was a paratrooper who held every rank from private to General in the Army National Guard, 1938-73. |
| [47] Although he was a lawyer before WWII, the Army made him commander of an artillery battery in the European Theater. He then volunteered by special duty with the War Crimes Division. |
| [48] In 1972, David McAngus was appointed judge of the newly created 201st District Court. A battle brewed for the appointment by the County Commissioners as his replacement in Court at Law #2. The frontrunners were known to be E.A. Galvan, Rip Collins, Terry Weeks and Bob Jones. They appointed Mary Pearl Williams, who thereby became the first woman on this list. |
| [49] When a hotly contested Democratic Primary was in the offing for the new Court #3 and the Commissioners’ Court did not want to choose between the contenders, thereby giving one an advantage over the others, they appointed Jerry Harris who promised not to run. |
| [50] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 before moving to County Court at Law. He resigned in the middle of his second term in the 126th, setting up the election battle between Joe Hart and Brock Jones. |
| [51] Was defeated for election to District Court by Joe Hart in the Democratic Primary, 1982. He then moved back home to Ozona and was elected District Judge there, where he served until retirement in 2006. He was judge of the 112th serving the counties of Crockett, Pecos, Sutton, Reagan and Upton. |
| [52] President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [53] As head cheerleader at the University of Texas, he introduced the “Hook-em Horns” hand sign at a pep rally in 1955. President of AYLA. |
| [54] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 before moving to County Court at Law. |
| [55] Was Austin Municipal Court Judge before he was appointed to the County Court at Law. |
| [56] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 before moving to County Court at Law. |
| [57] Son of James Pinckney Hart, above. |
| [58] Was Austin Municipal Court Judge before he was elected to the County Court at Law. After retiring, became professor at UT-San Antonio, then University of Indiana. A citizen of Cherokee Nation. |
| [59] Was defeated by Margaret Cooper when he ran for election to the 353rd District Court. President of AYLA. |
| [60] The first Hispanic elected to a county-wide judicial position in Travis County. He had campaign signs that explained how to pronounce his name:"ga-YARD-oh".. He was appointed to the new 345th in 1983 and won election in 1984, but was defeated in 1988. |
| [61] Had previously served as Judge of the 35th District Court in Brownwood, Texas. Suppressed the evidence in the 1969 prosecution of stripper Candy Barr for possession of drugs. Lost the next election. |
| [62] President of AYLA. President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [63] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5 before moving to County Court at Law. His County Court at Law #4 was redesignated by the legislature to be Probate Court #1. |
| [64] Took a sabbatical from late September of 2014 to the beginning of his new term January 1, 2015. Was reelected without opposition in November, 2014. |
| [65] Was Associate Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Austin before being appointed to new County Court at Law. |
| [66] The rapid growth of Travis County in the 1980s prompted the legislature to add 3 new County Courts at Law to handle misdemeanor cases. They were numbers 5, 6 and 7. The County Commissioners Court appointed Judge Aguilar, (see fn 65) but they also took the giant step of appointing the first African-American man and woman to county-wide judicial office. They were both former assistant District Attorneys, were greatly respected in the legal community and both were re-elected as many times as they wished. |
| [67] Was Presiding Judge of the Austin Municipal Court, then was in private practice before being appointed to replace Leslie Taylor upon her resignation. |
| [68] Was Associate Judge (1979-1981) and Presiding Judge (1981-1988) of the Municipal Court of the City of Austin before moving to County Court at Law. A citizen of Cherokee Nation. |
| [69] The 455th District Court was created in 2019 and was authorized to begin operations on October 1, 2020. By January, 2021, the Governor had not appointed a judge. In the annual calendar for 2021 the district judges scheduled the 455th to be the duty court for the week of January 25, 2021. Judge Phillips was assigned as a visiting judge to the 455th for that week—thereby becoming the first judge to sit in the 455th. |
| [70] The Meurer Intermediate Sanctions Center near Gardner-Betts is named for her. She served as our juvenile judge for many years. |
| [71] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 before moving to County Court at Law. After election twice as a Democrat, he switched parties to the Republicans. Was later a Justice of the Third Court of Appeals. |
| [72] Served as Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5 before moving to County Court at Law. |
| [73] Resigned August 16, 2019, to run for Travis County Attorney. |
| [74] Was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 before her election to County Court at Law. |
| [75] Appointed by Governor George W. Bush to replace Joe Hart who retired to private practice. |
| [76] Took office October 1 after gubernatorial appointment to newly created court. After having been re-elected as a Republican, she changed to the Democratic Party before her next re-election. She was shot in her home driveway in an assassination attempt on November 6, 2015. Returned to work after an absence of several months on February 28, 2016.. |
| [77] Served as Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5 before moving to County Court at Law. |
| [78] Served occasionally after resigning from County Court at Law (mandatory resignation caused by campaigning for other office with more than one year remaining in her term) until successor qualified in April, 2004 |
| [79] Was one of four new judges elected to the Third Court of Appeals in a Democratic Party sweep in November of 2018. The four were aided by a huge Democratic turnout for the US Senate race between Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz and Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke. Although Senator Cruz won statewide, the voters in Central Texas preferred O'Rourke. His coattails were long. |
| [80] Was the first person in Travis County (and perhaps the State of Texas) ever to occupy all 4 levels of judicial office below the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. She was a Justice of the Peace, County-Court-at-Law Judge, District Judge and Justice of the Court of Appeals. |
| [81] Was elected Chief Justice of the 3rd Court of Appeals in November, 2020, defeating Jeff Rose. |
| [82] Previously was a judge of the Austin Municipal Court. President of AYLA. President of the Travis County Bar Association 2014-15. |
| [83] President of the Austin Bar Association 2015-16. |
| [84] Served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before his election to District Court. |
| [85] Was elected Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3. After her defeat in a re-election bid, she was appointed to the District Court. After her defeat there, she was elected Justice of the Third Court of Appeals 2010-2022. |
| [86] President of AYLA. Elected Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party. Took office January 1, 2009. Died May 8, 2009 from complications of testicular cancer. |
| [87] President of the Travis County Bar Association. Was defeated for reelection in 2016. |
| [88] Was appointed to the district bench by Governor Rick Perry. After a defeat at the polls, he was named to the 3rd Court of Appeals by Governor Perry. Later became Chief Justice of the 3rd Court of Appeals. |
| [89] President of the Travis County Bar Association. |
| [90] Was invested in late December, 2010. After he defeated incumbent Judge Rose in the November election, Judge Rose was appointed to the Court of Appeals and resigned to take that office. |
| [91] The husband of retired Judge Jan Breland |
| [92] Upon his election, he became at once the oldest and the newest judge in Travis County. |
| [93] President of AYLA. |
| [94] The first person of Asian descent to be elected to County-wide office in Travis County. |
| [95] President of TYLA, 2006-7. President of Texas Association of District Judges 2023-24. Elected to 3rd Court of Appeals, 2024. |
| [96] Appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to newly-created court on October 12, 2015. Filed to run in the election of November, 2016, but withdrew. Later joined the staff of newly-elected DA Margaret Moore. |
| [97] After winning an uncontested Democratic primary on March 1, 2016, she was appointed to office by the County Commissioners and was sworn in on March 31, 2016 to fill the newly-created court. |
| [98] Elected Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party. President of AYLA (1988-89) President of Travis County Bar Association (1994-5). The first Jewish judge elected countywide in Travis County. |
| [99] After being appointed to a new court by Governor Greg Abbott on December 8, 2017, Judge Howell took office on January 1, 2018. He did not file to be elected, so served until December 31, 2018. |
| [100] Upon the election of Gisela Triana to the 3d Court of Appeals, there arose a vacancy in the 200th District Court. Governor Greg Abbott appointed Judge Howell to take over that court, his appointment to the 459th having expired with the investiture of Maya Guerra Gamble. |
| [101] The 455th was authorized to begin operations on October 1, 2020. Governor Abbott delayed appointing a judge until February, 2021. Judge Howell was the first judge to serve as the presiding judge of three District Courts in Travis County (and maybe the State of Texas). Judge Howell resigned from the District Court on August 13, 2021, when he was appointed US Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas. |
| [102] The County Commissioners appointed her to serve after Mike Denton resigned to run for County Attorney. She was then elected in 2020. She is the first elected Asian Female and the first South Asian elected to the bench in Travis County history. |
| [103] The son of former Justice of the 3rd Court of Appeals, Justice of the Peace and Court-at-Law Judge David Puryear. He was appointed to this new court by Governor Abbott on November 7, 2019. He was formerly an assistant District Attorney in Williamson County. At the time of his appointment, he was an ADA in Travis County. |
| [104] Before her election to the 126th District Court she was the first Associate Judge in the then newly-created associate court dedicated to the Child Welfare dockets. (2015-2020). The 126th is the designated Juvenile Court for Travis County. |
| [105] In the middle of her term, she ran against another District Judge, Catherine Mauzy, and lost. It is believed to be the only time in Travis County history that this was done. |
| [106] In the elections of 2020 every woman who ran against a male in a judicial race in Travis County was elected. Incumbency did not affect that equation. As a result, all eleven of the District Judges elected to hear civil and family cases were women effective January 1, 2021. (Dustin Howell was appointed by the governor in February, 2021.) In the District Courts hearing criminal cases, 2 of the 9 judges are men. And for the first time ever, six District Judges were then brand new! |
| [107] Appointed by Governor Abbott on October 19 to replace Dustin Howell who resigned to be Federal Magistrate judge. |
| [108] Daughter of former CCL#1 Judge Alberto Garcia, she is the first child of a former judge to be elected judge in Travis County. |
| [109] Daughter of immigrants and migrant farmworkers. She was the first openly gay woman to serve a Travis County Court at Law. |
| [110] He previously served as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5 since 2017. Judge Chu is the son of immigrants. He was the first Asian American Justice of the Peace in Texas history. |
| [111] After Karin Crump was elected to the 3rd Court of Appeals in November, 2024, he was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott and took office on April 30, 2025. His undergraduate degree is from The University of Chicago and his J.D. degree from Harvard. He withdrew the 250th from the central docket system. |
