This is a list of the judges of the Texas Supreme Court.
The Constitution of the Republic of Texas provided for a Supreme Court to consist of a chief justice and associate justices. The associate justices were the judges of the eight district courts of Texas. The district judges, whose first session was January 13, 1840, served with the chief justice as associate justices from January 13, 1840 to December 29, 1845, when Texas was admitted into the United States:
Succession of seats
More information Chief Justice, First District ...
Elected by Texas Congress, died in office, June 1838.
Appointed by President Sam Houston, the Senate would not ratify the appointment.
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned May 1840.
Elected by Texas Congress.
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Elected by Texas Congress, died in office, February 1839.
Appointed by President Mirabeau B. Lamar.
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned September 1841. Both Shelby and Johnson attempted to hold court at the same time
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned September 1841.
Appointed, then elected by Texas Congress, died in office August 1844.
Appointed, then elected by Texas Congress.
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Elected by Texas Congress, resigned February 1839.
Appointed by President Lamar, resigned after one month.
Elected by Texas Congress.
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More information Third District, Fourth District ...
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned January 1839.
Elected by Texas Congress, youngest member (21 at election). Later on court from 7th District.
Elected by Texas Congress.
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Elected by Texas Congress, resigned January 1839.
Elected by Texas Congress, became Chief Justice December 1840.
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned June 1843.
Elected by Texas Congress.
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Elected by Texas Congress, resigned June 1840.
Appointed by President Lamar, elected by Texas Congress the following year, resigned January 1842.
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned December 1844.
Elected by Texas Congress.
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More information Sixth District, Seventh District ...
Elected by Texas Congress, resigned February 1841.
Elected by Texas Congress, died in office.
Appointed by President Houston and elected by the Texas Congress.
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Elected by Texas Congress, resigned before impeachment.
Elected by Texas Congress. Previously on court from 3rd District.
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Under the Constitutions of 1845 and 1861
Justices from 1945
After 1945, Texas dispensed with the convention of referring to justices other than the chief justice as "associate justices", and simply referred to them as "justices".
Chief Justice, Place 1
- James P. Alexander (September 21, 1945 to January 1, 1948)
- J. E. Hickman (January 7, 1948 to January 3, 1961)
- Robert W. Calvert (January 3, 1961 to October 4, 1972)
- Joe R. Greenhill (October 4, 1972 to October 25, 1982)
- Jack Pope (November 29, 1982 to January 4, 1985)
- John L. Hill Jr. (January 5, 1985 to January 4, 1988)
- Thomas R. Phillips (January 4, 1988 to September 3, 2004)
- Wallace B. Jefferson (September 20, 2004 to October 1, 2013)
- Nathan Hecht (October 1, 2013 to present; term ends on December 31, 2020)
Justices, Place 2
- John H. Sharp (September 21, 1945 to December 31, 1952)
- Frank P. Culver Jr. (January 1, 1953 to December 21, 1964)
- Jack Pope (January 4, 1965 to November 29, 1982)
- Ted Z. Robertson (December 2, 1982 to December 31, 1988)
- Lloyd Doggett (January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1994)
- Priscilla R. Owen (January 1, 1995 to June 6, 2005. Appointed as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.)
- Don Willett (August 24, 2005 to January 2, 2018. Appointed as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.)
- Jimmy Blacklock (January 2, 2018 to present. Term ends December 31, 2024.)
Justices, Place 3
- Gordon Simpson (September 21, 1945 to March 1, 1949)
- R. H. Harvey (March 1, 1949 to September 8, 1950, died in office)
- Robert W. Calvert (September 18, 1950 to January 3, 1961)
- Zollie Steakley (January 3, 1961 to December 31, 1980)
- James P. Wallace (January 1, 1981 to September 1, 1988)
- Eugene A. Cook (September 1, 1988 to December 31, 1992)
- Rose Spector (January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1998)
- Harriet O'Neill (January 1, 1999 to June 20, 2010)
- Debra Lehrmann (June 21, 2010 to present. Term ends December 31, 2028.)
Justices, Place 4
- Graham B. Smedley (September 21, 1945 to June 16, 1954)
- Ruel C. Walker (October 19, 1954 to September 30, 1975)
- Ross E. Doughty (October 1, 1975 to December 31, 1976)
- Don Yarbrough (January 1, 1977 to July 1977)
- Charles W. Barrow (July 25, 1977 to September 30, 1984)
- Raul A. Gonzalez (October 8, 1984 to December 31, 1998)
- Alberto R. Gonzales (January 14, 1999 to December 22, 2000. Resigned to become White House counsel to President George W. Bush.)
- Wallace B. Jefferson (April 18, 2001 to September 20, 2004. Appointed chief justice in September 2004.)
- David M. Medina (November 10, 2004 to December 31, 2012)
- John P. Devine (January 2013 to present. Term ends December 31, 2024.)
Justices, Place 5
- William M. Taylor (September 21, 1945 to December 31, 1950)
- Will Wilson (January 2, 1951 to June 1, 1956)
- Abner V. McCall (June 15, 1956 to December 31, 1956)
- James R. Norvell (January 1, 1957 to October 10, 1968)
- Thomas M. Reavley (October 10, 1968 to October 1, 1977)
- T. C. Chadick (October 5, 1977 to December 31, 1978)
- Robert M. Campbell (December 1, 1978 to February 1, 1988)
- Barbara Culver (February 1, 1988 to December 7, 1988)
- Jack English Hightower (December 7, 1988 to January 1, 1996)
- Greg Abbott (January 2, 1996 to June 6, 2001)
- Xavier Rodriguez (September 7, 2001 to November 6, 2002)
- Steven Wayne Smith (November 20, 2002 to December 31, 2004)
- Paul W. Green (January 1, 2005 to August 31, 2020)
- Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle (October 2020 to present. Term ends December 31, 2028.)
Justices, Place 6
- J. E. Hickman (September 21, 1945 to January 5, 1948)
- W. St. John Garwood (January 14, 1948 to December 31, 1958)
- Robert W. Hamilton (January 1, 1959 to December 31, 1970)
- James G. Denton (January 1, 1971, to June 10, 1982, died in office.)
- Ruby Kless Sondock (June 25, 1982 to December 31, 1982)
- William W. Kilgarlin (January 1, 1983 to December 31, 1988)
- Nathan L. Hecht (January 1, 1989 to October 1, 2013)
- Jeff Brown (October 3, 2013 to September 4, 2019)
- Jane Bland (September 4, 2019 to present. Term expires December 31, 2024.)
Justices, Place 7
- C. S. Slatton (September 21, 1945 to October 1, 1947)
- James P. Hart (October 1, 1947 to November 15, 1950)
- Clyde E. Smith (November 15, 1950 to December 31, 1970)
- Price Daniel (January 1, 1971 to December 31, 1978)
- Franklin S. Spears (January 1, 1979 to December 31, 1990)
- John Cornyn (January 2, 1991 to October 18, 1997)
- Deborah Hankinson (October 28, 1997 to December 31, 2002)
- Dale Wainwright (January 1, 2003 to September 30, 2012)
- Jeffrey S. Boyd (December 3, 2012 to present. Term expires December 31, 2026.)
Justices, Place 8
- Few Brewster (September 21, 1945 to September 20, 1957)
- Joe R. Greenhill (October 1, 1957 to October 4, 1972
- Hawthorne Phillips (October 4, 1972 to December 31, 1972)
- Samuel D. Johnson Jr. (January 1, 1973 to October 16, 1979)
- Will Garwood (November 15, 1979 to December 31, 1980)
- C. L. Ray Jr. (November 25, 1980 to December 31, 1990)
- Robert Gammage (January 1, 1991 to August 31, 1995)
- James A. Baker (September 1, 1995 to August 31, 2002)
- Michael H. Schneider (September 6, 2002 to September 20, 2004)
- Phil Johnson (April 11, 2005 to December 31, 2018)
- J. Brett Busby (March 20, 2019, to present. Term ends December 31, 2026)
Justices, Place 9
- A. J. Folley (September 21, 1945 to April 1, 1949)
- Meade F. Griffin (April 1, 1949 to December 31, 1968)
- Sears McGee (January 1, 1969 to December 31, 1986)
- Oscar Mauzy (January 3, 1987 to December 31, 1993)
- Craig T. Enoch (January 1, 1993 to October 1, 2003)
- Scott A. Brister (November 21, 2003 to September 7, 2009)
- Eva Guzman (October 8, 2009 to June 11, 2021)
- Evan A. Young (November 2021 to present. Term ends December 31, 2028)
James W. Paulsen, The Judges of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas, 65 Tex. L. Rev. 305 (1986).