Texas Judicial Council

Members 

The Texas Judicial Council is composed of 16 ex-officio and six appointed members. The Council is chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court with the Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals as Vice-Chair. The Chief Justice appoints ten judicial members, two from each level of court. The Lieutenant Governor appoints two members of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives appoints one member of the House with the chair of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee serving on the Council. The Governor appoints six citizen members to the Council, three of which are members of the State Bar of Texas and two of which must not be licensed to practice law. Citizen members serve six-year terms.

Chair  Term Expires
Hon. Nathan L. Hecht, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas 12/31/26
Vice-Chair  
Hon. Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals 12/31/24
   
Legislative Members  
Hon. Brandon Creighton, Senator, Conroe  
Hon. Jeff Leach, Representative, Allen  
Hon. Reggie Smith, Representative, Sherman  
Hon. Judith Zaffirini, Senator, Laredo  
   
Judicial Members  
Hon. Bill Gravell Jr., Constitutional County Judge, Williamson County 02/01/27
Hon. Claudia Laird, Judge, Probate Court No. 1, Montgomery County 02/01/25
Hon. Emily Miskel, Justice, Fifth Court of Appeals, Dallas, Texas 02/01/27
Hon. Missy Medary, Judge, 347th District Court, Corpus Christi; Presiding Judge - 5th Region 02/01/25
Hon. Valencia Nash, Justice of the Peace Pct. 1, Place 2, Dallas County 02/01/25
Hon. Kathleen Person, Judge, City of Temple Municipal Court, Temple 02/01/27
Hon. Maggie Sawyer, Justice of the Peace, McCulloch County, Brady 02/01/27
Hon. Edward J. Spillane, III, Presiding Judge, City of College Station 02/01/25
Hon. Ken Wise, Justice, 14th Court of Appeals, Houston 02/01/25
   
   
Citizen Members  
Ms. Zina Bash, Keller Lenkner LLC, Austin 06/30/27
Mr. Kevin Bryant, Crow Holdings, Dallas 06/30/23
Ms. Jennifer Caughey, Jackson Walker LLP, Houston 06/30/27
Ms. Sonia Clayton, Virtual Intelligence Providers LLC, Houston 06/30/25
Hon. Jon Gimble, District Clerk, McLennan County, Waco 06/30/25
Ms. Rachel Racz, Vista Proppants & Logistics, Fort Worth 06/30/23
   
Executive Director  

Megan LaVoie