Texas Commission on Judicial Selection

The 86^th Texas Legislature created a commission to study the partisan election of judges in Texas. The specific charge to the commission:

The study must consider the fairness, effectiveness, and desirability of selecting a judicial officer through partisan elections; the fairness, effectiveness, and desirability of judicial selection methods proposed or adopted by other states; the relative merits of alternative methods for selecting a judicial officer.

The TCJS is required to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the governor and the legislature no later than December 31, 2020.

The commission held its first meeting on January 9, 2020. During that meeting, the chair—David Beck—introduced the members and formed three subcommittees—Appointments and Confirmations Committee, Citizens Panels and Judicial Qualifications Committee, and Elections Committee. The fifteen members of the Commission, who were appointed by the Governor (4 members), Lieutenant Governor (4 members), the Speaker of the House (4 members), the Texas Supreme Court (1 member), Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (1 member), and the State Bar of Texas (1 member). Among the members are two Texas Supreme Court Chief Justices—Tom Phillips and Wallace Jefferson—four members of the Texas Senate, and four members of the Texas House of Representatives. The list of members is here.


The committee meetings are scheduled monthly from February through August 2020. The committee meetings are yet to be determined. The Commissions meeting schedule is here.


My interest in Texas judicial elections was sparked by the election of Steven Wayne Smith to the Texas Supreme Court in 2002. He defeated a Hispanic justice, Xavier Rodriguez, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy by Governor Rick Perry in 2001. Smith was elected in 2002 but was defeated in his first reelection bid in 2002. Smith was well-known in Texas Republican Party circles as the lawyer that won the Hopwood case that ended the affirmative action admissions program at the University of Texas.


For background on judicial selection in Texas, I highly recommend Mark Jones’ paper, which notes the importance of straight-ticket voting on judicial elections. I have also included the selection of judges in my Reports #11 and #14 on straight-ticket voting for the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS).


The Commission’s meetings and final report should be very interesting.