Tarrant CountyCriminal CourtNo. 8
Republican
If you're charged with a lower-level crime in Tarrant County, a county criminal court judge handles it. Chuck Vanover, the Republican judge of Court No. 8, started out as an airport public safety officer and later became a prosecutor.
Vanover worked for D/FW Airport public safety from 1992 to 2003, then as a Tarrant County assistant district attorney until 2014. He has been a judge since 2015. He is also a colonel and the top legal adviser, called Staff Judge Advocate, for the Texas State Guard.
Judges aren't allowed to take sides on these values — it's against judicial ethics rules. The best clue to how a judge thinks is the party they run with.