About this office
It's very difficult for a case to reach the Supreme Court. So for most Texans who appeal — a custody ruling, a lawsuit, a conviction — the Court of Appeals is the last court that will ever hear it. Texas has 14 of these courts, each covering a share of the 254 counties, and Hays County's cases go to the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin. The Chief Justice runs that court — and this year the seat is on your ballot.
Candidates
Antonia ArteagaShe made history in 2008 as the first woman ever elected to Bexar County's 57th District Court, a court that had existed for more than a century before she got there.
About Antonia
Arteaga has spent almost two decades as a Bexar County state district judge, presiding over civil cases in the 57th District Court. She's held leadership roles in local, statewide, and national judicial organizations, and now she's running to become the top administrator overseeing the 4th Court of Appeals, a 32-county system.
Bert RichardsonBefore he became a judge, Richardson spent years as a Bexar County prosecutor, and he's now nearing four decades total in the Texas legal system.
About Bert
Richardson earned his law degree from St. Mary's University, then worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Bexar County before spending almost a decade as a judge on the 379th District Court. He was elected to the statewide Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2014, and he's now running for Chief Justice of the 4th Court of Appeals, which he's called a good capstone race that would let him work closer to home.