2026 Texas General Election

Darlene Byrne

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Darlene Byrne is from Texas. She has a law degree from the University of Houston. She lives in Austin with her husband, Dan, and is the mother and mother-in-law of five adult children.

UH Law Center Alumni Judges - University of Houston

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Before taking the bench, Darlene practiced law for 13 years, focusing on employment, commercial, and governmental entity litigation. She also served as general counsel for the Office of the Governor, law clerk for the Texas Supreme Court.

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Darlene is currently the Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals. She was first elected to this position in 2020. Before that, she served for 20 years as the presiding judge of the 126th District Court of Travis County.

Fixing the Foster Care System: An Interview with Judge Darlene Byrne

As a district court judge, presided over civil matters and foster children in Travis County.

As a district court judge, received local, statewide, and national recognition for work serving foster children and families and for court improvement efforts.

As a state district judge, Byrne founded the Travis County Family Drug Treatment Court and the Travis County Model Court of Children, Youth and Families.

Legal Experience

Supports the use of mediation in court proceedings, and said "We have also done a cost-benefit study on mediation and how we use mediations in our County, in conjunction with the University of Texas. It showed that our mediation strategy is saving the county $1. 5 million every year."

Judicial Administration

Supports equal access to justice regardless of wealth, nationality, gender, race, or language.

Judicial Philosophy

Served on the Advisory Committee for the national #WeToo project for Courts.

Ethics & Conduct

Board chair of TEXProtects and co-chair of the National Leadership Council of National CASA.

Serves on the advisory boards of the Seedling Foundation, Partnerships for Children, and Carrying Hope.

Community Involvement

Cory Liu

- In Texas, appeals from district and county courts, except death penalty cases, go to one of 14 intermediate courts of appeal.
- The chief justice presides over court meetings, manages the court's administration, and has the authority to assign justices or judges to specific cases.
- Justices are elected in partisan elections for six-year terms.
- The yearly salary for a Court of Appeals justice in Texas is between $192,500 and $255,050 based on the total number of years they have served, plus an additional bonus of $13,475 for Chief Justice duties.

Oversees a court that handles appeals of lower trial court decisions.