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elcome to the Texas Center for the Judiciary, the primary provider of specialized judicial education and training for Texas appellate, district, and county court-at-law judges.

The Texas Center for the Judiciary was established in 1973 by the members of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas to provide continuing judicial education programs for the state’s judiciary and supportive personnel. Since that time, the Texas Center has offered continuing educational programs for judges, court support personnel, district and county clerks, appellate clerks, administrative law judges, and multi-disciplinary groups.

The Texas Center pursues its mission, Judicial Excellence Through Education, by providing leadership in education and training so that a qualified and knowledgeable judiciary may administer justice with fairness, efficiency, and integrity. The Texas Center has been recognized nationally, as well as by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Texas, and the State Bar of Texas for excellence in judicial education.

The goal of continuing judicial education is to maintain and improve the professional competency of all judicial branch employees and enhance the performance of the judicial system as a whole. Our website is designed to promote that goal. We welcome you and trust you will find these resources useful.

Mari Kay Bickett, Executive Director

W. C. ("Bill") Davis (1922-1993)
Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1978-1990

Born September 13, 1922, W. C. "Bill" Davis attended Texas A&M during the summers of 1941 and 1942. Like that of many of his contemporaries, Davis' education was interrupted by World War II. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945, including one year in the European theater. Following his military service, Davis entered Baylor University, earning his LL.B. in 1948.

Davis was admitted to the Texas bar in 1948, and practiced law privately in Bryan until 1955. He served as judge of the Bryan Municipal Court from 1955 to 1959, and as Brazos County Judge from 1959 to 1967. That year he was appointed judge of the 85th Judicial District. He was elected to an unexpired term on the same court in 1969, and was reelected to full terms in 1970 and 1974.

Davis was appointed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Dolph Briscoe in 1978, was elected to a full term later that year, and was reelected in 1984. He retired in 1990, ending a 35 year career of judicial service.

W. C. Davis died of cancer on April 5, 1993, at the age of 70.

Information courtesy the Justices of Texas Project, Tarleton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin.

Judges:

On August 6, 2009, the Texas Ethics Commission issued Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 484. If you have not familiarized yourself with the opinion I would strongly encourage you to read the opinion. The link to the opinion is http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/opinions/484.html. This opinion applies to any officeholder, including elected judges. Since the opinion was published it has been the source of considerable controversy. The Judicial Section and the Texas Center for the Judiciary have been working closely with other affected agencies to clarify the application and scope of the holding.

The current controversy centers around two main areas: 1) whether a judge can be reimbursed their out of pocket expenses merely for attending a legal seminar by a corporation or union sponsoring the seminar and 2) can judges who are members of Judicial Boards, committees or who are speakers at conferences accept reimbursement from a corporation or union for their out of pocket expenses while attending these functions? With the exception of public funds paid by the counties or the comptroller, reimbursement for: judicial education, committees and boards comes through and is paid by corporate entities.

The Texas Center for the Judiciary is a non-profit corporation which receives public funds through grants to reimburse judges for mandated judicial education and committee service.

The current leadership of the Judiciary will be meeting with attorneys from the Texas Ethics Commission this Friday at the Texas Law Center to discuss these issues and also to seek clarification of their opinion(s). If you have a specific question you would like for us to ask the Texas Ethics Commission attorneys please send them to david.garcia@dentoncounty.com.

We will update you as the situation warrants.

David Garcia Chair,
Texas Center for the Judiciary Board of Directors

All About Social Media - if you missed our three-part series on social media you can catch it starting here.

Mark Your Calendar!

As a nonprofit entity, the Texas Center for the Judiciary relies in part on the financial support of the Texas judiciary to provide the highest and best educational curriculum in the most advantageous learning environment possible. Your donations help us do that to the best of our ability. Thank you in advance for your support.

Appellate Law Conference
February 12, 2010

Family Law Conference
February 26, 2010

For other upcoming conferences,
check our Conference/Events page.

elcome to the Texas Center for the Judiciary, the primary provider of specialized judicial education and training for Texas appellate, district, and county court-at-law judges.

W. C. ("Bill") Davis (1922-1993) Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1978-1990

Davis was appointed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Dolph Briscoe in 1978, was elected to a full term later that year, and was reelected in 1984. He retired in 1990, ending a 35 year career of judicial service.

Information courtesy the Justices of Texas Project, Tarleton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin.

W. C. ("Bill") Davis (1922-1993)
Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1978-1990