The Judicial Section of The State Bar of Texas presented the second Lifetime Judicial Achievement Award to retired Chief Justice John Boyd at the Annual Judicial Education Conference in Dallas, Texas on September 18-21, 2011.
Chief Justice Boyd is the retired Chief Justice of the 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo. Prior to joining the 7th Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Boyd served as judge for the 64th District Court from 1969 to 1981. He has served as a faculty member for the College of New Judges since 1976. He was chair of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas and chair of the Board of Directors of the Texas Center for the Judiciary in 1978-79. He was a member of the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct and was vice-chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct. He also serves as a member of the Supreme Court Judicial Selection Task Force, and as a member of the board of trustees of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism. Chief Justice Boyd completed The National Judicial College of State Judiciary Basic Skills Course (1969), Advanced Criminal Law Course (1972), New Trends in Law (1977), The National College of Juvenile Justice (1976), and American Judicial Academy (1980). He was named Baylor Lawyer of the Year in 1995 and also received the Baylor University Alumni Association's Price Daniel Distinguished Public Service Award for an elected or appointed official who exemplifies "the spirit of selfless dedication to public service." He received his JD from Baylor University School of Law in 1950 and an LLM from the University of Virginia in 1988.
The Judicial Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to a current or former Texas judge who is recognized by his or her peers as having a reputation for and commitment to judicial excellence, has achieved a significant length of service as a judge in Texas and has demonstrated a long term, consistent and significant contribution to the betterment of the judiciary, access to justice and the system of justice in Texas.
