Judge Mark D. Atkinson

Judge Atkinson served 24 years on the bench presiding over more than 100,000 criminal cases, 20,000 of those being DWIs. Since 1988, Judge Atkinson implemented creative DWI sentencing practices, particularly with regard to repeat offenders. Many of those sentencing practices are similar to those currently used in today’s DWI Courts. During his years on the bench, Judge Atkinson received The National Association of Probation Executives Excellence in Leadership Award, the Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston Amicus Award, the Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Judicial Award, the League of United Latin-American Citizens Certificate of Recognition, and the Houston Police Officers’ Association County Court Judge of the Year. He is past chair of the Judicial Section State Bar of Texas and the Texas Center for the Judiciary. Over many years, he chaired the American Probation and Parole Association's Judicial Committee. Prior to taking the bench, his law practice focused on criminal, family, and civil trial law. Judge Atkinson earned his BA from the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree from South Texas College of Law.