In Texas, District Judgeships are elected officials and serve for terms of four years. In 2020, republican Thomas West was elected to fill the vacant seat.
District Judges oversee civil and criminal trial cases, including all felony cases. They also appoint and oversee Grand Juries. In McLennan County, there are six district courts. The 19th District is one of two that primarily handles criminal cases.
This year, two candidates are running for the District 19 Judgeship – Republican incumbent Thomas West, and Democrat Barry Johnson.
Judge Thomas West took office in 2021, and has held the judgeship for the last four years. He says he always knew he wanted to be a judge and has worked towards that his whole life.
"All I’ve done is thousands upon thousands of felony crime offenses, which is the only thing that applies in this court," he says.
When West started, he came into a backlog of 2500 cases and has received almost 6000 more over the last few years. One of his original campaign promises was to clean this up.
"And I broke 800 last week. So over 70% of the docket is gone – doesn’t come back," West says.
Before being elected judge, West was a felony prosecutor for nine years and a defense lawyer for twenty. He says this experience, combined with aggressive docketing, helped reduce the backlog.
"I knew the tricks as a prosecutor and I know the tricks of a defense attorney, so I don’t let them play the game," he says. "The biggest deal is to put pressure on the state, the prosecutors, and the defense attorneys and get them together to make decisions whether it’s going to be a plea or trial."
West started from the bottom of the back log and says he has not tried a 2024 case yet. If reelected he hopes to continue working through these cases.
West also prides himself on having the most technologically advanced courtroom in McLennan County – another campaign promise. Since 2021, West has added four new TV screens to the courtroom and upgraded the computers so that lawyers no longer have to use printed photographs as evidence.
"You don’t want them drifting off or daydreaming, and with all this technology they’re seeing it in front of their face and it’s keeping you engaged," West says.
He says these practices make trials more efficient.
West is active in his church, serving as a deacon. He is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Of his opponent, West says "My oppontent has never practiced criminal law. And now he’s coming after my job by lying and attacking the opponent just to try to cover up his lack of actual experience and lack of qualifications."
You can find Judge Thomas West’s full interview above.
Hoping to unseat the incumbent judge is Democrat Barry Johnson, who switched from Republican to Democrat to run.
He is running because he says the current District 19 judge, Thomas West, is not fit for the bench.
"I saw his character, saw his conduct, which in my opinion, was not near where it should be to be a district judge anywhere in the United States, certainly in the state of Texas," he says.
Johnson has been a civil lawyer for 30 years, mainly focusing on medical malpractice and personal injury law. He also served as the McLennan County District Attorney from 2018 to 2022, before being ousted in the Republican primary. While serving as DA, he did not try any cases.
He says despite not having any experience trying criminal cases, he has been doing trials his whole career.
"If you’re a lawyer and you know how to track cases, that’s the main thing. You know how to handle cases," Johnson says. "You know what it takes to go in a court of law and have a good judge."
If elected, Johnson hopes to work towards eliminating the backlog of the 19th District Court.
"Justice delayed is Justice denied and there have been some problems through the years with too many cases, so I think there are ways to tackle that problem," Johnson says. "I will make those decisions that have to be made without regard to any of the other problems in the court."
He also says he wants to increase the amount of plea bargains happening each week to bring those numbers down.
Of his opponent, Johnson says "you don’t have to put up with somebody who is a tyrant. I had lawyers tell me that if this guy is elected, that’s what you’re going to get. And that’s what we got."
You can find Barry Johnson’s full interview above.
Early voting runs now until November 1. Election day is Tuesday, November 5. For more information about early voting, visit mclennan.gov/elections.
