Courts118th District Court

118th District Court

District Court · Glasscock, Howard and Martin counties

Judge R. Shane Seaton has held this bench since at least 2026. The docket leans family — 6,156 of 17,436 filings since 2010 — and more than half of it arrives from Howard County. 1,592 attorneys have appeared here.

The bench1 sitting · from directory snapshots
JudgeRoleTenure
R. Shane SeatonJudgeby 2026
Filings by year2026 is partial
6321.3k2010 · 1,263’102011 · 1,2202012 · 1,064’122013 · 1,1472014 · 1,188’142015 · 1,1592016 · 1,064’162017 · 1,1922018 · 1,246’182019 · 1,1012020 · 838’202021 · 7782022 · 853’222023 · 8762024 · 979’242025 · 9802026 · 488’26
Attorneys who appear most in this court1,592 have appeared · 25-case floor
AttorneyCityMostlyCases
1Hardy L. WilkersonBig SpringCriminal2,7872Joshua Andrew HambyBig SpringCriminal1,3243Andrew Paul MoutonBig SpringCivil1,0234Elias GamboaBig SpringCriminal6535Rick W. HambyBig SpringFamily4706Michael Scott LayhOdessaCriminal2397Violet Latawn WhiteMidlandCriminal1608Weldon Tracy CritesMidlandCivil1589Kelly Anne StaplerAustinFamily15310John T. FergusonBig SpringFamily145

Attorneys in private practice with 25 or more appearances in this court’s indexed filings. Bulk government filers are not listed.

Elections1 race · 1 cycle · official canvass
CandidateVotesShare
2022Elected unopposed — no votes recorded
R. Shane SeatonR—elected

Texas judges are elected in partisan races; a governor’s appointee fills a vacancy only until the next general election. Results are the Secretary of State’s official canvass. An unopposed candidate can be declared elected without appearing on the ballot, so some races record no votes.

Last refreshed September 23, 2026
118th District Court, Texas | Judges & Cases | Referlex