Courts8th Court of Appeals

8th Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals · Statewide

3 justices sit this bench. The docket leans criminal — 8,809 of 16,745 filings since 1979. 6,301 attorneys have appeared here.

The bench3 sitting · from directory snapshots
JudgeRoleTenure
Maria A. Salas MendozaChief Justiceby 2026
Gina M. PalafoxJusticeby 2026
Lisa J. SotoJusticeby 2026
Filings by year2026 is partial
2795581980 · 19’801981 · 3241982 · 350’821983 · 3841984 · 432’841985 · 3281986 · 342’861987 · 3341988 · 335’881989 · 3791990 · 340’901991 · 3991992 · 414’921993 · 4431994 · 389’941995 · 3371996 · 416’961997 · 5581998 · 401’981999 · 4612000 · 502’002001 · 4722002 · 510’022003 · 4762004 · 343’042005 · 3702006 · 298’062007 · 3232008 · 316’082009 · 2932010 · 342’102011 · 3722012 · 359’122013 · 3672014 · 319’142015 · 3832016 · 357’162017 · 2642018 · 227’182019 · 3162020 · 247’202021 · 2292022 · 247’222023 · 3562024 · 420’242025 · 3372026 · 311’26

1 thin leading year (4 filings between them) trimmed from the chart, as on the coverage pages; the last column is a partial year.

Attorneys who appear most in this court6,301 have appeared · 25-case floor
AttorneyCityMostlyCases
1Jaime Eloy EsparzaEl PasoCriminal2,5682Matthew DekoatzEl PasoCriminal3423John P. MobbsIrvineCivil2744Steven L. Hughes—Civil2515Charles Louis RobertsEl PasoCriminal1896Craig M. WatkinsDallasCriminal1757Ken K. SlavinEl PasoCivil1558John Barksdale HolmesBirminghamCriminal1349Randall W. ReynoldsPecosCriminal13310Yvonne Nicolette Rosales—Criminal133

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

Elections5 races · 3 cycles · official canvass
CandidateVotesShare
2024Place 2Unopposed
Lisa Soto (i)D174,533100.00%
2024Place 3Unopposed
Gina M. Palafox (i)D173,569100.00%
2024Chief JusticeUnexpired termUnopposed
Maria Salas MendozaD175,541100.00%
2022Place 2Unexpired term2 candidates · 20.8 pt margin
Lisa SotoD111,83860.39%
Jeff Alley (i)R73,36739.61%
2020Chief Justice2 candidates · 29.4 pt margin
Yvonne RodriguezD187,82764.71%
Jeff Alley (i)R102,42635.29%

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.

Last refreshed September 23, 2026
8th Court of Appeals, Texas | Judges & Cases | Referlex