Presiding Judge Sharon Keller,
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Endorsed by:
Former Governor Rick Perry
The Texas Alliance for Life
Texas Association of Business Political Action Committee (TXBIZ PAC)
Texans for Lawsuit Reform Political Action Committee (TLRPAC)
United Republicans of Harris County
Protect and Serve Texas PAC
Secure Our Border Now PAC
Houston Region Business Coalition
Houston Police Officers Union
Dallas Police Association
San Antonio Police Officers Association
The "C" Club of Houston
Houston Business Connections Newspaper
The Fort Bend Business Coalition
Toni Anne Dashiell, RNC National Committeewoman
Roy R. Barrera Jr.
Winner of the State Bar of Texas Judicial Poll
Sharon Keller is a native Texan. She holds a B.A. degree in philosophy from Rice University and a J.D. degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
Judge Keller began her legal career in 1978 in the private practice of law in Dallas. Subsequently, she worked for several years for her family’s drive-in restaurant business. She served as an assistant district attorney in the appellate section of the Dallas County District Attorney’s office from 1987 until 1994.
Judge Keller was first elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994. She was elected Presiding Judge in 2000 and has been re-elected to that position three times. She is now serving her fifth term on the Court. She is the first woman to have served on the Court, and she is the Court’s longest-serving Presiding Judge.
Over almost 29 years on the Court, Presiding Judge Keller has participated on a number of committees dedicated to the improvement of the criminal justice system. Her committee work includes areas such as probation, mental health, and reentry from prison to society. She has been a member of various organizations such as the Governor’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, the Harvard Executive Session on Community Corrections, the Timothy Cole Exoneration Commission, and the Council of State Governments Justice Center, of which she was a founding board member and former chair.
She has been Chair of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission since its inception in 2002. TIDC is a statewide organization that promotes innovation in indigent defense and helps counties with funding and technical assistance.
She is also currently a member of the Judicial Advisory Council to the Community Justice Corrections Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She is Chair of the Board of the Texas State Law Library, and a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. By virtue of her office, she is vice-chair of the Texas Judicial Council.
In 2003, Presiding Judge Keller received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service from the SMU Dedman School of Law. In 2011, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice awarded the Chief Justice Led Mental Health Task Force, of which she was chair, the POP Mental Health Award for its efforts in the promotion of positive mental health initiatives to enhance the Texas criminal justice system. She was recently awarded the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas.
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The Texas Indigent Defense Commission provides financial and technical support to counties to develop and maintain quality, cost-effective indigent defense systems that meet the needs of local communities and the requirements of the Constitution and state law.
The mission of the Commission is to promote justice and fairness to all indigent persons accused of criminal conduct. The Commission assists counties to provide quality representation in a cost-effective manner.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. Staff provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies—informed by available evidence—to increase public safety and strengthen communities.
The Judicial Advisory Council (JAC) advises the director of the Community Justice Assistance Division and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice on matters of interest to the judiciary.
The Texas Judicial Council (TJC) is the policy-making body for the state judiciary.
The Council studies methods to simplify judicial procedures, expedite court business, and better administer justice. It examines the work accomplished by the courts and submits recommendations for improvement of the system to the Legislature, the Governor, and the Supreme Court.