Bonnie Sudderth, judge of the 352nd Judicial District Court in Tarrant Count, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as justice of the 2nd Court of Appeals. Her term will expire at the 2016 general election. Currently the second-most senior civil district trial judge in Tarrant County, Sudderth began her judicial career at age 30, the youngest judge ever appointed as chief judge of the Fort Worth Municipal Courts. Six years later, in 1996, she ran a contested Republication primary for election to the 352nd District Court bench, winning the seat for a term starting on Jan. 1, 1997. Because the bench was vacant at the time of her primary election, Gov. George W. Bush appointed her to fill the vacancy for the remainder of 1996. She has been re-elected four times to the district court bench, and is now serving her fifth term in office.
Sudderth, an adjunct professor at the Texas A&M University School of Law, is board certified in civil trial law and personal injury trial law. She is a member and past president of the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court and American Judges Association, life member of the American Inns of Court Alumni Association and Texas Bar Foundation, and a charter member of the Tarrant County Bar Foundation. Sudderth is also a fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas and vice chairman of the Rules Committee Trial Subcommittee, a member of the State Bar of Texas Pattern Jury Charges-Business, Consumer and Employment Committee and Litigation Section, and past chairman of the Municipal Judges Section of the State Bar of Texas. She is also past president of the Texas Municipal Courts Association, past chairman of the Tarrant County Juvenile Board and a past member of the Texas Commission on Judicial Efficiency Task Force and Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. She is a board member of Tarrant County Volunteer Attorney Services, a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth Music Committee, and a mentor for the Texas Christian University Center for Civic Literacy.
Betty Dillard bdillard@bizpress.net Â