Paul Womack

Paul Leslie Womack (born April 1, 1947)^[1] is a retiring judge of the nine-member Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state court of last resort in criminal cases in Texas. A Republican, Womack was first elected in 1996, won second and third terms in 2002 and 2008, but did not seek a fourth term in 2014.

Background

A resident of Georgetown in Williamson County in suburban Austin, Texas,^[1] Womack received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1975, he received his Juris Doctor from University of Texas School of Law in Austin.^[2]

Legal career

After law school, Womack taught for a year at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston and then engaged in private practice for two years. In 1978, he was named research assistant for Judge Truman Roberts of Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In 1982, when Judge Roberts retired, Womack became an assistant district attorney in Travis County. From 1987 to 1997, he was the first assistant district attorney in Williamson County, his last position until he joined the Court of Criminal Appeals. Since 1983, he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law; he wrote a casebook on Texas criminal procedure.^[3]

In the Republican primary election for the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1992, Womack led a five-candidate field for the Place 2 seat. He polled 214,415 votes (31.8 percent) and was placed in a runoff election with Pat Barber, who finished in a second place with polled 148,764 (22.1 percent), less than a thousand votes above that of the third-placed candidates.^[4] In the second round of balloting Womack prevailed over Barber, 148, 135 (66.9 percent) to 73,129 (33.1 percent).^[5] In the November general election, Womack defeated the Democrat Charles Holcomb, 2,721,048 (53.5 percent) to 2,368,192 (46.5 percent).^[6]

In 2000, Womack's wife, Sally L. Ray, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination to join her husband as a member of the Court of Criminal Appeals. She finished in fourth place in the contest for the Place 2 seat with 131,609 votes (17.1 percent).^[7] Victory ultimately went to Womack's colleague on the court, Barbara Hervey of San Antonio.

In 2002, Womack defeated another Democrat, Pat Montgomery, for Place 2 on the Court of Criminal Appeals, 2,463,069 (57.4 percent) to 1,828,431 (42.6 percent).^[8] In 2008, in the Place 4 court race, Womack defeated another Democrat, J.R. Molina, 4,044,788 (53 percent) to 3,340,754 (43.7 percent).^[9]

References

Current statewide political officials of Texas
U.S. Senators	John Cornyn Ted Cruz
State government	Greg Abbott, Governor Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor & President of the Senate Carlos Cascos, Secretary of State (appointed) Ken Paxton, Attorney General Glenn Hegar, Comptroller (Treasurer equivalent) George P. Bush, Land Commissioner Sid Miller, Agriculture Commissioner Christi Craddick, Ryan Sitton, David J. Porter (to be succeeded by Wayne Christian), Railroad Commissioners
Senate	Juan Hinojosa, President pro tempore In the Texas Senate, there are no majority or minority leaders.
House	Joe Straus, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Speaker pro tempore In the Texas House, there are no majority or minority leaders.
Supreme Court (civil)	Nathan Hecht, Chief Justice Don Willett Debra Lehrmann John P. Devine Paul W. Green Jeff Brown Jeffrey S. Boyd Phil Johnson Eva Guzman
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals	Sharon Keller, Presiding Justice Lawrence E. Meyers (to be replaced by Mary Lou Keel) Bert Richardson Kevin Patrick Yeary Cheryl Johnson (to be replaced by Scott Walker) Michael Keasler Barbara Hervey Elsa Alcala David Newell