U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Fifth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Bray Davis | Trump (R) | – |
| James Robertson Nowlin | Reagan (R) | 1981 |
| Samuel Frederick Biery Jr. | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| David Briones | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| Orlando Luis Garcia | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| Alia Moses | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Kathleen Cardone | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| Frank Montalvo | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| Xavier Rodriguez | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| David Campos Guaderrama | Obama (D) | 2012 |
| Robert Lee Pitman | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Alan D Albright | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Walter David Counts III | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Jason Kenneth Pulliam | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Ernest Gonzalez | Biden (D) | 2024 |
| Leon Schydlower | Biden (D) | 2024 |
| Christopher Robert Wolfe | Trump (R) | 2026 |
How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1857.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.