4thCoA San Antonio Court of Appeals

FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS IN SAN ANTONIO  

Bexar County Courthouse (San Antonio) 

THE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS IN SAN ANTONIO HAS A MEMBERSHIP OF SEVEN JUSTICES, ALL OF THEM CURRENTLY WOMEN 

Current Chief Justice: Sandee Bryan Marion (R) (elected 2014, current term through 2020)
Prior Chief Justice until end of 2014: Catherine Stone (did not seek re-election in 2014 and returned to private practice).

2018 ELECTION RESULTS 

Place 2: Democrat Beth Watkins defeated Republican Incumbent Marialyn Barnard with 51.97% of the votes
Place 3: Incumbent Democrat Patricia O’Connell Alvarez successfully defended her position against challenger Jason Pulliam with 53.04%. Pulliam was formerly a member of this appellate court.
Place 4: Incumbent Democrat Luz Elena Chapa prevailed over Republican challenger Patrick Ballantyne with 53.86% of the vote.
Place 5: Democrat Liza Rodriguez defeated Republican Rebecca Simmons with 52.42% of the vote.
Place 7: Democratic Incumbent Rebeca Martinez successfully defended her post against Republican challenger Shane Stolarczyk with 53.92% of the votes

UPDATED 11/8/2018 (preliminary results from Texas SOS) 

Appellate court races in San Antonio - Final vote tally 

THE FOURTH COURT'S MEMBERSHIP AT THE END OF 2018 

2014 ELECTIONS AND ITS AFTERMATH 

In the open contest for the post of Chief Justice, Associate Justice Sandee Bryan Marion beat her Democratic opponent, Irene Rios, with 55.52% of the vote. This outcome created a vacancy on the court (Place 6) as a result of Justice Marion's assumption of her duties as Chief. The newly elected Governor was expected to pick a replacement as one of his first appointments, but Governor Perry made the appointment just before he left office in January 2015. Perry chose Jason Pulliam, a Republican who was then serving as a presiding judge of County Court-at-Law No. 5 in Bexar County (San Antonio).

Because Pulliam was a sitting county court judge at the time of the appointment, his promotion to the appellate bench also created a vacancy, but vacancies on county courts are filled by the County Commissioners, not by the Governor. The Bexar County Commissioners Court chose John A Longoria to succeed Pulliam as the presiding judge of County Court at Law No. 5 (CCL5).

Justice Jason Pulliam has dual minority status on the Fourth Court of Appeals. He is the only male member of the court, as currently constituted, and the only African-American. This court has several Hispanic members, which can be seen as reflecting the city where it sits.

The fourth appellate district that elects the members of the Fourth Court of Appeals is competitive in partisan terms. The San Antonio-based appellate court features a mix of Democrats and Republicans, until recently all of them women. Re-election cannot be taken for granted. In 2012, Democrats defeated Republicans, while in 2014, Republicans scored a major victory by winning the contest for chief justice.

CURRENT MEMBERSHIP ROSTER (2015) IN ORDER OF SENIORITY 
with hotlinks to official biographies with photo

Chief Justice Sandee Bryan Marion - Place 1
Justice Karen Angelini - Place 5
Justice Marialyn Barnard - Place 2
Justice Rebeca Martinez - Place 7
Justice Patricia Alvarez - Place 3
Justice Luz Elena Chapa - Place 4
Justice Jason Pulliam - Place 6

MEMBERS OF THE COURT AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 with year of term expiration shown

Catherine M. Stone 2014 (to be replaced by newly-elected chief justice)
Karen Angelini 2018
Sandee Bryan Marion 2016
Marialyn Price Barnard 2018
Rebeca C. Martinez 2018
Patricia O. Alvarez 2018
Luz Elena D. Chapa 2018

JAN 2013 MEMBERSHIP: ASSOCIATE JUSTICES BY PLACE DESIGNATION

OPINION STATS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 

COUNTIES SERVED BY THE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS 

Atascosa Gillespie Kinney Starr
Bandera Guadalupe La Salle Sutton
Bexar Jim Hogg McMullen Uvalde
Brooks Jim Wells Mason Val Verde
Dimmit Karnes Maverick Webb
Duval Kendall Medina Wilson
Edwards Kerr Menard Zapata
Frio Kimble Real Zavala

Hotlink to this appellate court's website:  http://www.txcourts.gov/4thcoa.aspx

THE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SITS IN BEXAR COUNTY, BUT DOES NOT OPERATE OUT OF THE ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT OLD COUNTY COURTHOUSE 

Historic Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio 

Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, which houses the
San Antonio-based Fourth Court of Appeals 

The Physical Location and Mailing Addresses for the San Antonio Court of Appeals are the same:

Fourth Court of Appeals

Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

300 Dolorosa, Suite 3200

San Antonio, Texas 78205-3037

Cadena-Reeves Justice Center next to the old County Courthouse
in San Antonio, Texas 

EDITORIAL NOTE: This page on the San Antonio Court of Appeals and its membership was updated on 2/23/2015. The February 2015 updates reflect the changes brought about by the November 2014 election and a subsequent appointment to fill a vacancy. 2018 election info was added 11/8/2018 and 12/17/2018.