Chief Justice Darlene Byrne
✓ Re-Elect
Meet Chief Justice Byrne
Justice Darlene Byrne is running for re-election as Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals. Before being elected to the Court of Appeals in 2020, Justice Byrne served for 20 years as the presiding judge of the 126th District Court of Travis County. During her time on that court, she improved access to justice for children and families and was a founding member of the Travis County Family Drug Treatment Court and the Dual Status Youth Docket.
Because of her outstanding work in our courts, Justice Byrne has received widespread recognition, including Judge of the Year honors from National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Texas CASA, and CASA of Travis County. In 2023, she was awarded Judge of the Year by Texas ABOTA. She previously served as President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court as the first Vice Chair of the Texas Children’s Commission.
Justice Byrne currently serves as Chair of the Board for TexProtects, Co-Chair of the Judicial Leadership Council of National CASA, and on the Executive Committee of the Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeal. Under her leadership, the Third Court of Appeals was recognized in 2025 by the Travis County Women Lawyers Association for being presided over by all female justices for the first time in the over 100-year history of the court.
An honor graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, Justice Byrne lives in Austin with her husband, Dan, and is the proud mother and mother-in-law of five adult children.
Core Values
Justice Byrne believes in access to justice for all, regardless of wealth, nationality, gender, race or language. The doors to the courthouse should be open to all. The bench should be a welcoming place for people to have their disputes decided by learned judges and justices working diligently to uphold the rule of law every day.
She believes in making decisions acknowledging that a person’s day in court is one of the most important days of their lives and therefore treating them and that day with dignity and respect.
Experience & Qualifications
If re-elected, Justice Byrne will take her almost 25 years of diverse, practical judicial experience in the trial and appellate courts and her 13 years as a trial and appellate attorney and continue to work hard every day to provide Central Texans with grounded, real world judicial decisions.
After 6 elections, the voters of Central Texas and Travis County have continued to elect and trust Justice Byrne to serve them on the bench. She hopes you will give her the privilege in this 7th election.
Philosophy
After serving as a trial judge for many children and families in Travis County who find themselves involved in the child welfare court, juvenile justice court or family court, Justice Byrne understands the urgency of justice when dealing with the lives of real people who find themselves in court. As the Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals that presides over both civil and criminal cases, Justice Byrne understands that same urgency for those needing answers to their appeals, especially if their freedom has been impacted by the court system.
Therefore, time is of the essence when making decisions that impact the lives of real Texans. Justice Byrne has taken that sense of urgency with her to the Appellate Court, so the people’s lives do not languish with delayed justice through delayed decision making.
Judicial Leadership
Justice Byrne is not afraid of hard work and long hours, both on and off the bench. While being a judge or justice is a full-time job, she has led a national judge’s organization on its board for a decade and as its president for one of those years. Since the beginning of the Texas Children’s Commission in 2008, Justice Byrne served as its first Vice Chair and a Commissioner for over a decade. As the Chief Justice, she now serves on the Executive Committee of the Council of Chief Judges for State Courts of Appeal, on the Commission for the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and on the board of the Texas Center for the Judiciary.
These are but a few of her leadership roles, many of which have taken her across the country to teach and consult with other jurisdictions on best practices when it comes to making judicial decisions.
Community Engagement
Getting off the bench and supporting her community as a volunteer is also important to her understanding of the needs of the community she serves and knowing what is important to her community. She is presently the board chair of TEXProtects and is the co-chair of the National Leadership Council of National CASA.
She has served or presently serves on many advisory boards in Austin, such as the Seedling Foundation, Partnerships for Children, and Carrying Hope. Through this type of active engagement, she not only thrives on giving back but stays grounded and in touch with the people she is entrusted to serve.