About this office
It's very difficult for a case to reach the Supreme Court. So for most Texans who appeal — a custody ruling, a lawsuit, a conviction — the Court of Appeals is the last court that will ever hear it. Texas has 14 of these courts, each covering a share of the 254 counties, and Hays County's cases go to the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin. The Chief Justice runs that court — and this year the seat is on your ballot.
Candidates
Ken WiseKen Wise has spent over a decade on the appeals bench and also co-hosts a legal podcast on the side.
About Ken
Wise was appointed to the 334th District Court by Governor Rick Perry in 2011, then to the 14th Court of Appeals, Place 7, in 2013, where he has served since. He earned his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M and his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, and he is now seeking another term on the same seat.
William DemondWilliam Demond spent more than ten years as a civil rights lawyer in Houston before becoming a court staff attorney himself.
About William
Demond practiced constitutional rights law in Houston for over a decade, handling cases involving civil liberties, government accountability, and due process, before joining a Texas court of appeals as a staff attorney in 2023. He previously ran for a different seat on the same court in 2022 and lost, and he's now running again for Place 7.