Firsts in state history
Law school
- Gloria Bradford (1954): First African American woman to graduate from law school in Texas, earning her degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1954 [1] [2] [3]
- Hattie Ruth Elam Briscoe: [4] [5] [6] First African American woman to graduate from St. Mary's Law School in Texas (1956)
Lawyers
- Edith W. Locke (1902): [7] [8] First woman admitted to practice law in Texas, though she did not exercise the right
- Hortense Sparks Ward (1910): [9] [10] First female lawyer in Texas, as well as the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court (1915)
- Florence Bates (1914): [11] One of the first female lawyers in Texas; left the profession and become a Hollywood actress later in life
- Beverly Tarpley (1952): [12] [13] [14] First female lawyer in Texas to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court
- Charlye O. Farris (1953): [15] First African American female lawyer in Texas
- Edna Cisneros (1955) and Diana Cisneros Klefisch (1956): [16] [17] First Hispanic American female lawyers in Texas
Judicial officers
State
Judges
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [18] First female judge in Texas (1935) [19]
- Charlye O. Farris (1953): [15] First African American woman to serve as a judge pro tem in Texas (1954)
- Harriet Mitchell Murphy (1969): [20] [21] [22] First African American female judge in Texas (1973)
- Wendy Duong: [23] First Vietnamese American (female) judge in Texas (1992)
- Orlinda Naranjo: [24] First Latino American woman elected to a countywide judgeship in Texas (1994)
- Barbara Hartle: [25] First openly LGBT female judge in Texas (2006)
- Phyllis Frye (1981): [26] [27] First openly LGBT judge in Texas (2010)
- Tonya Parker: [28] First openly LGBT African American (female) elected to a judicial seat in Texas (2010)
- Rabeea Sultan Collier: [29] [30] First Muslim American and Pakistani American (female) judge in Texas (2019)
- Manpreet Monica Singh: [31] First Sikh female judge in Texas (2023)
Business court
- Sofia Adrogué: [32] First (Latino American) female judge of the Texas Business Court (2024)
County court
- Mary Velma Davenport: [33] First female county judge in Texas (c. 1938)
- Charlye O. Farris (1953): [15] First African American woman elected as a county judge pro tem in Texas (1954)
- Alicia R. Chacón: [34] [35] First Latino American woman elected as a judge of a major county in Texas (c. 1990s)
Municipal court
- Barbara Hartle: [25] First openly LGBT woman to become a municipal court judge in Texas (2006)
- Phyllis Frye (1981): [26] [27] First openly LGBT individual appointed as a municipal court judge in Texas (2010)
District court
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [18] First woman appointed as a judge of the District Court in Texas (1935)
- Elma Salinas Ender (1978): [36] First Latino American woman to serve as a state district court judge in Texas (1983) [37]
- Mary Roman: [38] First Latino American woman elected as a state district court judge in Texas (1992)
- Kristen Hawkins (2000): [39] [40] First woman elected as a judge of the Eleventh District Court in Texas (2017)
- Renee Rodriguez-Betancourt: [41] [42] [43] First woman to become the youngest district court judge in Texas (2017) [44]
Court of appeals
- Shirley W. Butts (1954): [45] First woman appointed as justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals in Texas (1981)
- Camille Hutson–Dunn (1963): [46] First woman appointed as a justice of the First Court of Appeals in Texas (1984)
- Alice Oliver–Parrott: First woman to serve as a chief justice in the Texas Court of Appeals (1991–1996) [47]
- Gaynelle Griffin Jones: [48] [49] First African American woman to serve as an appellate court judge in Texas (1992) [50]
- Linda Reyna Yáñez: [51] First woman to serve as a justice of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Texas (1993)
- Leanne Johnson: [52] First woman elected to serve as a justice of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Texas (2014)
- Gisela Triana: [53] First Latino American woman to serve as a judge of the Third District Court of Appeals (2018)
- Robbie Partida-Kipness: [54] First Hispanic American (female) to serve as a judge of the Fifth Court of Appeals in Texas (2018)
- Dori Contreras: [51] First female justice appointed as the chief justice of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Texas (2019) [55]
- Frances Bourliot: [56] First Asian American woman elected as an appellate court judge in Texas (2020) [57]
- Yvonne T. Rodriguez: [58] First Latino American woman to serve as the chief justice of the Eighth Court of Appeals (2021)
Criminal court of appeals
- Sharon Keller (1978): [59] First woman to serve as the presiding judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals (2000)
- Elsa Alcala: [59] First Latino American woman to serve as a judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals (2011)
Supreme court
- Hattie L. Henenberg: [60] [61] First Jewish woman to serve on the Texas Supreme Court (upon her appointment to the "All-Woman" Texas Supreme Court in 1925)
- Margaret Harris Amsler (1937): [62] First woman to serve as the Marshall of the Supreme Court of Texas (1941)
- Ruby Kless Sondock (1961): [63] First woman appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1982)
- Rose Spector: [64] First woman (who was also Jewish) elected as a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1992)
- Eva Guzman: [65] First Hispanic woman appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (2009)
Federal
District court
- Sarah T. Hughes (1922): [18] First woman appointed as a judge of the Federal District Court (1961) in Texas
- Barbara M.G. Lynn (1976): [66] First woman to become the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2016)
- Gabrielle Kirk McDonald: [13] First African American woman appointed as a judge of the Southern District of Texas (1979)
- Hilda G. Tagle: [67] [68] First Hispanic American woman to serve as an appellate judge in Texas [69]
- Janis Graham Jack: [70] First woman to serve as a U.S. District judge for the Southern District of Texas (1994)
- Alia Moses (1986): [71] [72] First woman to serve as a judge of the U.S. States District Court for the Western District of Texas (2002) and its chief judge (2022)
- Brenda T. Rhoades: [73] [74] First Asian American (female) to serve as a judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas (2003)
- Judith K. Guthrie: [75] First woman appointed as a magistrate judge of the U.S. States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- Karen Gren Scholer: [76] First Asian American (female) U.S. district court judge in Texas (2018)
- Ada E. Brown: [77] First African American and Native American woman to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2019)
- Yvonne Ho: [78] First Asian American (female) to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (2023)
Court of appeals
- Carolyn Dineen King: [13] First woman to serve as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1999)
Deputy attorney general
- Elizabeth B. Lacy: [79] First woman to serve as the deputy attorney general for Texas (1973)
Assistant attorney general
District attorney
- Edna Cisneros (1955): [16] [17] First Hispanic American woman to become a district attorney in Texas
- Erleigh Norville Wiley: [82] First African American woman to become a district attorney in Texas (2014)
Assistant district attorney
United States attorney
- Gaynelle Griffin Jones: [48] [49] First woman (and African American woman) to serve as a U.S. attorney for Texas (1993–1997)
- Sarah Saldaña: [85] First Latino American woman to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas (2011)
County attorney
- Nellie Gray Robertson: [86] [87] First woman to serve as a county attorney in Texas (1918)
- Bridgette Smith-Lawson: [88] First African American woman to serve as a county attorney in Texas (2020)
Political office
- Barbara Jordan (1959): [89] First African American female lawyer elected to the Texas Senate (1966)
- Irma L. Rangel (1969): [90] [91] [92] First Hispanic American woman elected to the Texas State Legislature (1976)
- Sylvia Garcia (1978) and Veronica Escobar: [93] [94] First Hispanic American women (both former judges) elected to Congress in Texas (2018)
- Nandita Berry (1995): [64] First Indian American woman (and Indian American in general; a lawyer) to serve as the secretary of state for Texas (c. 2014)
- Jolanda Jones (1995): [95] First openly lesbian African American (a lawyer) elected to the Texas State Legislature (upon winning a special election in House District 147 in 2022)
Bar association
- Harriet Miers (1970): [96] First woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas (1992)
- Lisa Tatum: [97] First African American woman (and African American in general) to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas (2013–2014)
- Sylvia Borunda Firth: [98] First Hispanic American woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas (2020)