Last Thursday, only three judges voted against overturning Tarrant County voters’ pick for who should handle the majority of cases involving Child Protective Services.

On February 20, the district judges of Tarrant County—behind closed doors—voted to overturn the will of the voters and remove all cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS) from the 323rd District Court, where Judge Alex Kim presides.

The record of how the judges voted was not publicly released on the day of the vote. Texas Scorecard requested a copy of the transcript of the meeting on Thursday and received a copy the following Monday at 12:04 p.m. The vote is recorded.

Judge James Munford of the 322nd District Court and Judge Chris Wolfe of the 213th District Court both voted alongside Kim against removing all CPS cases from Kim’s court.

Judges Gonzalez, Beach, Cosby, Burgess, and Fahey did not attend the meeting. The rest of the judges joined together in voting against Kim and the voters who had hired him to handle the majority of Tarrant County’s CPS cases.

Texas Scorecard broke the story of this meeting on February 13, with sources claiming Kim was being targeted for being an unbiased judge and making CPS follow the law. Allegedly, the straw that broke the camel’s back was his last-minute injunction saving the life of baby Tinslee Lewis.

In the transcript, Judge David Evans—the overseer of all county judges and alleged ringleader of this move against Kim—disputes that Kim’s actions were the cause of this move.

Texas Scorecard is continuing to analyze the transcript and has sent open records requests under Judicial Rule 12 as part of an ongoing investigation.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley: 817-884-1441; gwhitley@tarrantcounty.com
Judge David Evans: 817-884-2690
Judge John Chupp: 817-884-1992
Judge Don Cosby: 817-884-1452
Judge Wayne Salvant: 817-884-1347
Judge David Hagerman: 817-884-1908; hagermanforjudge2014@gmail.com
Judge Jesse Nevarez Jr.: 817-884-3796;  jesse@nevarezlaw.net
Judge Kenneth E. Newell: 817-884-1794; kenneth@kennethnewell.com
Judge James B. Munford: 817-884-1427
Judge Judith Wells: 817-884-1537;  judith@judgejudithwells.com
Judge Patricia Bennett: 817-884-2708
Judge Melody Wilkinson: 817-884-1460
Judge R.H. Wallace: 817-884-1452
Judge Jerry Hennigan: 817-884-1432
Judge Kimberly Fitzpatrick: 817-884-2710; Kfitzpatrick@tarrantcounty.com
Judge Josh Burgess: 817-884-2730; judge@judgejoshburgess.com
Judge Elizabeth Beach: 817-884-1351; ehbeach@tarrantcounty.com
Judge Robb Catalano: 817-884-1356; rcatalano@tarrantcounty.com
Judge Ruben Gonzalez: 817-884-2935
Judge Susan Heygood-McCoy: 817-884-2691; susan@mccoyforjudge.com
Judge Tom Lowe: 817-884-1709; tlowe@tarrantcounty.com
Judge Mike Thomas 817-884-1362
Judge Chris Wolfe: 817-884-1529
Judge Mollee Westfall: 817-884-2985
Judge Scott Wisch: 817-884-2990; swisch@tarrantcounty.com
Judge George Gallagher: 817-884-2765

Since publication, this article has been updated to reflect that Judge Josh Burgess was among the judges who did not attend the meeting.

Robert Montoya

Born in Houston, Robert Montoya is an investigative reporter for Texas Scorecard. He believes transparency is the obligation of government.

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