Reelect Judge

Michael E. Keasler

Michael E. Keasler, a fifth generation Texan, is a judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals---the state’s court of last resort in criminal cases.  He has served on that court since January 1, 1999.  He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.  After two years in private practice, he joined the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, where he served for twelve years, tried over four hundred jury trials, and was a senior felony chief prosecutor in the Career Criminal Division.  In 1981, he was appointed judge of the 292nd District Court in Dallas, a general jurisdiction trial court, where he served for over seventeen years.

 

             Judge Keasler has served as Chair of the State Bar Judicial Section, the Texas Center for the Judiciary's Board of Directors, the ABA State Trial Judges' Ethics Committee, the Dallas County Criminal District Judges, the Dallas County Juvenile Board, and the Dallas Bar Association Criminal Law Section.  He also served as Presiding Local Administrative Judge and as Dean of the Texas College of Advanced Judicial Studies.

Judge Keasler has taught at The National Judicial College since 1992, served on the Faculty Council there, and was the April, 2002 Robert H. Jackson Lecturer at its General Jurisdiction Course.  He is a member of The American Law Institute and the ABA Appellate Judges Conference.  He is also a Fellow of the American and Texas Bar Foundations.  He teaches judicial ethics, constitutional criminal law, and statutory construction to judges nationally.

 

             Judge Keasler has been married to the former Nancy Lawson, a classroom teacher, for forty years.  They reside in Austin.  Their daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren also live in Austin.