 Chief
Justice Richard Barajas, a native of El Paso, Texas, was born
on August 2, 1953. He attended Cathedral High School in El Paso and received
his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Baylor University in Waco,
Texas in 1974. In 1977, he received his Juris Doctor from the Baylor School
of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas that same year. Upon
graduation from law school, he entered the United States Naval Judge Advocate
General's Corps where he served as a trial attorney in Norfolk, Virginia,
a staff attorney in the Azores, Portugal, and as a legislative attorney
on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Upon release from his naval obligation
he entered private practice in Fort Stockton, Texas. In 1988 he was elected
District Attorney for the 83rd Judicial District of Texas. On December
2, 1991 he was appointed to the Eighth District Court of Appeals in El
Paso. He was elected without opposition in the 1992 general election, and
on January 1, 1993 was sworn in as the first Hispanic ever elected to the
El Paso Court of Appeals. On January 1, 1994 he was appointed Chief Justice
and was elected without opposition in the 1994 general election. A nationally
recognized lecturer on the proper balancing of the constitutional rights
between the criminal defendant and the intended victim, Chief Justice Barajas
was honored by the President of the United States at a White House ceremony
as a national recipient of the Presidential Award for Victim Services.
The Chief Justice, his wife Cathy Jean, and his three children, Melanie
Getiñah, Brian Robert and Richard Edward all make their home in
El Paso. 
Last updated: January 2002 |
