Dallas's Fifth Appellate District to Be Short Handed until 2015; New Justice Will Likely Be Chosen by Six GOP County Chairpeople.

Justice John Moseley of Dallas's Texas State Fifth Supreme Judicial District Court of Appeals-- not the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in New Orleans-- resigned to go into private practice, but did so between the time he had been chosen a candidate for re-election and the time of the actual regular election. This means that the governor doesn't choose the replacement for the end of the term. The replacement will be the winner of the election. The Republicans and the Democrats will get to choose candidates through the party chairs of the six counties that make up the district. As a practical matter, one of the justices of that court for next term is going to be chosen by the six county Republican chairs of the district.

Hat tip to D. Todd Smith of Austin. The Texas Lawyer has a good story on this, too, but they only let three stories per month outside of their pay wall.