The 434th District Court sits in Fort Bend County.
This is a new court created in January 2007. It is a court of general jurisdiction that handles both civil and criminal cases. The 434th District Court does not handle family law cases. Those are routed to the family courts. Judge Shoemake has made news recently. A Houston attorney moved to recuse the judge when he learned that the judge’s wife went to work for the District Clerk, who is married to the prosecutor on a case that the attorney was defending.
The attorney was concerned when he learned that the judge’s wife was hired by the prosecutor’s wife to work in the District Clerk’s office, and the story is here.
Gov. Perry was allowed by the enacting legislation to appoint the first judge of this court and appointed an (unelected) Associate Judge from one of the family courts named James Shoemake. By way of background, Shoemake ran in the Republican Primary in 2002 against Ron Pope for the 328th bench, lost and was hired by the county as an associate judge in Judge Kern’s 387th Family District Court.
Another recent story involved comments made by Judge Shoemake to a pro se litigant and an alleged ex parte conversation with the litigant's opponent. This resulted in a hearing by a visiting judge and the granting of the motion to recuse Judge Shoemake. The story is here.
Judge Shoemake is currently the subject of an investigation by the Texas Ethics Commission. The story is here.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 4th, 2008; however, you may vote early at any of the Early Voting Locations.