Justice Molly Francis

Justice Molly Francis has served as a Texas judge for fifteen years.  First running for office in 1990, Justice Francis was elected to preside over Dallas County Criminal Court No. 9, a court with misdemeanor jurisdiction.  On November 22, 1996, she was appointed judge of the 283^rd Judicial District Court, a felony court, by Governor George W. Bush.  On September 12, 2001, Governor Rick Perry appointed her to serve as justice on the Fifth District Court of Appeals. 

In 2003, Justice Francis was elected by Texas judges as Chair of the Texas Center for the Judiciary and Chair of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas.  She sits on the curriculum committee for the Texas Center for the Judiciary and is on the faculty for the College for New Judges.  She is a member of the Criminal Law Advisory Committee of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and serves on the State Bar of Texas Pattern Jury Charges Committee.  Justice Francis is an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy at Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

A strong proponent for volunteerism, Justice Francis has been a decade-long member of the community service restitution committee of the Volunteer Center of North Texas, has served on the Board of Directors of that organization for six years and is currently on the Volunteer Center Council.

Justice Francis attended Baylor University and Baylor Law School.  She is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  A member of the Dallas Bar Association since 1982, Justice Francis held a position on the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors from 1996 to 1998.  She was Chair of the Criminal Justice Council of the State Bar of Texas and is a recent graduate of the Texas College for Judicial Studies. She attends St. Ann Catholic Parish.