What Does a Texas County Judge Do?

An executive role, not a courtroom role, in Tarrant County

Every Texas county has a county judge, but the job looks very different depending on the county's size. According to Tarrant County, in counties with a population under 225,000 the county judge serves in a judicial capacity¹.

Tarrant County has a population of more than 2 million (the county's own website says nearly 2.3 million), far above that threshold. In counties this large, the county judge functions as the county's chief executive rather than a judicial officer. The Tarrant County government's own materials describe the role as focused on "financial, budgetary, and administrative matters" rather than presiding over court proceedings¹².

How Commissioners Court works

Despite its name, Commissioners Court is not a judicial court. It is the governing body of the county: an executive and legislative body made up of the county judge and four commissioners, one from each of the county's four precincts².

The county judge presides over Commissioners Court. Commissioners Court adopts the county's budget, sets the county tax rate (and the tax rate for the JPS public hospital system), and oversees county roads, bridges, and infrastructure. It also manages county facilities, including jails²¹.

Emergency management

Under Texas law, the county judge also has emergency management authority over the entire county¹.

Term of office

The Tarrant County Judge is elected to a four-year term¹.

Who is on the November 3, 2026 ballot

The Tarrant County Judge race is on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. Both nominees won their March 3, 2026 primaries⁴⁵:

• Tim O'Hare (Republican, incumbent)⁴
• Alisa Simmons (Democrat), currently the Tarrant County Commissioner for Precinct 2⁵