About Judge Baird

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1. Message from Judge Baird
2. Biographical Sketch
3. Significant Cases and Editorials

Judge Charles F. (Charlie) Baird is your elected 299th District Court Judge. Judge Baird served on Texas' highest appellate court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, from 1990 through 1998. In 1997, the Houston Bar Association gave him the highest rating of Texas' eighteen statewide judges. He is a respected jurist and the author of more than 1,000 judicial opinions.

Judge Baird has served as a visiting justice on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, and the trial benches in Travis County. Additionally, Judge Baird was a visiting professor of law at his alma mater, South Texas College of Law, where he taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, criminal trial advocacy, criminal appellate and post-conviction procedure, and a seminar on capital punishment. Judge Baird is a two-time recipient of the Professor Excellence Award from the Student Bar Association at South Texas College of Law.

Judge Baird co-chairs the Death Penalty Initiative of the Constitution Project. The Initiative is a bipartisan committee of death penalty supporters and opponents who agree that the risk of wrongful executions in this country is unacceptably high. Additionally, Judge Baird is a frequent speaker on criminal justice topics across Texas. He has also spoken across the nation: In 2001, he spoke to the National Council of State Legislatures and the Kentucky Criminal Justice Council, and delivered lectures at Yale and Cameron Universities. In 2000, he testified before the United State Senate Judiciary Committee on DNA testing and adequate representation in criminal cases. In 1999, Judge Baird spoke at the American Bar Association convention and delivered a series of lectures at Yale, Georgetown and St. John's Universities. Judge Baird has appeared numerous times on ABC, CNN, NBC, and PBS. Additionally, he has contributed articles to numerous publications including Stanford Law & Policy Review, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Texas Tech Law Review, South Texas College of Law Review, St. Mary's Law Journal, Texas Bar Journal, and The Texas Law Reporter. You may have even seen him as a guest commentator on Court TV.

Judge Baird earned his Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. In 1993, he was named the distinguished alumnus of South Texas College of Law where he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1980. Judge Baird earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976. In addition, he attended the London School of Economics, Georgetown University, East Texas State University, and Kilgore Junior College.

Judge Baird and his wife, Kristin, are Travis County residents. Judge Baird is the youngest of five children of Mary Lee Baird and the late Jack F."Spot" Baird.