Republican incumbent Chris Wolfe faces Democratic challenger Cindy Stormer in the race for judge of Tarrant County’s 213th District Court in November. The 213th District Court handles adult felony cases for the county.
Wolfe was appointed to the 213th District Court by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2018. He previously served as a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office in Fort Worth and is a member of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (Fort Worth Chapter). His campaign did not respond to messages seeking responses to the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire.
Stormer served as Assistant District Attorney in Dallas County from 2008 to 2015. During her stint as chief of the Mental Health Division she oversaw the mental health trial dockets in the criminal courts. She also worked with the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit . Stormer was in private law practice for about 14 years and a uniformed police officer for 10 years.
The candidate’s responses to our questionnaire are presented as they were answered. They have not been altered or edited in any way.
Chris Wolfe
Did not respond.
Cindy Stormer
Political party: Democrat
Age: 68
Campaign website: stormerfortexas.com
Best way for voters to reach you: cindystormer@gmail.com
Occupation: Professor and author and attorney
Education: J.D.
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought, with years): Former Elected District Attorney, 235th Judicial District
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism: Selected by Texas Department of State Health Services to assist in developing a Jail Based Competency Restoration program as mandated by the Legislature (SB 1475 in 2013) which resulted in Dallas receiving the grant for same (I was the only prosecutor in the State on this Committee);Attorney Ad Litem of the Year, Court Appointed Special Advocates of North Texas, Inc.Planning Committee, State Bar Advanced Criminal Law Course;Distinguished Alumni of Tarrant County College;Above and Beyond award, Dallas District Attorney’s Office;Fellow of the Texas State Bar Foundation since 2003;Hold hundred of hours of police “in-service” training, including the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia.Outstanding Young Woman of America;Who’s Who in American Law (9 years);President County Bar Association;President Child Welfare Board;Founder and Former Director - Texas Association for Women Police;League of Women Voters;
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain: No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain: I brought the civil suit to have Susan Hawk removed as District Attorney of Dallas in 2016. She had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution twice in the first 8 months while she was serving as District Attorney. The Ellis County District Attorney agreed with my assessment and took over the case.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?: Tarrant County Democratic WomenNE Tarrant County DemocratsRalph Torres
Why are you seeking this office?: Deaths in the jail (several times the national average) and the resulting largest lawsuits in Tarrant history are due in part to judges not moving cases efficiently and timely. Taxpayers pay the legal fees on both sides of these lawsuits. According to a recent study, done by Tarrant County judges, the average sentence in the Tarrant County Jail was 70 days, while the average time served was 133 days. People are serving twice as much time as that to which they are sentenced.Retired State Representative Honorable Lon Burnham stated at Commissioner’s Court “I went to the Central Jury Room with over 200 other people when I was informed. . . over 30 judges that are not holding court today. .. The judges are not working a 40 hour work week and they are getting paid way too much for the time that they don’t spend on the bench getting the job done.”
What are your top 3 policy priorities?:
1. Move the cases faster. Currently, our Judges are leaving violent offenders/murderers in the community for up to 5 years pre-trial, making us less safe.
2. Utilize the Jail Diversion Center. A Tarrant Judge stated that it went “unused” one year. Your taxpayer dollars pay for the facility and to staff it. Lives and millions in lawsuits would have been saved. I have reduced crime while cutting the jail population in half and ending the process of sending people to out-of-county, for-profit jails. This cost Tarrant taxpayers $44 million last year.
3. Deaths in the jail could be prevented by moving cases faster to prevent overcrowding and using many other practices outlined in my book - BrainStormer, Dealing Logically, Ethically, and Efficiently with the Mentally Vulnerable and those with Addictive Tendencies (What is wrong with the criminal justice system and how to fix it). The chapter on “What Judges can Do” is on my website.
Why should voters choose you over your opponent(s)?: Our juvenile system has been stripped of rehabilitation dollars due to right wing extremism. My opponent is the judge that stripped these juveniles of these services – 86 % of which are children of color – because the provider used the words “systemic rascism” on their website. I was the Conviction Integrity/DNA attorney in the Dallas District’s Attorney’s Office. The most common reason for wrongful convictions is cross-racial misidentification. Systemic racism is real. His actions are indicative of his lack of empathy. Also, studies show that for every dollar spent on these programs, 8 tax dollars is saved.I was the Chief of the Mental Health Division of the Dallas District Attorney’s office. I will appoint a competency attorney to my court. This will save millions in lawsuits.I have handled every aspect of criminal cases from police officer to elected DA.No one works harder than me. My resume’ speaks for itself and you can review it at www.stormerfortexas.com . Thank you.
Local News
Comments / 0