Overview
- Hawkins fills the vacancy left by Justice Jeff Boyd, who retired earlier this year from the all-Republican court.
- The appointment runs through December 31, 2026, and Hawkins must stand for election next year to seek a full term.
- Gov. Greg Abbott praised Hawkins’ record and has now appointed most of the court’s nine justices.
- Hawkins previously served about two and a half years as Texas solicitor general and resigned in 2021 after declining to sign Ken Paxton’s failed 2020 election challenge.
- Earlier this year he worked briefly in the U.S. Solicitor General’s office and argued that states may remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, and he is currently a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP.