Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Reed O’Connor was appointed by President George W. Bush as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas on November 21, 2007.

Judge O’Connor graduated from the University of Houston in 1986 with a B.S. degree. He then graduated summa cum laude from South Texas College of Law in 1989, where he was a member of the South Texas Law Review.

Judge O’Connor began his legal career in 1989 as an associate with Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P. He served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas in the Fort Worth division. In 2003, the Department of Justice detailed Mr. O’Connor to serve as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. He advised then-Chairman Orrin Hatch on various criminal and constitutional policy issues. The Department of Justice detailed Mr. O’Connor again in 2005 to serve as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship, where he served as counsel to Senator John Cornyn.

Judge O’Connor has been married to Tammy Herrin for over thirty years. They have two daughters.