District Judge Steve Ellis announced today that he is running for re-election as judge of the 35th Judicial District Court of Texas in Brown and Mills Counties. He is a Republican. Ellis was first elected in 1996 as 35th District Judge and he has been re-elected ever since. “I have done my best to be an honest, competent, hard-working judge who is tough but fair. I want to continue to strive to make a difference as your district judge for one last term.” Judge Ellis said.
Ellis, age 63, graduated from Baylor University in 1973 with a B.A. in History and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Baylor University School of Law in 1976. He is a former district attorney and assistant district attorney and he engaged in the private practice of law in this area for twenty years before his election to the bench. He is a 2005 graduate of the Texas College for Judicial Studies and a recipient of a commendation from the President of the State Bar of Texas in 2006.
The 35th District Court is one of the busiest trial courts in the region. Since becoming a judge, Ellis has presided over thousands of criminal and civil cases and hundreds of jury trials. Despite a heavy docket, he has maintained a clearance rate of over 98%: disposing of more than 1,808 cases in the district court during the last 12 months. He has rarely been reversed on appeal.With a consistent record of improving the judicial process in central Texas, Ellis has done much in his many years of public service. For example, in 1984 while still district attorney, Ellis helped create Brown County Crime Stoppers which through the years has assisted in solving thousands of crimes in our area. After becoming a judge, he implemented the Children and Divorce, Safe Exchange, and Mediation programs at the Family Services Center in Brownwood. Ellis helped form CASA in the Heart of Texas, Inc. in 1999. (CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA volunteers serve as a child’s voice in court, representing the interests of abused and neglected children.) For his dedicated service, he was selected by Texas CASA, Inc. as its “Lone Star Proud for Kids Judge of the Year” for the State of Texas in 2002. In 2013 Judge Ellis worked with other judges and the commissioners courts of Brown and Mills Counties to create the Indigent Defense/Pretrial Services Office. It has proved to be a cost effective way of improving and enhancing the process of complying with the Texas Fair Defense Act, better managing our county jail populations, and saving tax dollars at the same time.
He has many professional affiliations and honors. Ellis was named in the Texas Lawyer, a statewide weekly newspaper, as one of the outstanding judges in our region of Texas. He is a member of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas and the American Judicature Society, which promotes the effective nonpartisan administrative justice at all court levels. He has been appointed on several occasions to serve on the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco when an appellate justice had a conflict of interest.
Judge Ellis has been deeply involved in his community and in his church. He is also a cattle rancher. Ellis was named Outstanding Man of the Year 2002 and Professional of the Year in 2013 by the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a member and past president of the Brownwood Kiwanis Club. Ellis has been very active in the Boy Scouts of America for a long time, and is currently serving as Cubmaster for Pack 14 in Brownwood. He is a former scoutmaster and father of two sons who were Eagle Scouts. He is a member of the executive board and past president of the Texas Trails Council headquartered in Abilene. He is a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Brownwood where he has taught a Sunday School Class for more than thirty-eight years. Judge Ellis was an adjunct faculty member teaching political science at the Academy of Freedom at Howard Payne University 2006-2007 and is currently serving on the HPU Board of Trustees.
Steve and his wife Mary Jane have been married for over 5 years. His first wife, Debby, died of inflammatory breast cancer in May 2006. Debby and Steve have three adult children: Rebecca Ellis Whitacre, an estate planning attorney in Dallas; John Ellis, a civil litigation attorney in Austin; and Joe Ellis, who recently completed his military service having returned from his second tour in Afghanistan as a Captain in the United States Air Force. Joe is now attending Texas Tech School of Law. Mary Jane has two grown children from a prior marriage: Justin Pittman of Brownwood and Lindsey Pittman of Fort Worth. The Ellis’s are the proud grandparents of three grandchildren with more on the way. When he is not serving in the courtroom or in some other way in our community, Judge Ellis enjoys spending time with family and working on his ranch.
