Carroll announces intent to file for another term

Judge Joe Carroll

Joe Carroll, district judge of the 27th Judicial District, which includes Bell and Lampasas counties, has announced he intends to file with the Texas Secretary of State's Office in December for another four-year term.

A Salado Republican, Carroll has served as district judge for close to 19 years.

He graduated from Temple High School, attended Temple College and received a bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas and a law degree from Baylor University.

Carroll previously has served as assistant district attorney, county attorney and district attorney.

He has served as a director of the Texas District and County Attorneys' Association, Texas Center for the Judiciary, and Bell, Lampasas and Mills Counties Bar Association.

Carroll is a fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas and past president of the Texas Association of District Judges.

He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the National College of District Attorneys and the Texas College of Advanced Judicial Studies.

Carroll has been certified in criminal law by the State Bar and served as assistant staff judge advocate of the 71st Airborne Brigade of the Texas National Guard.

He and his wife, Susan, an educator with Temple Independent School District, have three adult children and a new granddaughter.

Said the judge: "I don't want to quit working. It's been a wonderful experience."

Carroll said working with Lampasas Countians over the years has been rewarding. "I've spent a lot of time on the ground in Lampasas County. I've always been here for court, for the grand jury and for events. I've been involved in Lampasas County and will continue to be."

Carroll comes from a family with longstanding ties to the legal community. The son of a Temple lawyer, Carroll is the brother of Jimmy Carroll, general counsel for Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple and a former chief justice of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin.