Texas Indigent Defense Commission

Members

Office	Office Holder	Represents / Term Ends
Chair	The Honorable Sharon Keller	Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals
Ex Officio Member(s)	Sen. Brandon Creighton	Texas Senate
	The Honorable Nathan L. Hecht	Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court
	Rep. Joe Moody	Chair, House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee
	The Honorable Sherry Radack	Chief Justice, 1st Court of Appeals
	Rep. Reggie Smith	Texas House of Representatives
	The Honorable Vivian Torres	County court or statutory county court judge appointed by the Governor
	Sen. John Whitmire	Chair, Senate Criminal Justice Committee
Appointed Member(s)	Mr. Alex Bunin	Governor's Appointment, 02-01-2025
	Mr. Jay Cohen	Attorney, 02-01-2025
	Valerie Covey	Governor's Appointment, 02-01-2024
	The Honorable Richard A. Evans	Governor's Appointment, 02-01-2024
	The Honorable Missy Medary	State District Judge, Nueces County, 02-01-2024

Notes

The 77th Texas Legislature, through the passage of the Fair Defense Act, established the blueprint for
meaningful interaction between State and local government through the creation of the first state body to
administer statewide appropriations and policies. In exchange for State fiscal assistance, the local judiciary
is required to report its plan for delivering indigent defense services. The Commission publishes these local
plans on its website for all to view. The law also requires local county auditors to annually report county
expenditures pertaining to criminal indigent defense services. The county expenditure reports are also
published on the Commission website.
Renamed the Texas Indigent Defense Commission effective September 1, 2011.