Judge Thad Heartfield stepped down after four years as chief judge effective December 31, 2008. His good friend, David Folsom of Texarkana, became our chief judge effective January 1, 2009. Judge Heartfield's status as an active district judge will remain the same. He led the court through many significant changes as chief judge, including the vigorous implementation of electronic filing, the addition of several new judicial officers (including a magistrate judgeship in Marshall and a soon-to-be-filled second magistrate judgeship for the Sherman Division), the opening of a new courthouse in Plano and the adept handling of emergencies in Beaumont created by Hurricanes Rita and Ike.
