This morning, Judge Baird released an official statement announcing his intentions to complete his term and not run for re-election.
Here is the statement in full.
Today, Judge Charlie Baird announced that he will not seek re-election to the 299th District Court.
"Serving the people of Travis County has been the highest honor of my professional career," said Baird. "I am leaving the best job on earth, to devote more time to life's most important job, being a parent." Baird is the father of two preschool-aged children.
Baird's time in office has been notable for his efforts to help criminal defendants extricate themselves from the criminal justice system and become productive members of society.
Baird established a program to help defendants find employment and uses his courtroom to hold parenting, anger management and cognitive skills classes. The classes are free and frequently attended by Baird.
Earlier this year, Baird made history when he presided over the first posthumous exoneration in Texas, clearing the name of Tim Cole who was unjustly convicted of rape in Lubbock and later died in prison.
Baird, 54, was elected district judge in 2006 and took office on January 1, 2007. His term of office will end on December 31, 2010.
From 1990 through 1998, Baird, a Democrat, served on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court. From 1999 until his election, Baird served as a visiting trial and appellate judge, and taught criminal law subjects at Texas Tech University and South Texas College of Law, his alma mater. At the end of his current term, Baird will have served twenty (20) years in the judiciary.
Baird left open the door for a future run for political office, saying: "There will be an appropriate opportunity for me to return to public service but now is the time to devote to my family."
Baird, known for having a large number of photographs of his wife and children in his chambers, often questions criminal defendants about their children and frequently orders them to take parenting classes.
Last June, Baird announced that he would seek re-election and had been endorsed by many elected officials, community leaders and attorneys. He is currently unopposed in both the Democratic Party Primary and the General Election. Baird said the contributions to his re-election campaign would be returned.
As Karen Sage moves quickly and deliberately into the race for 299th, the rumors of Mindy Montford running turned from insider discussion to public conversation. Montford, former candidate for District Attorney, began a discussion on facebook last night asking friends what they thought of a potential run.
Montford has residual name ID from running in a high profile, well financed race recently, but would that be enough to defeat Sage who is already in the race and has been in the field for months?
Tomorrow is the first day to apply for the ballot. Expect our Democratic candidates to shake up a little more before the January deadline as both expected and unexpected candidates begin to file.
