July 31, 2014 – Darlene Byrne ’87, judge of the 126th District Court of Travis County, has been elected president-elect of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Her election recognizes Byrne as a leader among a national organization of more than 1,900 judges and other professionals in the area of juvenile and family law. The announcement was made at the organization’s 77th annual convention in Chicago earlier this month. She is expected to be inducted as president at the 78th annual gathering next July in Austin. She has previously served as treasurer, secretary, and as a member of the NCJFCJ Board.
Byrne was elected to the bench in 2000 and has managed the Travis County Child Protective Services dockets for more than seven years, hearing and overseeing cases involving more than 1,200 children in the dependency system with the assistance of an associate judge. She also serves as vice-chair of the Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission on Children, Youth, and Families.
Byrne graduated magna cum laude from the Law Center where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and worked on the Houston Law Review.
