Experienced Judge. Former Prosecutor.
This 5th generation Texan started his higher education 30 minutes north of Austin at Southwestern University, a college chartered by the founding government of the Republic of Texas. A 4-year letterman on the Southwestern baseball team, Puryear graduated with his BSE in 1978.
Justice Puryear continued on to Texas Tech University School of Law, where he earned his J.D. Upon graduation, he moved back toAustin to serve as a criminal prosecutor for Travis County. After 7 years of service, Puryear was twice elected as judge of a county criminal court, where he served for two terms and presided over the disposition of some 40,000 cases.
His work as a judge did not go unnoticed as former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn appointed this central Texas rancher as his deputy director in the Special Crimes Division, a unit involved in the investigation and prosecution of large-scale crimes.
Central Texans then elected Puryear to the 3rd Court of Appeals in 2000 and re-elected him in 2006. As the longest serving conservative judge on the Court, and one of the longest appellate judges in the State, Justice Puryear has issued over 1,600 written opinions. The Texas Office of Court administration, which compiles state court data, ranked him the most productive appellate court justice in Texas in original, merit-based opinions in 2011.
The Court
Unique Among the Courts of Appeals.
The 3rd Court of Appeals is the intermediate appeals court for 24 central and west Texas counties. All actions and decisions of the county and district courts within those 24 counties are subject to review by the 3rd Court. The 3rd Court is unique among the State’s 14 intermediate appellate courts in that it hears the appeals of cases involving the Texas state government, state officials and state agencies, making it one of the most important courts in Texas due to the impact those decisions have on the entire state. In addition to the complex State government appeals, the 3rd Court handles the appeals of all civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions from within the 24 county district. In 2010, the 3rd Court issued 1009 written opinions. Its decisions represent the final word of the Texas justice system in nearly 97% of its cases.
The 3rd District.
The 3rd District Court of Appeals is located in Austin and hears cases from the surrounding twenty-four counties:
Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Coke, Comal, Concho, Fayette, Hays, Irion, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, McCulloch, Milam, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher, Sterling, Tom Green, Travis and Williamson.