Ninth Court of Appeals

Place 4

Justice Horton grew up in a small farming community in Northwest Texas on land that was part of the XIT ranch. At various times, his family owned farms, ranches, a hardware store, a farm implement company, a drilling company, a pump company, and a bank. Working in many of these businesses while growing up, Horton's work experience has varied from driving a tractor to working as a machinist, a roustabout, a hand on a pump truck crew, and working cattle.

After graduating from high school, Horton attended and then graduated from Duke University, where he majored in Economics and History. After attending law school at The University of Texas, he worked as a trial attorney in the Beaumont office of Orgain, Bell & Tucker. Horton is board certified in personal injury trial law and in civil trial law. He has been re-certified in those specialties consistently every five years beginning in 1991. Horton's law practice involved trial and appellate matters for the firm's clients: his representative clients included product manufacturers, energy companies, insurance companies, utility companies, chemical companies, and banks. Between 1981 and 2004, Horton participated in trials resulting in jury verdicts from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande.

In 2004, Governor Rick Perry appointed Horton to the Ninth Court of Appeals. The Texas Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment. The voters later elected him to his current office in 2006, 2012, and 2018.

Justice Horton and his wife Courtney have two grown children and five grandchildren.