This page is about a former federal judge of theWestern District of Texas. If you are looking for information on the federal judge for theEighth Circuit, please seeWalter Inglewood Smith.

Walter Smith Jr.

Nonpartisan

Prior offices:

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Years in office: 1984 - 2016

Education

Bachelor's

Baylor University, 1964

Law

Baylor University School of Law, 1966

Personal

Birthplace

Marlin, TX

Walter Scott Smith Jr. was anArticle III federal judge for theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He joined the court in 1984 after being nominated by PresidentRonald Reagan. He retired from the district court on September 14, 2016.^[1][2] Smith passed away on September 5, 2025.^[3]

Education

Smith graduated from Baylor University inWaco, Texas, earning his bachelor's degree in 1964 and hisJ.D. in 1966.^[1]

Career

From 1966 to 1980, Smith was a private practice attorney in the state ofTexas. He served as a judge in the54th District Court based inMcLennan County, Texas, from 1980 to 1983. He went on to briefly serve as a federal magistrate judge in theWestern District of Texas from 1983 to 1984.^[1][4]

On the recommendation of U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas), Smith was nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas by PresidentRonald Reagan on September 11, 1984, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. Smith was confirmed by theU.S. Senate on October 3, 1984, and received commission onOctober 4, 1984. He served aschief judge of the court from 2003 to 2010 and was succeeded in that role bySamuel Biery. He retired from the district bench on September 14, 2016.^[1][5][2]

Noteworthy cases

In his August 29 written decision, Smith called the lawsuit "frivolous" and ordered the Sierra Club to pay the energy company $6.4 million in attorneys' fees.^[8] However, in a November 24 settlement deal, EFHC agreed to relinquish the judgment in exchange for the environmentalist group dropping future litigation in the matter.^[9]

Noteworthy events

Sexual misconduct complaint filed against Smith

In 2014, attorney Ty Clevenger filed a complaint that alleged Smith had inappropriate sexual contact in 1998 with a staff member of the federal district clerk's office in Waco. The staff member testified that Smith had asked her to his chambers, where he proceeded to kiss and touch her inappropriately before asking her to have sex with him. She declared that she had done nothing to provoke the advances and rarely spoke with Smith at work.^[10][11]

On September 29, 2014, JudgeCarl Stewart of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit asked Clevenger for more information regarding the sexual misconduct complaint Clevenger filed earlier in September against Smith. On October 30, 2014, Stewart referred the attorney’s complaint against Smith to a special investigative committee composed of5th Circuit JudgeCatharina Haynes, JudgeCarlton W. Reeves of theSouthern District of Mississippi and himself. Clevenger said he received word in October 2015 that the committee had submitted its report to the Judicial Council of the5th Circuit. On October 24, 2015, Clevenger filed an additional complaint against Smith, this time asking that he be impeached. He also filed a complaint against Smith and Waco attorney Greg White for failing to disclose that White was acting as Smith's counsel in the judicial misconduct investigation—an alleged conflict of interest.^{[11][10][12][13]}

December 2015 update: The investigative panel found that Smith's conduct "was in contravention of existing standards of behavior for federal judges" but did not impeach him. Smith was reprimanded and banned from taking on new cases—either criminal or civil—for a year, starting on December 3, 2015.^[14]

January 2016 update: Clevenger filed an appeal against the December decision. Stated Clevenger, "I am appealing the decision because I think no one should be above the law, even if you are a federal judge. He deserves to be impeached." He added, "I’m sure most felons wish they could receive such lenient treatment. It seems the Fifth Circuit has created a new category of crime — the de minimis felony — for those cases where the perpetrator is a federal judge."^[15]

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

External links

• Judge Smith's biography from theFederal Judicial Center
• KWTX.com, "Local Federal Judge Named In Complaint Alleging Sexual Misconduct," September 16, 2014
• Western District of Texas, "Bio: U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr."

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas
Active judges	Chief Judge: Alia Moses  •  Samuel Biery  •  Xavier Rodriguez  •  Kathleen Cardone  •  Orlando Garcia  •  Jason Pulliam  •  David Counts  •  Robert Pitman  •  Leon Schydlower  •  Alan Albright  •  Ernesto Gonzalez (Texas)
Senior judges	David Briones  •  Frank Montalvo  •  Robert Junell  •  David Alan Ezra  •  James Nowlin  •  David Guaderrama  •
Magistrate judges	Victor Garcia  •  Jeff Manske  •  Collis White  •  Robert Castaneda  •  Anne Teresa Berton  •  Mark Lane (Texas)  •  Miguel Torres (Texas)  •  Henry J. Bemporad  •  Elizabeth Chestney  •  David Fannin  •  Dustin Howell  •  Richard Farrer  •  Ronald C. Griffin  •  Susan Hightower (Texas)  •
Former Article III judges	Thomas Howard DuVal  •  Ezekiel Turner  •  Edward Prado  •  Emilio Garza  •  Thomas Sheldon Maxey  •  William Robert Smith  •  Walter Smith Jr.  •  Harry Hudspeth  •  Sam Sparks  •  Earl Yeakel  •  Philip Martinez  •  William Furgeson  •  DuVal West  •  Charles Albert Boynton  •  Robert Johnston McMillan  •  William Steele Sessions  •  Lucius Bunton  •  Hipolito Garcia  •  Ernest Guinn  •  Walter Keeling  •  Ben Rice  •  Jack Roberts (Texas)  •  Clyde Shannon  •  Adrian Spears (Texas district court judge)  •  Dorwin Suttle  •  Robert Thomason  •  William Thornberry  •  John Wood (Texas)  •
Former Chief judges	Walter Smith Jr.  •  Harry Hudspeth  •  William Steele Sessions  •  Lucius Bunton  •  James Nowlin  •  Ben Rice  •  Jack Roberts (Texas)  •  Adrian Spears (Texas district court judge)  •

v • e Federal judges nominated byRonald Reagan
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1985	Alley •Altimari •Anderson •Aquilino •Archer •Arnold •Baldock •Batchelder •Battey •Broomfield •Brown •Brown •Brunetti •Buckley •Cobb •Conmy •Cowen •Davidson •Dimmick •Duff •Easterbrook •Edgar •Farnan •Fernandez •Fitzpatrick •Fuste •Greene •Gunn •Guy •Hall •Hilton •Holderman •Hughes •Johnson •Jones •Korman •Kozinski •La Plata •Leinenweber •Letts •Lovell •Ludwig •Maloney •Mansmann •Marcus •McDonald •Meredith •Miller •Mills •Miner •Motz •Nelson •Noonan •Porfilio •Revercomb •Rhoades •Ripple •Rodriguez •Rosenbaum •Roth •Ryan •Sam •Scott •Sentelle •Silberman •Sporkin •Stanton •Stapleton •Strand •Strom •Tacha •Tevrizian •Thompson •Todd •Tsoucalas •Walker •Walter •Weber •Williams •Wilson •Wingate •Wolf •Wollman •Young •Zloch
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1987	Alesia •Beam •Bell •Conboy •Cowen •Cummings •Daronco •Doty •Dwyer •Ebel •Ellis •Gadola •Gawthrop •Greenberg •Harrington •Howard •Hoyt •Hutchinson •Kanne •Kelly •Larimer •Leavy •Lew •Marsh •Mayer •McKinney •Michel •Mukasey •Musgrave •Niemeyer •Parker •Phillips •Politan •Pro •Raggi •Reasoner •Reed •Scirica •Sentelle •Smith •Smith •Stadtmueller •Standish •Tinder •Torres •Trott •Turner •Van Antwerpen •Voorhees •Webb •Whipple •Wolin •Wolle •Wood •Zagel
1988	Arcara •Babcock •Brorby •Butler •Cambridge •Camp •Conlon •Cox •Dubois •Duhe •Ezra •Forester •Friedman •Garza •Hutton •Jordan •Kennedy •Lake •Lamberth •Lifland •Lozano •Marovich •Nygaard •Patterson •Schell •Smith •Smith •Tilley •Waldman •Zilly

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