A Republican judge over a state criminal court is stepping down from his Harris County bench for private practice, the elected official said Wednesday.
Aaron Burdette submitted his resignation last week to Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially appointed him to the 486th District Court following its creation in 2023. Abbott is expected to appoint another lawyer to the bench at some point following his May 31 departure.
Burdette described his pending exit as a voluntary resignation from office for a better opportunity for himself and his family.
“It’s been an honor of the lifetime,” Burdette said. “I didn’t want to leave, but sometimes life gets in the way of your life plans.”
Burdette won a four-year term in the court in the 2024 general election.
Burdette previously worked at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for 14 years and later served as general counsel for U.S. LawShield, a Texas-based company marketed toward providing gun owners with legal aid.
His appointment followed the creation of new courts aimed at tackling the backlog of criminal cases during the pandemic. At the time of his appointment, he inherited about 1,200 cases. That number had since dropped to about 550 by the end of April, according to county records.
During his nearly three years on the bench, he presided over the trial of Destin Quintero, who was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in the death of 20-year-old Caleb Rickenbacher in a wrong-way crash that also injured Rickenbacher’s girlfriend.