Eric Starnes

Republican Party

Candidate, Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Sam Houston State University, 1993

Law

Texas Wesleyan School of Law, 2006

Other

University of North Texas, 2000

Personal

Birthplace

Texas

Profession

Lawyer

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Eric Starnes (Republican Party) is running for election for the Number 7 judge of the Tarrant County Criminal Court Texas. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2022. He advanced from the Republican primary on March 1, 2022.

Starnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

## Contents

* 1 Biography
* 2 Elections
* 2.1 2022
* 2.1.1 Endorsements
* 3 Campaign themes
* 3.1 2022
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 6 Footnotes

## Biography[edit]

Eric Starnes was born in Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University in 1993, an M.P.A. from the University of North Texas in 2000, and a J.D. from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law in 2006. His career experience includes working as a lawyer. Previously, he worked for the Euless Police Department as a patrolman and later as Investigations Commander. Starnes has been affiliated with the State Bar of Texas, the Tarrant County Bar Association, and the Tarrant County Republican Party.[1]

## Elections[edit]

### 2022[edit]

See also: Municipal elections in Tarrant County, Texas (2022)

General election

##### General election for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7

Marq Clayton and Eric Starnes are running in the general election for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate

|

| Marq Clayton (D)

| Eric Starnes (R)

* * *

There are no incumbents in this race.

|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

#####  Democratic primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7

Marq Clayton advanced from the Democratic primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Marq Clayton |

100.0

| 63,758

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 63,758

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

#####  Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7

Eric Starnes advanced from the Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Eric Starnes |

100.0

| 96,874

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

| Total votes: 96,874

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Endorsements[edit]

To view Starnes' endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

## Campaign themes[edit]

### 2022[edit]

#### Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Eric Starnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Starnes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Eric Starnes is a conservative Republican, former law enforcement officer, and experienced prosecutor running for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7.

A lifelong Texan, Starnes earned his Master of Public Administration from the University of North Texas and his Juris Doctorate at Texas Wesleyan University. His roots in Tarrant County run deep, having served to keep his community safe for nearly three decades within the criminal justice system—both on the street and in the courts.

Spending time on both sides of law enforcement has afforded Starnes a valuable perspective on justice… one that isn’t learned in law school alone. During his more than 23 years of service with the Euless Police Department, he worked his way up from a patrol officer to Lieutenant of Investigations Command. In that capacity he oversaw the coordination of all criminal investigations, while managing a $1.6 million budget and a staff of eighteen.

In addition to his years in private law practice, his dedication to jurisprudence has further led to his becoming both a published writer and a professor, educating students on the laws that surround the basis of the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure clause—a subject vital to the criminal court system.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

* Experienced- nearly 3 decades of criminal justice experience including 15 years as an attorney with criminal and civil experience.
* Knowledgeable- studied and taught areas of law that deal with crimes, such as DWIs, that have a heavy impact on the case load in this court.
* Dedication to neutrality- recognition the trial judge is to remain impartial between the parties, not legislate personal views from the bench, and uphold the laws of the United States and the State of Texas.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Eric Starnes is personally passionate about having leaders and government officials who do not engage or encourage in activism from the bench. He strongly believes each elected judge should respect the role of a judge that requires neutrality and limiting the judge’s role to applying and enforcing state and federal laws as they are written.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Eric Starnes possessed a strong belief in protecting the tax payers' dollar and has always had a strong work ethic, as evidenced by his years of education and experience. During his last six years in running the investigations division at the Euless Police Department, he always came in under budget. His experience as a leader who managed a budget of over $1 million and managing large numbers of employees, he believes he can improve on the efficiency of Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 to get cases moved before they become several years old. He believes that justice delayed, is justice denied.

Eric Starnes believes in developing efficient and cost effective ways of a managing cases that need to be resolved for the benefit of the citizens of Texas, victims of crime, and the accused defendants. Cases that remain on a docket too long prevent justice for everyone, no matter what the final outcome of a case is.

Eric Starnes possesses a working knowledge of the Texas Penal Code and the Texas Rules of Criminal Procedure, so that he will be able to correctly apply and follow those rules that were carefully written and revised to ensure that justice is done.

What legacy would you like to leave?

The legacy Eric Starnes would like to leave for his children is that hard work and sacrifice will assist in finding passion, and that people flourish when they find jobs or careers they enjoy.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

## See also[edit]

2022 Elections

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Government

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## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7

* Website
* Facebook
* Instagram

Personal

* Facebook
* LinkedIn

|

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 6, 2022

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