Troy Johnson to retire as judge of County Court at Law No. 2

After 20 years on the bench of County Court at Law Number Two, Judge Troy Johnson announces that he is retiring. 

Says Judge Johnson, "I am stepping aside with the satisfaction of having kept my campaign promises. We eliminated the large backlog of criminal cases that we inherited. The combined efforts of our court team, the attorneys, and the bonding companies have enabled us to clear more than 20,000 criminal cases." 

Throughout his tenure in the courtroom, Judge Johnson has handled misdemeanor criminal cases, juvenile cases, civil cases, as well as divorce and custody cases. Judge Johnson says the highlight of the court were adoptions and he was honored that the adoptive parents allowed him to share such wonderful moments with him. 

Judge Johnson says the most prominent setback in his time on the bench has been the hurricanes. "I think I have survived more hurricanes than any Judge in the history of Orange County." But despite the hardships of six devastating hurricanes, his team kept the Court going. Judge Johnson is also proud of the way that his Court, as well as other Orange County courts, endured the pandemic and kept the wheels of justice moving, while other counties completely shut down.  

Before being elected in 2005, Judge Johnson served as a prosecutor for 16.5 years. After working as an Assistant District Attorney for Smith County in Tyler, Texas, Judge Johnson came back to his hometown in 1993 to work for District Attorney John Kimbrough and has not left the courthouse since. He says what he will miss the most is the people who work inside the courthouse, especially his court family. 

As Judge Johnson looks ahead to retired life he expects to spend more time on the golf course, travel with his wife, Veronica, specifically to the Dallas and Orlando areas to visit his children and granddaughter, and become an official Paul McCartney "groupie," because seeing him eight times is just not enough. He is also in the process of completing two bucket list items: the first is visiting all of the Major League Ballparks (only five to go), and to visit every courthouse in Texas (201 to go, but now he's got the time).