Justice Gina M. Benavides

Justice Gina M. Benavides was first elected to the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas in 2006 and most recently elected to her third six-year term in 2018.  

She has received numerous awards, including the President’s Award from the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society in September 2023, the Reynaldo Garza Lifetime Achievement Award from the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section in June 2023, the Ethics Award from the Hidalgo County Bar Association in May 2023, and Latina Judge of the Year from the National Hispanic Bar Association in 2007. 

Benavides is a founding member of Texas Latinx Judges and has served as regional director 11 of the National Association of Women Judges, a member of the Texas American Board of Trial Attorneys, chair of the State Bar of Texas Judicial Section, chair of the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section, and liaison to the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation, and the Texas Center for the Judiciary. 

In 2008, Benavides was appointed to serve on the Texas Center for the Judiciary Board of Directors and in 2011, she was elected chair of the Texas Center by her fellow judges—the first Hispanic female to hold this position. In 2013, she received the Chair’s Award of Excellence from the Texas Center.  

Benavides currently serves on the board of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section and serves on the State Bar of Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Business, Consumer, Insurance, and Employment Committee. She recently joined the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and is leading its website committee. She also continues to ensure that all Texans have access to justice by sitting on the board of the Texas Legal Services Corporation and the Legislative Committee of the Texas Access for Justice Commission.

Benavides is a past president of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas, a past president of the Cameron County Bar Association, and a former vice-president of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel. 

Originally from Corpus Christi, Benavides graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1985 from the University of Texas at Austin. She then attended law school at the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted into the State Bar in 1988. She resides in Corpus Christi with her husband, Sammy. She is the mother of three children—Daniella, Ricardo, and Alyssa—and the grandmother of Willow, Trey, Celia Leona, and Auggie.