Who is running for District Judge, 501st Judicial District in 2026?

Associate Judge, 505th District Court (Fort Bend County)

LaTosha McGill Clayton is the associate judge of the 505th District Court in Fort Bend County, a position she has held since 2021². Before that she ran The McGill Law Firm for seven years and worked as an attorney at the Harris County Domestic Relations Office². She is the Democratic nominee against Richard T. Bell¹.

• Associate Judge, 505th District Court, Fort Bend County, since 2021²
• Owner of The McGill Law Firm for seven years (family, criminal and personal injury law); legal enforcement attorney, Harris County Domestic Relations Office²
• Juris Doctor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, 2004; former middle school science teacher²
• Joined the bench as associate judge of the 505th District Court in Fort Bend County in 2021; she is not the sitting judge of the 501st²³.

Judge, 501st District Court (Fort Bend County)

Richard T. Bell is the judge of the 501st District Court in Fort Bend County, appointed December 1, 2025²³. He practiced family law for nearly twenty years, served on the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee for four years before taking the bench, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center³. He is the Republican nominee against Democrat LaTosha McGill Clayton¹.

• Judge, 501st District Court, Fort Bend County, since December 1, 2025³
• Family law practice for nearly twenty years; South Texas College of Law, 1997³
• Member of the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee for four years before the bench; former president of the Fort Bend County Bar Association; adjunct professor, University of Houston Law Center³
• Appointed to the 501st District Court by Governor Greg Abbott effective December 1, 2025, for a term ending December 31, 2026⁴.