--- title: "Maria Aurelia Salas-Mendoza | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza-16029" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-02" --- # Maria Aurelia Salas-Mendoza El Paso County District Courts · Administrative Law Judge ## Profile - Court: El Paso County District Courts - State: Texas - Role: Administrative Law Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-06-30 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Since January 1, 2025, Salas-Mendoza has held the role of Chief Justice of the 8th Court of Appeals in El Paso, Texas, after being elected unopposed in the 2024 judicial election. - The Chief Justice of the Texas 8th Court of Appeals, elected in January 2025, and a former judge of the 120th District Court in El Paso, Texas - Presiding Judge, Texas 120th Judicial District Court, El Paso, TX, 2019-2022 - Presiding Judge, Texas 120th Judicial District Court, El Paso, TX, 2015-2018 - Presiding Judge, Texas 120th Judicial District Court, El Paso, TX, 2011-2014 - Presiding Judge, Texas 120th Judicial District Court, El Paso, TX, 2007-2010 - Administrative Law Judge, El Paso County District Courts, TX, ?-present - She is also active in community service through the Lions Club, mentoring students, and supporting programs for veterans, the unhomed, and justice-involved individuals ### Education - University of California-Los Angeles — J.D. (1994) - UCLA School of Law in — J.D. (1994) - History, Literature, cum laude — Harvard University — 1990 - J.D. — University of California School of Law at Los Angeles - A.B. — Radcliffe College at Harvard University ### Additional information - Practitioner, El Paso Legal Aid, El Paso, TX, 1997-1999 - She then returned to El Paso in 1996 as a staff attorney at the El Paso Legal Assistance Society (later TRLA) and later held the role of an Assistant County Attorney in civil defense. - The highest-ranking state judicial officer in El Paso and oversees the appellate court’s operations. - The Immediate Past Chair of the Hispanic Lawyers Section, founder of Texas Latinx Judges, and former District 11 Director of the National Association of Women Judges. - Born and raised in El Paso, Salas-Mendoza earned a bachelor’s degree in History and Literature (cum laude) from Harvard-Radcliffe College - Her legal career began at the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law in Los Angeles, where she trained volunteers and provided Spanish-language clinics for low-income clients. - She serves on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee, Pattern Jury Charge Committee (Business), and the ABA Standing Committee on Diversity in the Judiciary. - An El Paso native, she is the mother of four children: Michael, Austin, Melina, and Dillon. - She has a long-standing commitment to public service, which she has described as central to her life’s work. - Birth place: El Paso, TX ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote appearances Scope: statewide In civil district and county court proceedings, the court may permit or require electronic participation after appropriate notice; compelled electronic participation for oral-testimony proceedings requires good cause or party agreement, and a jury trial requires party agreement. Evidence excerpt: Upon appropriate notice by a party or the court, a court may allow or require a participant to appear at a court proceeding by videoconference, teleconference, or other available electronic means, except as otherwise provided in (2). [Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21d, Appearances at Court Proceedings](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### civil recording and broadcasting Scope: statewide Civil district and county trial courts may permit courtroom recording or broadcasting only under Supreme Court guidelines, with the required party and witness consent, or for ceremonial proceedings. Evidence excerpt: A trial court may permit broadcasting, televising, recording, or photographing of proceedings in the courtroom only in the following circumstances: [Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 18c, Recording and Broadcasting of Court Proceedings](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/16029/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza/) - [Official roster](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/16029/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza/) - [El Paso County District Courts current judicial profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/16029/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza/) - [Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21d, Appearances at Court Proceedings](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf) - [Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 18c, Recording and Broadcasting of Court Proceedings](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/16029/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza/) - [TJB | 8th COA | About the Court | Justices | Chief Justice Salas Mendoza](https://www.txcourts.gov/8thcoa/about-the-court/justices/chief-justice-salas-mendoza#:~:text=In%202006%2C%20Chief%20Salas%20was,the%20UCLA%20School%20of%20Law.) - [Maria Salas-Mendoza](https://ballotpedia.org/Maria_Salas-Mendoza) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza-16029", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/maria-aurelia-salas-mendoza-16029", "name": "Maria Aurelia Salas-Mendoza | KnowJudges", "description": "Maria Aurelia Salas-Mendoza, El Paso County District Courts. 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Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf). Collected 2026-07-26. - [Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21d, Appearances at Court Proceedings](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-a5f587f769df9f3231ef4f9a) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1462948/texas-rules-of-civil-procedure-july-1-2026.pdf). Collected 2026-07-26. - [Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 9.2, Electronic Filing](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-e966a5411b2587c600cf3508) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1461885/texas-rules-of-appellate-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-07-26.