Jesse McClure facts for kids

Jesse F. McClure III, born in 1972, is an important judge in Texas. He works on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This court handles serious criminal cases in Texas.

About Jesse McClure

Early Life and Education

Jesse McClure grew up and went to high school in Tempe, Arizona. He then went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree there. Later, he studied law at the University of Texas School of Law. He earned his Juris Doctor degree, which means he became a lawyer. During his studies, he also spent a year learning in the United Kingdom. He attended the University of Sussex near Brighton.

Becoming a Lawyer

After law school, Jesse McClure started his career at a law firm. He then worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Tarrant County. This means he helped the government prosecute crimes. For a short time, he was an attorney at the United States Department of Homeland Security. After that, he became a special prosecutor for the Texas Department of Insurance.

Serving as a Judge

In 2019, Governor Greg Abbott chose Jesse McClure to be a judge. He started working in a trial court in Harris County. In December 2020, he was promoted to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This is one of the highest courts in Texas for criminal cases.

Judge McClure is a very important figure. He is the first African American judge on this court since 1998. He is also only the third African American judge in the court's history. In 2022, Judge McClure was elected to a full term. He won by a very large percentage of votes.

He is also the sixth African American person to hold a statewide office in Texas. Other notable African Americans who held statewide office before him include Louis Sturns and Morris Overstreet.

See also

• List of African-American jurists
• List of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni