Dee Johnson
Republican Candidate for District Judge, 47th Judicial District
Johnson/Photo by Campaign
Question: What is your age?
Answer: 57
Q: What is your educational background? Please list any degrees or certificates earned and any institutions attended.
A: B.A. Government – University of Texas at Austin; Attended the Criminal Justice Washington Semester at American University; J.D. – St. Mary’s University School of Law
Q: What is your occupation?
A: I am a 31 year trial attorney. Over the years, I have done civil trial work with experience in criminal and family law matters.
Q: If you are a business owner, please list the business or businesses that you own. (If this question is not applicable, please note that below.)
A: I am self-employed at Packard, Hood, Johnson & Paul, LLP
Q: Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.
A: Amarillo Republican Women – Board Member and Trunkline Editor
West Texas Epilepsy Foundation – Amarillo, Currently Emeritus Board Member, Past President and Board Member
Epilepsy Foundation Texas, Past State Chair
Olsen Park Elementary PTA, Past Board Member
Crockett Middle School PTSO, Past Board Member
Amarillo High School PTSO, Past Board Member
Legal Counsel for School Sisters of St. Francis
Legal Counsel for Pray the City
Q: Have you previously held or do you currently hold any elected office? If so, what office(s)?
A: I have never held a public office
Q: If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.
A: My Facebook page is Dee Johnson for Judge. My website is deejohnsonforjudge.com.
Q: Why did you decide to run for this office in 2022?
A: Our judicial system has always been a passion for me and I have always believed in giving back to my community. While raising our children I focused on giving back in their schools and supporting young people in our community. Our children are grown and recently Judge Schaap announced his plans for retirement. Having spent thirty-one years in courtrooms, I place great importance on the integrity of our judicial system and the safety of the public as a whole. We can best protect our jury trial system, Constitutional rights, and public by assuring that we have a judge who shows up every day, studies and follows the law and treats everyone equally. By assuring that the law is followed and not re-written we can be sure that justice is served and dangerous criminal are not on our streets.
Q: If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?
A: 1) Protecting our Constitution
2) Assuring speedy and efficient trials
3) Protecting the Public
Q: What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?
A: We need to get cases to trial more quickly. For parties and defendants, justice delayed is justice denied. For taxpayers, every day an inmate speeds in one of our county jails is more expensive. For the public, everyday a dangerous criminal remains on the street is more danger. We have some backlog due to COVID but we also have some backlog because cases are not being promptly handled. I would like to catch up the backlog by calling juries on a more frequent basis and trying multiple cases each week. I would also encourage the increased use of days on which multiple defendants and their counsel come to the courthouse and negotiate pleas with prosecutors in person or via Zoom with counsel being with their clients in person. I don’t mind long days and I think we need to put in a little extra time to catch up from the time we have lost. For civil matters I would like scheduling orders in all cases with definite trial dates and extensive pretrial hearings so that most procedural and evidentiary matters are worked out in advance of trial.
Q: Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?
A: Experience matters and after thirty-one years of representing the people and businesses of the Panhandle in court, in both civil and criminal matters I have ample experience to offer. Beyond experience, I am and will continue to be very much a part of this community. I believe in service, hard work, honesty and compassion, not only inside the courtroom but in our community. We all have the power to make a difference. As judge of the 47th District Court, no one will work harder to make a difference in our community.