Meet Tom

Justice Thomas “Tom” Baker was first elected to Texas’ Third Court of Appeals, Place 5 in 2018, along with Justices Triana, Smith, and Kelly. Then-candidate Thomas defeated a three-term Republican incumbent, and other Democratic candidates likewise prevailed, effectively flipping the court from all Republican to a Democratic majority of 4-2. Today’s court is now all-Democratic. Justices are elected to six-year terms, so this will be Justice Thomas’ first re-election bid. Although justices on the court may hail from any of the court's 24 Texas counties in the court’s jurisdictions, currently Justice Baker is the only one of the six justices on the court not from Travis County. He has resided 29 years in the Bell County city of Temple.

Born and raised in Denison, Justice Thomas J. Baker is a lifelong Texan who decided to devote himself to public service from an early age. Upon graduating high school at age 17, Tom enlisted in the United States Army with his parents’ consent and served a tour in Okinawa, Japan. After completing his enlistment with an Honorable Discharge in 1976, Tom earned a Bachelor of Journalism with honors in 1979 from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Arts in Government in 1980 with high honors at the University of Texas at Austin. Then, while earning a Doctor of Jurisprudence at the University of Houston Law Center in 1983, Tom was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve. The following year, he graduated once from Naval Justice School, and soon after began serving in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps at the Naval Legal Service Office in Corpus Christi, the Naval Air Station in Agana, Guam and the Commander Naval Reserve Force in New Orleans.

In 1990, Tom met his wife Cynthia at his brother’s wedding, and shortly thereafter she moved down from Minnesota to Temple to take a new teaching job with Temple Independent School District. Tom was still in the Navy JAG at the time, stationed in New Orleans, and they dated long-distance with frequent trips back and forth between French Quarter cafes and Central Texas bed & breakfasts. After three tours of duty and two commendation medals, Tom departed the Navy in 1991 and began serving as Assistant County Attorney for Bee, Texas. In July of 1994, he and Cynthia married and moved to Temple to establish their family and his private practice, and soon welcomed their first child, Sarah, in 1996; her sister Emily followed in 2000.

Prior to serving on the 3rd Court of Appeals, Justice Baker had a civil practice, specializing in family law and including appellate practice, in Bell County and Central Texas. He was Board Certified in Family Law in 2010 and has been a member of the College of the State Bar for more than 15 years, and has also served in the Lone Star Legal Aid Volunteer Lawyers Program for Bell County, supporting legal aid services to veterans and family violence victims. Justice Baker has accrued more than 100 hours in continuing legal education the past two years with an emphasis in appellate civil practice.

Accomplishments

  • Out of 80 Justices in Texas, Justice Baker ranks 5th in opinion production for FY2022

  • Testified in front of Texas House Committee on Budget in favor of pay raises for staff attorneys; these were granted, and improved the lives of staff but just as importantly, reduced attrition rates and boosted court efficiency 

  • Board Certified in Family Law

  • Member of the College of the State Bar for more than 15 years. 

  • Justice Baker was admitted to the United States District Court, Western District, in 1995.

  • He was previously admitted to the United States District Court, Southern District in 1984.

  • He was admitted to practice in military courts in 1984.