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Bonnie
Sudderth

Judge Bonnie Sudderth

The State District Court Judge of the 352nd District of Texas, Bonnie Sudderth spent her formative years in a small Texas town approximately 100 miles outside of Fort Worth. She completed her high school education and enrolled at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, eager to see more of the world. While working toward her Bachelor’s degree, Bonnie Sudderth studied abroad at the Universite de Dijon in France. She graduated from the University of Southern California magna cum laude in 1982, the recipient of a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and Public Affairs. Following the conclusion of her undergraduate studies, Bonnie Sudderth moved back to Texas and enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law. She also completed a 1984 summer session at the prestigious University of Exeter School of Law in England. Bonnie Sudderth earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1985. After law school, Bonnie Sudderth passed the Texas Bar Examination and went into private practice. Four years later, in 1990, she received an appointment as a Judge in the City of Fort Worth Municipal Court. Bonnie Sudderth assumed the role of Chief Judge of the City of Fort Worth Municipal Court a mere five months later, becoming the youngest person ever to achieve that title. For six years, she presided over myriad trials and held responsibility for all five courts in the Fort Worth Municipal Court system. Bonnie Sudderth entered the Republican primary as a candidate for the vacant 352nd District Court bench in 1996, summarily winning the election and obtaining distinction as the first Republican woman to preside over a civil district court in Tarrant County, Texas. Though her term officially started at the beginning of 1997, then-Governor George W. Bush appointed Bonnie Sudderth to fill the empty seat for the rest of 1996. A highly capable judge respected for her comprehensive understanding of the law, Bonnie Sudderth’s composure, genial demeanor, and rational decision-making have earned her re-election three times since 1996, making her the 352nd District Court’s longest-serving judge.


Bonnie Sudderth's Schools

Bonnie Sudderth's Companies

  		•  Texas Wesleyan School of Law 1999
    Adjunct Professor
    Part-time (evening) professor of law Teach a course entitled "Texas Trials & Appeals" to second and third year law students; also teach a practicum course in "Civil Motion Practice" "Outstanding Faculty Member" award 2008
  		• 352nd District Court 1996
    Judge

Bonnie Sudderth's Publications

  • Locks of Love, Bonnie Sudderth
    April, 2011
    An accomplished legal professional and current Judge of the 352nd District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, Bonnie Sudderth contributes to Locks of Love on a yearly basis. A nonprofit charitable organization based in the United States and Canada, Locks of Love collects human hair and monetary donations to craft wigs for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy or other medical conditions and who are financially disadvantaged.

    Founded nearly 15 years ago, Locks of Love initially existed as a business partnership with a for-profit wig manufacturer and retailer. With the establishment of a volunteer Board of Directors in late 1997, the organization gained nonprofit status and separated itself from its for-profit retailer. Madonna Coffman, a retired cardiac nurse whose young daughter developed alopecia and lost all her hair, served as the driving force behind Locks of Love. Describing the ordeal as one of the hardest things she ever had to endure, Mrs. Coffman began to devote all her energies to Locks of Love. Although the organization started out as a series of containers in Mrs. Coffman’s garage, it soon gained office space at a local hospital and garnered widespread recognition in the national media. Today, Locks of Love is proud to distribute wigs to children in all 50 American states as well as locations across Canada.

    Locks of Love seeks to instill a sense of self-confidence and normalcy to children suffering from medically related hair loss. Because many children who experience hair loss undergo embarrassment and unwanted attention from their peers, the Locks of Love mission helps them to live more normal lives. While the majority of children served by Locks of Love experience hair loss from an autoimmune disorder referred to as alopecia areata, a number of children also lose their hair due to chemotherapy treatments, severe burns, or other skin conditions.

    Hair donations to Locks of Love must measure at least 10 inches in length and satisfy a number of other guidelines. To learn more about specifications for hair donations and other ways to get involved with Locks of Love, visit the website at www.locksoflove.org.

  • Judge Bonnie Sudderth: Salvation Army v. City of White Settlement, Bonnie Sudderth
    May, 2011
    by Bonnie Sudderth

    As a judge in the 352nd District Court in Fort Worth, Texas since 1996, Bonnie Sudderth has presided over hundreds of civil disputes. While each case is unique, some of Judge Sudderth’s cases remain memorable many years after their resolution.

    Such was the case of Salvation Army v. City of White Settlement, which Judge Sudderth adjudicated in 2002. Every year during the holidays, the Salvation Army collects gifts for children who may not receive them any other way. Known as the Angel Tree Ministry, the church sets up collection centers in local shopping malls and other public places. Resultantly, thousands of toys and gifts may pour in from the various donation locations, requiring temporary storage until the Salvation Army is able to distribute those gifts to joyful recipients.

    In 2002 in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas region, the Salvation Army selected a 67,000 square-foot former retail space in White Settlement, Texas, as their staging area, where they would sort and distribute the gifts. The city of White Settlement, however, felt the Salvation Army’s use of the location violated their zoning laws because they characterized the center as a warehouse, and it was located in an area zoned for offices, retail stores, charities, and churches. The Salvation Army, on the other hand, felt they were operating as both a charity and a church, and thus were appropriately using the space as zoned.

    When the case appeared before Judge Bonnie Sudderth, she granted a temporary restraining order that allowed the Salvation Army to operate as planned, sorting, storing and distributing the gifts by December 20.

  • A Primer on the 352nd District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, Bonnie Sudderth
    June, 2011
    by Bonnie Sudderth

    Since 1996, Bonnie Sudderth has served as State District Court Judge of the 352nd District of Texas. Bonnie Sudderth has been re-elected three times, becoming the 352nd District Court’s longest-serving judge. The 352nd District Court of Texas is situated at the Tarrant County Justice Center in Forth Worth and serves the interests of the citizens of Tarrant County, Texas. The 352nd District Court maintains general jurisdiction to hear all properly filed district-court matters, including family, criminal, and juvenile law. In practice, though, the 352nd District Court is limited to civil cases, reflecting the preference of the Texas Legislature in establishing the court in 1984. The 352nd District Court is a trial court, but this does not imply that most cases are decided with a full jury of 12 citizens. A vast majority of the cases involve adjudication based on pre-trial motion or are “tried to the bench.” The latter involves a presentation of all relevant matters of law and fact before the presiding judge. Often involving multiple parties and issues, and highly technical in nature, civil cases decided by jury trial are extremely rare these days.

    There is some confusion among laypeople about what constitutes civil law. Simply put, civil law is that portion of the law that encompasses contractual obligations, business entities, insurance, class actions, debt collection, property taxes, intellectual property, employment and discrimination, and real estate ownership and title. Civil law also includes issues relating to personal injury, wrongful death and survivorship, and worker’s compensation. The diversity of the legal topics that present themselves ensures that, despite the exclusive focus on civil issues, the 352nd District Court remains busy with a myriad of legal topics and disputes. In her 15 years with the court, Judge Bonnie Sudderth has stressed a commonsense approach that involves fairness and respect for tenets of law, evidence, and procedure. While television shows may influence our perception of judges—presenting them as pundits and moralizers—in the real world a judge’s duties involve courtesy, patience and good listening skills. Judge Bonnie Sudderth finds these attributes essential in uncovering the true facts behind often complex and convoluted cases.

    About the Author:

    In addition to being board certified in civil trial law and personal injury law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Judge Bonnie Sudderth was also the first judge in Tarrant County to receive certification in Civil Jurisprudence by the Texas College of Judicial Studies.