Texas Border Business
State District Court Judge Israel Ramon, Jr. announced that he is not seeking re- election and will retire on December 31, 2024, the end of his sixteen years of service in the 430th District Court.
His parents encouraged him and his siblings to obtain an education since they didn’t have the opportunity to do so. That encouragement and motivation included working in the fields picking cotton, tomato and onions, occasionally selling newspapers, mowing lawns, shining shoes and working at a family owned gas station and small grocery store. “This hard work certainly provided me the motivation to stay in school.”
Born and raised in the Weslaco area, he attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic School and graduated with honors from Weslaco High School and from St. Mary’s University where he majored in Urban Studies. He also graduated from St. Mary’s School of Law where he wrote and was published in the St. Mary’s Law Journal.
After graduation, Judge Ramon served as Assistant Attorney General and First Assistant District Attorney and Chief Felony Prosecutor. He was in private practice for twenty eight years before he was the first elected judge of the 430th District Court. While in private practice, he was honored as a Texas Super Lawyer in the areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Civil Trial Law. He retired as an infantry captain company commander and intelligence officer after eight years in active duty for service and in the Army National Guard.
Judge Ramon is a frequent Speaker and Presenter in Continuing Legal Education seminars in the area of Ethics, Consumer Law, Criminal and Civil Jury Selection, Civil Discovery, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Evidence, Immigration Law, 4th Amendment Searches & Seizures, and Recovery of Attorney’s Fees.
