The Honorable Robert Hofmann
President, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Judge Hofmann began his career of public service for the State of Texas in 1996, now serving in his fourth term as judge of the general jurisdiction 452nd Judicial District in five Hill Country counties.
He is the current president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), our oldest national judicial organization, having served as a board member since 2018.
In 2021, Judge Hofmann was appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas as Senior Jurist in Residence for the Texas Children’s Commission, having been Jurist in Residence since 2018.
In 2018 Judge Hofmann was also recommended by the Texas Center for the Judiciary to represent all Texas judges on French Television’s Sept a Huit (the French 60 Minutes) “Texas Justice” segment and later received the 2018 Texas CASA Judicial Innovation and Leadership Award.
He has served Texas as judicial representative at several national summits and Federal Child and Families Services Reviews as well as a member of the National Center for State Courts’ Rural Justice Collaborative Advisory Council, on behalf of the NCJFCJ.
Judge Hofmann was the 2011 Big Voices for Little Texans Texas CASA Judge of the Year as well as the 2020 Education Reach for Texans John Emerson Award recipient for his leadership in improving educational outcomes foster care alumni.
Judge Hofmann speaks often and works on numerous projects related to improving the child welfare system. He was committee chair for the Texas Supreme Court’s Remote Proceedings Task Force as well as assisting the court in creation of Emergency Orders relating to child welfare cases in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The 2021 nationally-televised arson event at the Mason County Courthouse was ignited in the 452nd District Court Office Suite. The arsonist had a felony pre-trial virtual setting the next day.
Judge Hofmann is a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Lifetime Jurist for the Texas Center for the Judiciary.
He graduated from Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University School of Law where he received the Herschell L. Barnes Ambassador Award in 2020. He and his wife are former foster parents and have two children.
Relevant Research Data
Collaboration to Improve Civil Protection Order Systems
InFOCUS: Implementing the Enhanced Resource Guidelines Improves Hearing Quality and Buffers Against Potential Negative Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Characteristics of Cases Judicially Waived from Juvenile Court to Criminal Court
Impact Updates
Judges, judicial officers, attorneys, and other juvenile and family court-related professionals trained in 2023