Daphne Previti Austin spent more than 10 years in the Bexar County District Attorney’s office before embarking in private practice. She has been board certified in juvenile law since 2003. She was previously elected to the 289th District Court in Bexar County. She’s now running to replace retiring Judge Gloria Saldaña, and is unopposed in the Republican primary.
Hear from the candidate
1. Please tell voters about yourself.
Previti Austin has practiced law for 30 years, beginning with her student bar card in 1995 and she has never looked back. She was raised to be involved in the community as many hands make light work.
In elementary school, she wrote her first letter to the Mayor and her request to repaint the faded crosswalks for student safety was answered promptly with a road crew. She lives in San Antonio.
She has served as a Deputy Voter Registrar, on her church’s Finance Council, on the Equine Advisory Council for Bexar County Partners for Youth’s CHAPS program, as the President of the AHISD Friends of Strings, on the Stakeholder Leadership Team for UT Teen Health, her children’s sports team parent plus others of which I am unable to elaborate due to limited space.
2. Describe your educational background.
Juris Doctor St. Mary’s University School of Law, 1996.
Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, University of Delaware including a semester in Spanish at the Universidad de Madrid a Complutense, 1989.
3. Describe your professional experience, what type of law you’ve practiced and noteworthy accomplishments.
I cut my teeth in the District Attorney’s Office serving for more than ten years before embarking in private practice. While there, I became board certified in juvenile law in 2002 by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, which involves letters of recommendation and sitting for another bar exam.
Appointed a Juvenile Law Referee in the 436th District Court in 2010 and elected to the 289th District Court in the 2014 election. Appointed to the Collaborative Council for the Judicial Commission for Mental Health in 2018 serving through 2025. Invited to serve as Attorney to create Rise Inspire Academy, the first sobriety high school in the area. Nominated to the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor reserved for the top 1/3 of 1% of attorneys based on outstanding contributions to the legal profession as well as a commitment to the community. Recognized by Scene in SA Magazine as a top lawyer since 2014.
4. Philosophically, how do you balance the public’s desire for restitution in all types of crimes, while also providing a productive path forward for offenders who don’t pose a danger to the public?
When I previously served as an elected Judge, I experimented with restorative justice principles. I requested the Assistant District Attorneys assigned to my court inquire of the victims if they would be interested in having their perpetrator work to make them whole. For example, if a youth spray-painted a fence, would they like to have the youth be the one to restore the fence. In a few cases, they did. Overall, it was not very popular.
I also created and presided over a boys’ mental health court and supervised a girls’ mental health court and a co-ed drug court. There is a lot of room for making positive change in lives for those who’ve made a poor choice.
5. Why are you seeking this office, and why did you decide to be a candidate in the political party you chose?
County Court 9 is an open bench this election. There has been a problem in recent years in the Bexar County courts that inexperienced candidates are winning benches and their inexperience creates a chaotic system with delays, poor rulings and a need to relitigate matters at both client and taxpayer additional expense. Some have never tried a case. Another did not know the location of the courthouse.
I’ve served as a Judge. I tried more than 100 cases to jury verdict in my first few years of practice. I’ve also worked many years as a defense attorney in state and federal court. The judge’s role is to referee ruling on the offerings of the offense and defense. Because of my years of trial experience, none of my rulings were reversed. I am ready to serve and will hit the ground running.
I believe in small government and small business, traits that traditionally align with the Republican party.
