Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez #

Introduction #

Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez is a former judge of Bexar County Court at Law No. 13 in San Antonio, Texas, who resigned from the bench on April 20, 2026, under an agreement that dismissed criminal charges against her while permanently barring her from serving as a judge in Texas. Elected in 2018 as the first openly gay judge in Bexar County, she presided over a domestic-violence docket that included the Reflejo Court, a trauma-informed treatment program. Her resignation capped a sequence of events that began with a December 2024 courtroom incident and led to a criminal indictment, a suspension without pay, and a primary election defeat.

Background Information #

Gonzalez was first elected to Bexar County Court at Law No. 13 in 2018, running without accepting a single campaign contribution. She spent approximately $7,000 on the race and defeated the incumbent by more than 75,000 votes. At the time, she became the first openly gay judge elected in Bexar County.

Her court specialized in domestic violence cases and was home to the Reflejo Court, a trauma-informed treatment program designed to help first-time domestic violence offenders address the root causes of their behavior in lieu of jail time, combining treatment with strict supervision.

Gonzalez was outspoken on issues including LGBTQ rights and immigration, and she was at the center of controversy over a Pride flag displayed in her courtroom; supporters said it reflected inclusion, while critics argued it was inappropriate for a judicial setting. She had previously been disciplined by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct: in 2022, the commission issued a public admonition after a handgun was discovered in her luggage during airport screening at San Antonio International Airport. No criminal charges were filed, and the matter was resolved through the commission’s disciplinary process, including a fine. Gonzalez said at the time that she began carrying a firearm after receiving threats following her 2018 election.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Charges dismissed; orders stand. The criminal counts — official oppression and unlawful restraint — were dismissed under the settlement and were never admitted by Gonzalez or adjudicated at trial; the underlying December 2024 incident remains an allegation from her January 2026 indictment. The suspension without pay, the 2026 primary defeat and the lifetime bar from judicial office are matters of public commission and court orders.

The events that ended Gonzalez’s judicial career stem from a December 2024 courtroom incident. She was accused of having defense attorney Elizabeth Russell handcuffed and seated in the jury box after Russell objected to a plea from her client in a domestic violence case. According to TPR, the argument escalated and Gonzalez ordered bailiffs to detain Russell; KSAT Investigates, which revealed the incident in a January 2026 report, reported that the dispute escalated during a motion to revoke probation hearing.

Two weeks after KSAT’s report, Gonzalez was indicted on charges of official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and unlawful restraint, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. She later turned herself in. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case, and a special prosecutor, Brian Cromeens of DeWitt County, was appointed.

These were charges, not convictions. The charges were ultimately dismissed under the resignation agreement, and the underlying incident was never adjudicated at trial.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The indictment set off a series of professional consequences:

• Suspension — the State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Gonzalez without pay from County Court at Law No. 13 following her indictment in late January 2026.
• Election defeat — in March 2026, she lost her reelection bid in the Democratic primary to challenger Alicia Perez, who won 65% of the vote for Bexar County Court at Law No. 13.
• Displaced docket — during her suspension, cases in County Court at Law No. 13 were heard by a rotation of visiting judges, and the Reflejo docket was transferred to County Court at Law No. 4 Judge Alfredo Ximenez.

Gonzalez did not respond to a request for comment from TPR on the agreement, and she did not respond to a text message or voicemail from KSAT Investigates seeking comment on the day of her resignation.

Current Status #

On Monday, April 20, 2026, Gonzalez resigned from the bench. The same day, special prosecutor Cromeens filed a motion to dismiss the felony unlawful restraint and misdemeanor official oppression charges. Cromeens told KSAT Investigates that his office made the decision after learning about her resignation and speaking with Russell, and he said dismissing the charges was “in the interest of justice.” The dismissal came less than two weeks after Gonzalez made a brief court appearance on the charges on April 10, and less than three months after the charges were first filed.

An order released by the commission that Monday afternoon states that Gonzalez is forever disqualified from serving as a judge, being elected or appointed to a judicial position, or performing any judicial duties. Per KSAT, she can still perform wedding duties, as long as she does not wear a robe or refer in any way to having a judicial authority or function.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The agreement of April 20, 2026, ended Gonzalez’s judicial career through a combination of resignation, dismissal of all criminal charges, and a lifetime ban from judicial office in Texas. The ban forecloses any return to the bench, whether by election or appointment, in the state.

Her departure also reshaped the court she built: the Reflejo Court’s trauma-informed docket now operates under Judge Alfredo Ximenez in County Court at Law No. 4, while County Court at Law No. 13 continues to be served by a rotation of visiting judges. For Gonzalez, the outcome closed a career that began with a historic, contribution-free campaign in 2018 and that earlier included the 2022 public admonition over the handgun found in her luggage and the Pride flag dispute. Because the criminal charges were dismissed, she faces no conviction arising from the December 2024 incident, but the commission’s order permanently removed her from judicial service.