Bourland Launches Election Campaign

June 11, 2015
(http://www.pressreader.com/usa/austin-american-statesman/20150611/281822872421589/TextView)
By Brad stutzman Round Rock Leader contributing writer

Round Rock’s Cindy Ol­son Bour­land launched her cam­paign for elec­tion to the state’s Third Court of Ap­peals on June 3 with a base­ball anal­ogy. Which was prob­a­bly fit­ting, as the event was held at Dell Di­a­mond’s In­tel Club.

“A judge is like an um­pire,” Bour­land said. “My job is not to slant the game or de­cide which team should win or lose. My job is to ac­cu­rately call the balls and strikes.”

Bour­land, who prac­ticed law for 20 years, is seek­ing elec­tion to the job she was ap­pointed to this year.

Former Gov. Rick Perry ap­pointed Bour­land to the Third Court of Ap­peals in early Jan­uary. She suc­ceeded Jus­tice Jeff Rose in the Place 2 po­si­tion and now is run­ning for the Repub­li­can Party’s 2016 nom­i­na­tion to fill out the re­main­der of Rose’s term. Rose left Place 2 when he was elected as the court’s chief jus­tice in Novem­ber 2014.

Former Gov. Rick Perry ap­pointed Bour­land to the Third Court of Ap­peals in early Jan­uary. She suc­ceeded Jus­tice Jeff Rose in the Place 2 po­si­tion and now is run­ning for the Repub­li­can Party’s 2016 nom­i­na­tion to fill out the re­main­der of Rose’s term. Rose left Place 2 when he was elected as the court’s chief jus­tice in Novem­ber 2014.

“It’s re­ally in­tel­lec­tu­ally chal­leng­ing,” Bour­land said. “I’m learn­ing some­thing new ev­ery day.”

A fifth-gen­er­a­tion Round Rock res­i­dent, Bour­land grad­u­ated from Round Rock High School in 1985 and then earned her un­der­grad­u­ate de­gree from South­west­ern Univer­sity in Ge­orge­town. She holds a law de­gree from the Univer­sity of Texas School of Law.

After law school, Bour­land was a part­ner at two law firms be­fore open- ing her own prac­tice, the Bour­land Law Firm, in 2009 in Round Rock. Her firm rep­re­sents busi­ness clients in civil law­suits and ap­peals.

After law school, Bour­land was a part­ner at two law firms be­fore open- ing her own prac­tice, the Bour­land Law Firm, in 2009 in Round Rock. Her firm rep­re­sents busi­ness clients in civil law­suits and ap­peals.

The Bour­land Law Firm’s web­site in­structs vis­i­tors that Bour­land can­not ac­cept cases — or pro­vide le­gal rep­re­sen­ta­tion or ad­vice — be­cause of her ap­point­ment to the Third Court of Ap­peals.

The Bour­land Law Firm’s web­site in­structs vis­i­tors that Bour­land can­not ac­cept cases — or pro­vide le­gal rep­re­sen­ta­tion or ad­vice — be­cause of her ap­point­ment to the Third Court of Ap­peals.

The court is one of 14 in­ter­me­di­ate ap­pel­late courts statewide. Each serves a spe­cific ge­o­graphic area, with the Third Court tak­ing in 24 coun­ties, in­clud­ing Wil­liamson and its im­me­di­ate neigh­bors: Travis, Bas­trop, Milam, Lee, Bur­net and Bell.

The court hears both crim­i­nal and civil ap­peals from cases orig­i­nat­ing at the dis­trict-court level. Above the courts of ap­peal are the Texas Court of Crim­i­nal Ap­peals for crim­i­nal cases and the Texas Supreme Court for civil law.

“The only cases we don’t hear are death penalty cases,” Bour­land said. “Those go di­rectly to the Court of Crim­i­nal Ap­peals.”

If Bour­land is elected in 2016, she would serve out the re­main­der of Rose’s term and then would be up for re-elec­tion in 2018.

“The law should be con­sis­tent, and judges should not be ac­tivists,” Bour­land said. “I also be­lieve judges shouldn’t leg­is­late from the bench. That’s not our job.”

“The law should be con­sis­tent, and judges should not be ac­tivists,” Bour­land said. “I also be­lieve judges shouldn’t leg­is­late from the bench. That’s not our job.”

Sev­eral cur­rent and for­mer lo­cal elected of­fi­cials — in­clud­ing Wil­liamson County Pct. 4 Com­mis­sioner Ron Mor­ri­son, Mayor Alan McGraw and for­mer Mayor Mike Robin­son — were on hand for the June 3 kick­off, where Bour­land stressed her lo­cal roots.

“My great-grand­par­ents were spon­sored by the Palms, to come over (from Swe­den),” Bour­land said, re­fer­ring to one of Round Rock’s found­ing fam­i­lies.

Bour­land is a mem­ber of Palm Val­ley Lutheran Church and the Old Set­tlers As­so­ci­a­tion of Wil­liamson County. She also is a Lead­er­ship Round Rock and Lead­er­ship Austin grad­u­ate. Her late hus­band, Mike Bour­land, was a Texas Depart­ment of Public Safety of­fi­cer in Wil­liamson County and later owned a busi­ness in Round Rock.

The fil­ing pe­riod for the 2016 party pri­maries is Nov. 14 through Dec. 14.