Walter Scott Smith Jr. (October 26, 1940 – September 5, 2025) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Walter Scott Smith Jr.
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Born 1940 in Marlin, TX
Died 2025
FJC ID: 2230
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 9/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 12/year
Texas Western District Court · 1984–2016
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- McLennan County [Texas] Fifty-Fourth District CourtJudge · 1980–1983
- Private practice, Waco, Texas1966–1980
Appointments
1984–2016 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Retirement
Education
- Baylor University School of LawJ.D. · 1966
- Baylor UniversityB.A. · 1964