Alia Moses, Chief U.S. District Judge

The Honorable Alia Moses, Chief United States District Judge, was born in Eagle Pass, Texas on January 6, 1962, and was raised in the small farming town of Quemado, Texas. She is the youngest of six children. After graduating from Eagle Pass High School in 1980, she attended Texas Woman’s University, where she graduated in 1983 with a B.B.A. After completing her undergraduate education, Chief Judge Moses attended law school at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin and received her J.D. degree in 1986. She began her legal career at the Travis County Attorney’s Office, initially as a law clerk in 1985, then as an attorney on November 7, 1986, ending her career in that office as the Chief of the Appellate Section. Chief Judge Moses moved to Del Rio, Texas, in 1990, to establish the United States Attorney’s Office - Del Rio Division. She was named Chief of the United States Attorney’s Del Rio office, and was subsequently appointed as a part-time magistrate judge in 1997, and a full-time magistrate judge in 2000.

Upon the recommendation of United States Senators Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, President George W. Bush, on July 11, 2002, nominated Chief Judge Moses to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. On November 18, 2002, Chief Judge Moses took the oath of office as United States District Judge, becoming the first district judge to reside in the Del Rio division and the first female district judge for the Western District of Texas. Twenty years later, on November 18, 2022, she became the first female Chief District Judge of the District.

The Del Rio docket is a very active trial docket. It is also one of the top two largest dockets per judge in the nation. Chief Judge Moses has presided over more than 250 jury trials, as well as tried many cases before a jury as a practicing attorney.

Page last updated 2:58 PM, May 23, 2024