Judge Joe Kegans (1927-1997), a member of the class of 1957, was a pioneer in Texas criminal law, becoming the first woman serving as a criminal district court judge in Texas in 1977.
Kegans held the judgeship for twenty years until her death in 1997. Kegans spent two decades practicing criminal law, then a field dominated by men, before being appointed to the 230th Criminal District Court by Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe.
