Hon. Leah Shapiro is a judge for the 315th District Court of Texas. She was elected to the bench in 2018.
Shapiro presides over the Juvenile Court and the CARE (Creating Acceptance Recovery Empowerment) Court, a specialty court designed to assist victims of juvenile sex trafficking, of which she was a founding member.
Prior to her election, she worked as an assistant public defender in the Juvenile Divison of the Harris County Public Defender’s Office since 2011. During her tenure there, Shapiro also served as a defense attorney in the Felony Mental Health Court, where she represented adults on felony probation who had received a mental health diagnosis. Before that, Shapiro was an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, where she began her legal career.
She received a B.A. in philosophy from New York University in 2002. Shapiro went on to complete a J.D. at St. Mary’s University School of Law.
She has served as a member of the Houston Area Child Sex Trafficking Team Advisory Council, the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission Human Trafficking Workgroup, the Harris County Juvenile Board, and the Harris County Judicial Working Group and Jury Committee. Shapiro was also invited to the Children’s Justice Act Statewide Multidisciplinary Task Force.
She began the Know Your Rights Campaign, to educate the youth and Harris County residents about their rights when encountering law enforcement, and she is a member of the Harris County Dual Status Trask Force.
A fifth-generation Galvestonian, Shapiro resides in Houston. In her free time, she enjoys running and spending time with family and friends.
Shapiro is registered as a Democrat.