The Case of the Missing Judge – Part 1
By Greg Enos
Judge Angela Graves-Harrington says she is back full-time in her court after an almost nine month absence. She has returned after the regional administrative judge, with the support of Gaves-Harrington’s fellow family court judges, removed ALL cases from the 246th District Court on June 1 and after the Houston Chronicle ran a story on June 14 exposing her long absence while being paid her full $218,000 a year salary. This all happened after the judge suddenly lost her husband in October and she says her grief became so powerful that she decided it was not wise to return to court and try to make decisions for others.
The judge reports that she returned to work on June 24. A few cases have recently been given back to Graves-Harrington’s court. However, the judge has some explaining to do and she must prove herself.
Like every litigant who appears in family court, this woman deserves some compassion. We have not walked in her shoes. Most of us have not had our worlds shattered by the sudden, unexpected loss of a spouse. We all react to grief differently. She needs our empathy and support. The judge has the right to medical privacy tempered by the fact that she is an elected public servant running a court that needs a presiding judge at work every day.
I like this smart woman and I feel for her loss. I do not want anyone to think I am picking on her. But, I will publicly ask the questions everyone is asking behind her back. I will also make it clear that the family bar and the public deserve an honest explanation from the judge of what happened, how she is doing now, and her commitment for the future. The parents in family court lose most of their privacy and must testify as to all sorts of details about their personal lives and health. This judge simply has to do a little of the same and share some information about her struggles, what she has been doing for the last nine months, and her current condition. She can still keep most details of her personal life and treatment (if any) private while giving more of an explanation than she has given so far.
Below, I provide a link to e-mails from Judge Graves-Harrington explaining her position, but she provides no apology and no real details about why she was out for so long, her treatment, or her current condition. The judge’s e-mails to me speak of her “stellar reputation” but do not say if she was actually treated for depression.
I decided The Mongoose needed to return for a limited run in part because of the Graves-Harrington situation. I started this project last week planning to call for the judge to resign immediately. However, unlike the Houston Chronicle, I had a chance for a real discussion with Graves-Harrington. I truly appreciate that she was willing to talk to me. While the judge still wants to protect her privacy, I now see there is another side to this story that deserves consideration, but the judge needs to be more forthcoming.
Questions the judge really needs to answer include:
- Was your return to work at the end of June actually planned? Or, was your return prompted by the embarrassment of the June 14 Houston Chronicle story? Given the drastic actions taken in the orders of your fellow judges on June 1 and 3, they must have not expected you to return as of early June. Please share e-mails showing you notified someone in advance of when you planned to come back.
- If you were in such a bad mental state for months after the loss of your husband, did you get treatment? Do you have something from a professional saying you are okay to return to work and make the important decisions that only a few weeks ago you felt that you could not? If you were an airline pilot who took off work for severe depression (a move we would all approve of), you would be required to prove that you are now healthy before returning to work. If you did not get treatment, why should we believe your story of not being able to work at all? Doesn’t the public’s right to know outweigh your right to privacy? Can’t you provide a little information about your depression and treatment like County Judge Lina Hildalgo did without sharing all the details you deserve to keep private?
- What did you do in the last nine months to keep your fellow judges informed about your health and your work status? It certainly appears that they all lost patience and supported Judge Brown’s extraordinary order to take away all cases from your court.
- If, as you say, you were such a hard working judge up until the tragic loss of your husband, why did the Houston Chronicle find that you used your security pass to swipe into the courthouse only 12 times in September 2025, the month before your husband got sick? Would a court clerk who only worked 57% of work days keep her job? Why do some attorneys say they were waiting months to get renditions before October 2025? Will you authorize the county to release records of your courthouse security card showing dates and times you swiped in and out in 2025 and 2026? The Chronicle was only given redacted records that did not show times you entered and left the building.
- Mostly importantly, don’t you feel like you owe the public and the litigants in your court an apology and a more detailed explanation as to why you did not work for over eight months? Your associate judge was left to deal with the crush of cases in your court. She did so in part by dismissing cases left and right in ways that often truly hurt families and children. If we are all to show you understanding and compassion and accept your excuse for not working for over eight months, why wasn’t that same empathy and grace shown to the lawyers and parents who had their cases dismissed during the last year in your court because some deadline had not been met even though many had very good excuses?
Someone has to ask the judge these questions we are all thinking, and so I have taken on the task. Journalism is my occasional hobby and I am not all that objective, but my articles will be. My bias is partly in favor of Judge Graves-Harrington because I always thought she was smart and fair. I also harbor a puritanical streak that expects constant hard work, especially from public servants. I have worked full time as an adult for almost 50 years. I worked most of the three day July 4 weekend. I have spent about 35 hours on this newsletter. I expect people to WORK and that too is part of my bias. I also think mental health challenges are as real as cancer and diabetes. Our society sympathizes with those suffering from physical injuries and diseases, but does not understand or empathize with those suffering from mental illness, such as depression. I saw my parents deal with the sudden loss of my 19 year old brother when I was 17. I know how absolutely profound and devasting grief can be. I also saw my parents return to their jobs full-time within a week of their oldest son’s funeral.
I plan to provide a complete and fair examination of all aspects of this situation over the next few weeks, including the duties owed by elected officials and the impact of Graves-Harrington’s absence on Houston families and her fellow judges (who all have their own share of life’s challenges and yet still manage to show up almost every day and do the work they are paid $218,000 a year to do).
Graves-Harrington is unopposed for reelection in November. She can only be removed from her office by impeachment by the legislature (which does not meet until January) or by action of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (which can recommend removal but a Review Tribunal decides the issue subject to review by the Texas Supreme Court). A judge may enter a Voluntary Agreement to Resign with the Judicial Conduct Commission in lieu of discipline, however that is rare. The Commission can launch formal proceedings, which is the path that leads to a public censure or a removal recommendation – which takes some time.
The Texas Code of Judicial Conduct was just amended June 12, 2026 to include as grounds for discipline of a judge:
Canon 3. B. (9) A judge should dispose of all judicial matters promptly, efficiently and fairly. Willful, persistent, and unjustifiable failure to timely execute the business of the court is subject to discipline.
Some assume this rule was adopted last month because of Judge Graves-Harrington.
Article 15, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution provides for impeachment of district court judges and requires conviction by two thirds of the Senate after a trial.
So, cases may be taken away from Judge Graves-Harrington, but we are as a practical matter are stuck with her for good or ill for months (maybe 4½ years) unless she resigns.
We all should hope that Graves-Harrington is well and full of energy and determination to prove herself. If so, hallelujah. If she cannot or will not work full-time and again be that intelligent, savvy judge we respected so much during her first term, or if she will not be more forthcoming about her diagnosis and treatment, she should resign or be removed.
You can help me in this effort to consider all sides of this story by providing information, social media posts, photographs, and stories I can verify. Please email me at greg@enoslaw.com.
The opinions expressed in this blog and in The Mongoose newsletter are the opinions of Greg Enos only and not of the other attorneys who work for him (or his clients).
The Facts
Angela Graves-Harrington first introduced herself to me in September 2017, when The Mongoose was running biographies on candidates for the family courts. She told me from the start that she had been married for a long time to her high school sweetheart, the love of her life, Darryl. The woman was head-over-heels in love with her man and proud of it. Darryl Harrington fell ill on October 8 and he died unexpectedly on October 29, 2025, at age 49. His funeral was November 14. We all knew the judge was devastated and everyone expected her to be away from work for a while.
However, months passed and the judge did not return. After over eight months of the judge’s absence from the bench, the Houston Chronicle exposed what was going on. Click here to read the full June 14 article in The Houston Chronicle which said, in part:
A Democratic judge without a Republican challenger in November has been absent from her family law court for most of 2026, according to Harris County records.
This year, Judge Angela Graves-Harrington used her county-issued badge to swipe into the civil courthouse or any other county building on 13 weekdays — including just once in April, according to badge swipe data through May 13 obtained through an open-records request by the Houston Chronicle.
Outside of court, she has made public appearances in her capacity as judge. But her presence in the 246th District Court, which handles divorce, child custody and other family proceedings, has been sporadic since around the time of her husband’s death in October 2025. Her absence has continued as recently as May.
The Chronicle obtained redacted data about the number of days Graves-Harrington used her security pass at the courthouse to swipe herself in. Of course, a swipe does not mean she actually worked that day nor is there any indication how long she was at the courthouse each day. A swipe could mean she stopped by to get something from her chambers and was gone in 20 minutes or that she worked for ten hours. The lack of a swipe indicates she was not at the courthouse. Judges can do some of their work remotely, such as signing orders or reviewing cases. I calculated the number of work days in each month based on county holidays and one weather closure in January. This is what the Chronicle swipe data showed:
Unless she was on vacation in September 2025, this data indicates the judge was not at the courthouse that much in the month before her husband got sick.
In 2026, the judge may have missed work, but she continued to post on social media, have fun in public, and speak at public events.
The Chronicle article said:
Graves-Harrington maintained public-facing commitments during her absences. She joined fellow jurists for a Black history month event at the 14th Court of Appeals on Feb. 11. She was later listed as a virtual speaker for two Houston Bar Association legal education events with other family law jurists on March 4 and April 1. She also sat at a sponsored table at the Houston Lawyers Association gala on May 2, where she presented a judicial award to a misdemeanor judge.
The Houston Chronicle story ran on June 14. Judge Graves-Harrington spoke at a seminar in Galveston on June 26 at in person in the middle of the day. She says she returned to work full-time on June 24.
Other Judges Have Had Enough
On June 1, 2026, the regional administrative judge, Susan Brown, signed an order reassigning all of the cases in Gaves-Harrington’s court to the other family courts and ordered that new cases would not go to the 246th District Court. Graves-Harrington’s fellow family court judges were all on the same page and the following order was issued:
On June 30, 2026, presumably because Graves-Harrington was back at work, Judge Brown signed an amended order which seems to give a few cases back to the 246th.
New divorce cases are not going to the 246th and pending divorce and post-judgment cases, such as enforcement and modification cases, taken from the 246th are largely not being transferred back.
Judge Graves-Harrington’s side of the story
The judge told me that her grief led her into a very dark place and she realized she was not in a position to be making decisions about other people’s lives. She maintains strongly that she deserves privacy even if she is a judge. Judge Harrington-Graves says she communicated with her fellow judges and cases were still being heard and moved during her absence. She points to statistics that show her court was closing more cases than several other family courts during her absence.
Judge Harrington-Graves told me that she always worked long hours every day as a judge before her husband’s death and she plans to return to that. The judge states that she is back full time. She told me about Judge Brown’s June 30 amended order and she sent me a copy. But, she seemed to think that all of her cases had been moved back. That clearly is not the case.
The judge I talked to was the poised, intelligent, well-spoken Graves-Harrington I met in 2017. She seemed genuine, determined, and somewhat vulnerable. She was a real person who happened to be a judge, who was still recovering from her world being turned upside down. She would not tell me all the details, but she honestly let me know how low she had sunk and how bad off she was for a while. The judge assured me she is much better and she now feels she is up to the challenge of being a judge again.
I have encouraged the judge to share some details of her story with the public so that we can all assess and understand her situation. Judge Harrington-Graves kindly sent me two emails that set forth her position, without providing an apology or any details of her mental health diagnosis or treatment.
Click here to read the judge’s side of the story in her own words, unedited by me. Judge her words for yourself.
If one of my employees missed eight months of work while I paid her full salary, I know I would be sympathetic, but I would expect more of an explanation that the judge is giving us now.
When this happens to other public officials
Harris County Judge Lina Hildago was off work for two months while she received in-patient treatment for clinical depression. Hildalgo was pretty open about her struggles with depression. Upon her return to work, Hildalgo issued a statement that said in part:
“Nobody would think twice about taking time off work to recover from a heart attack or another physical ailment, and it should be the same way for a mental illness. With the treatment I’ve received, it no longer feels like I’m in a constant fight against depression. I hope that others who are struggling will look to my experience and feel empowered to get the help they need instead of suffering in silence. ”
This situation seems similar to the absence of New Jersey Congressman Tom Kean for 117 days. Kean returned and gave a floor speech explaining that he was hospitalized for depression but he refused to answer questions. He did at least admit to a diagnosis of depression and he gave some details about his treatment. A June 30, 2026 article in the New York Times said this:
Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that he had urged Mr. Kean to share more about his condition earlier, to avoid rampant speculation that grew into a national fascination with the mystery of the congressman who had vanished. He told reporters that he had “encouraged him many times over the last few months” to be more transparent about his health. “If it were me, I would have been more specific about that,” he said, noting that Mr. Kean’s condition was very common.
. . . .
But some Democrats, including his challenger Rebecca Bennett, criticized Mr. Kean for his handling of the situation. “We give up our right to privacy when we run for office,” said Representative Maxine E. Dexter, Democrat of Oregon, who added that Mr. Kean had a duty to be more transparent.
. . . .
Experts said voters tend to be forgiving of politicians with medical problems, but less so when it comes to mental health. “Voters punish politicians who have mental illness more than they punish politicians who have an illness like cancer, for example,” said Peter Loewen, a professor of government at Cornell University and the Harold Tanner dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Loewen, who published a paper in 2018 on depression among elected officials, said that “mental illness is still stigmatized for politicians in a way that physical illness is not.” “I can’t imagine it will help him,” he said of Mr. Kean’s speech.
. . . .
After Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, was hospitalized for six weeks in 2023 for treatment for clinical depression, he for a time tried to highlight the issue of mental health and encourage people to seek help if they were struggling. But last year, after scrutiny of his frequent absences from Capitol Hill, Mr. Fetterman told The New York Times in an interview that he regretted having been so open about his travails. “My doctor warned years ago: After it’s public that you are getting help for depression, people will weaponize that,” he said. “Simple things are turned. That’s exactly what happened.”
Maybe Judge Harrington-Graves has good reasons to be reluctant to disclose too much about her mental health struggles. I still think she should at least give us a few details of her diagnosis, treatment, and release to work.
Obviously, an elected judge, who is paid $218,000 a year, is treated differently than the other county employees who keep the courthouse functioning. Regular county employees would not be able to take eight months off work and still be paid. Harris County allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave for certain qualifying events in any 12 month period. A court clerk or bailiff who used up their paid leave and then missed over 12 weeks of work after the loss of a spouse would probably lose their job.
Insights on depression
The judge has not confirmed she was diagnosed with depression or treated for depression.
If she did have severe depression, it is possible for her to be unable to work but able to go fun events like the rodeo. The Cleveland Clinic website says this:
Atypical Depression, or what is commonly called high-functioning depression, involves mood reactivity—meaning your mood can temporarily improve or you can find enjoyment when positive, engaging things happen, but the underlying exhaustion and inability to sustain daily tasks like work persist.
One symptom specific to atypical depression is a temporary mood improvement in response to actual or potential positive events. This is known as mood reactivity.
Typical and atypical depression are both mental health conditions that involve prolonged feelings of sadness and hopelessness. The main difference is that in atypical depression, your mood can temporarily brighten as a result of positive events (such as a fun birthday party). In typical major depression, your depressed mood is usually constant.
Conclusion
I have always liked Judge Harrington-Graves and we all should want to see her healthy and successfully working full-time again. I hope that she and her associate judge show attorneys and parties the same empathy and understanding she wants us to now show her.
But, we deserve more information. If the judge was treated for depression, surely she should tell us that to explain her absence. If she received no treatment, should we really believe her story of being unable to work for so long? Is it not fair to expect the judge to show us something from her doctor, even a one sentence letter, stating that she is fully able to function as a judge? Would not every other worker in America be expected to do that?
In my next issue, I will share new developments, discuss case clearance statistics, and review the odds that the Republican legislature might impeach and remove the judge next Spring. I will also share reactions of attorneys praising and defending the judge. I am sure even more information will be revealed to me that I will pass on to my readers. There will be more to this story.
Again, please share photographs or social media posts, verifiable horror stories, and information about this situation or any other example of judicial abuse of power with me at greg@enoslaw.com.
This attempt at journalism reminds me why I retired The Mongoose in 2021. This takes a lot of time and I worry so much about getting my facts right and being fair. A real journalist would not want to hug the judge and tell her it will be all okay, despite what some a-holes may write. I hope Judge Graves-Harrington, her fellow judges, and my fellow attorneys read this story and decide I have tried my best to be accurate and even-handed, while still asking the tough questions that deserve answers.
I conclude with a few worthwhile quotes about grief:
“Grief is like the ocean; It comes in waves; ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. “ — Vicki Harrison
“Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, spiritual and physical necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.” — Earl Grollman
“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.” — Joan Didion
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”— Jamie Anderson