Honorable Angela Graves-Harrington | Judge, 246th District
JUDGE ANGELA GRAVES-HARRINGTON
Judge Angela Graves-Harrington is the Administrative Judge of the Harris County Board of Family District Judges. She also presides over of the Harris County 246th District Court as the first woman and second African American person ever elected to that bench. In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Graves-Harrington was instrumental in developing the Child Welfare Clinic at Thurgood Marshall School of Law where she also serves as an adjunct professor. Judge Graves-Harrington is Board Certified® in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is also a member of the Texas Bar College.
Judge Graves-Harrington consistently strives to transform the Harris County child welfare courts into trauma-informed courts. She is committed to ensuring that every parent receives the support he or she needs to navigate the child welfare system while remaining focused on the ultimate goal of positive permanency for every child in every case. In 2021, to advance that goal, Judge Graves-Harrington hosted a free, 8-hour trauma-informed training for all Harris County child welfare professionals.
Judge Graves-Harrington is active in both her local and state bars through service on various committees. In 2020, Judge Graves-Harrington was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission where she serves on the Training Committee. She was also appointed as co-chair of the Child Welfare and Juvenile Advisory Committee of the National Counsel of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Additionally, Judge Graves-Harrington is a team leader for the Burta Rhoads Raborn Inn of Court, a member of the Houston Area Local Advisory Group for the Texas Permanency Outcomes Project (TXPOP), and an advisory member of Safe Babies, a First 3 Years® initiative. She was also one of only six Texas judges selected to attend the Judicial Academy on Reasonable Efforts through the Capacity Building Center for Courts. Judge Graves-Harrington was also appointed as co-chair of the Houston Bar Association Family/Probate Bench Bar committee, where she organized the first family/probate bench bar conference in 19 years. Most recently, Judge Graves-Harrington was invited to serve as faculty for the Reasonable Efforts Judicial Academy through the Children’s Commission and to serve as Co-Chair of the Judicial Subcommittee for the Coalition of Child Serving Sectors, Community Based Care Readiness Initiative. Finally, when not in court or the classroom, Judge Graves-Harrington shares her knowledge with the legal and child welfare community through speaking engagements and seminars.
In addition to service through professional legal organizations, Judge Graves-Harrington serves her community as a nearly twenty-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® and Jack and Jill, Incorporated®, Greater Channel Chapter.
In honor of Angela’s commitment to the community, Shelia Jackson Lee declared November 19, 2021 as Judge Angela Graves-Harrington Day.
Judge Graves-Harrington is a native of Gulfport (Turkey Creek), Mississippi and a proud alumna of Mississippi State University, Jackson State University, and Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She and her husband, Darryl, live in the Houston area with their two handsome sons, Daylen and Aiden, and their rambunctious Goldendoodle, Teddy.