The Honorable Nicholas Chu
Judge Nick Chu was sworn in as Presiding Judge of Travis County Probate Court No. 2 on October 1, 2023. He previously served as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5 since 2017. Judge Chu is the son of immigrants and the grandson of the owner of the first Chinese restaurant in Grapevine, TX. He was the first in his family to become an attorney and was the first Asian American Justice of the Peace in Texas history.
Probate Court No. 2 is the designated mental health court in Travis County. Prior to him taking the probate bench, Judge Chu presided over mental health probable cause hearings at the Austin State Hospital. Before becoming a judge, he was the lead attorney focused on diversion programs related to drug addiction, alcohol dependency, and special needs for juveniles through his work at the County Attorney’s office and District Attorney’s office in Travis County.
During his time as Justice of the Peace, Judge Chu prioritized justice reforms by encouraging more diversion program opportunities for low-level criminal offenses, implementing a program where people unable to pay for an attorney can receive legal assistance at no cost, and instituted eviction protections countywide during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Judge Chu was the first judge in Texas to preside over a fully virtual jury trial, and first in the nation to preside over a fully virtual criminal jury trial.
The Texas Supreme Court has appointed Judge Chu to the Texas Access to Justice Commission (the statewide umbrella organization for all efforts to expand access and reduce barriers to justice in civil legal matters for low-income Texans) and the Supreme Court Advisory Committee. He served as the Chair of the Texas Supreme Court’s COVID-19 Response Working Group for Justice Courts and was appointed as a member of the Texas Supreme Court’s Remote Proceedings Task Force. He also served on the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association’s National Conference of Specialized Court Judges–which includes Probate Judges throughout the nation– and is a faculty member of the Texas Justice Court Training Center, an organization tasked with teaching judges in Texas.
Judge Chu is a proud graduate of Baylor Law School, and the University of Texas, where he received his B.A. in Government. He lives in Austin with his wife, Kathryn Whitley Chu, who is a school board trustee for Austin ISD; their daughter; and son.
The probate court is also served by Associate Judge Dan Prashner.
