Golden Triangle Republican Women
Golden Triangle
Republican Women
Republican Women
Justice Jane Bland has served at three levels of the state judiciary, having been elected by Texas voters 5 times. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas in 2019 by Governor Greg Abbott. She also served for 6 years as a state district judge in Houston and 15 years as a justice on the First Court of Appeals.
Justice Bland earned her undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Texas, graduating with high honors. While in law school, she was Vice-Chancellor and an editor on the Texas Law Review. Following law school, Justice Bland clerked for the Honorable Thomas Gibbs Gee on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Justice Bland is board-certified in civil appellate law and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She began her practice at Baker Botts, where she handled a broad range of trial and appellate matters. Before her appointment to the Court, she was a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston.
Throughout her legal career, Justice Bland has been recognized for her work to improve our state’s judiciary. In 2010, Chief Justice John Roberts presented her with the William H. Rehnquist Award, given to a state court judge exemplifying the highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics. She was named Appellate Judge of the Year in both 2007 and 2015 and Trial Judge of the Year in 2003 by the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists. She chairs the Oversight Committee for the Texas Pattern Jury Charges and is a member of the American Law Institute. She chaired the board of Houston Volunteer Lawyers.
Justice Bland serves as the Court’s liaison to the Judicial Commission on Mental Health and the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, and the deputy liaison to the Court’s Rules Advisory Committee.
Justice Bland and her husband Doug have two college-aged children.
Kit Whitehill is the 2022-2023 TFW President. She previously served as the 15 Vice President-Special Events, the Community Engagement Chair, and the 2017 TFW Convention Chair. She has presented at numerous TFW Nuts and Bolts Trainings, and at the 2019 NFRW Region III Training held in New Orleans.
Kit has made a great impact on the local level as well, founding the Coppell Republican Women in 2012 and serving as their President three times and Programs Chairman twice. She is a Dallas County precinct chair and served as the Dallas County GOP Secretary for 5 years. Kit was the Campaign Manager for her husband, Justice Bill Whitehill of the Fifth District Court of Appeals in the 2012 and 2014 elections. In 2014, the Dallas County Republican Party named her a “Volunteer of the Year” and in 2015 the Coppell Republican Women’s club was honored to be named the Dallas County GOP Club of Year.
She was appointed by Governor Abbott in 2019 to serve on the Texas Motor Vehicle Crime
Prevention Authority. Kit and her husband Justice Bill Whitehill have been married 42 years. They have three children and five grandchildren. They have lived in Coppell since 1993 and are active members at Valley Ranch Baptist Church.