HOUSTON, TX (TIP): Indian American Judge Ravi “R.K” Sandill is running for the Supreme Court of Texas, Place 4.

Sandill, who currently serves as the Judge of the 127th Civil District Court in Harris County, is the first Asian American to run for the position in Texas.

Sandill is the only South Asian on the Bar in Harris County. He has been serving the position since 2009.

Harris County, which includes Houston, is the most populous county in Texas, with a population of more than 4.5 million.

“I am running for the Supreme Court of Texas, Place 4, to restore an independent voice to our state’s highest judicial body and to focus on the rule of law, rather than a fringe ideological agenda,” Sandill said on his campaign website.

“The Texas Constitution tells us that all political power is inherent in the people. Yet, the Supreme Court of Texas is increasingly out of touch with the needs of everyday Texans,” said Sandill.

Established in 1840, the Supreme Court of Texas comprises a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. Each judge is elected for a term of five years which is renewable.

If elected, Sandill would replace John P. Devine, 59, of Harris County, who has been holding the position since 2013.

Sandill is the son of immigrant parents from India. According to his campaign website, his father, Retired Lt. Col. Brij Sandill, served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force for a combined 28 years.

Following high school in England, Ravi Sandill attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he obtained a degree in government and served as a summer intern for President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Sandill went on to earn his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, where he was an active participant in the law school’s moot court team and an editor on the Houston Journal of International Law.

Sandill first ran for judge in 2008, when he prevailed over a 28-year incumbent to become a judge of the 127th.

Since winning that election, Judge Sandill has presided over more than 225 civil trials and has adjudicated over 15,000 matters.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Leadership Forum (Houston). Sandill is an Alexis de Toqueville member of the United Way, and has served as a Board Trustee for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Gulf Coast Chapter.

He has also been recognized as an Extraordinary Minority by Texas Lawyer magazine and in 2015 was honored to receive the Achievement in Public Service Award from the University of Houston’s Alumni Association.