Ellis County Judge John Wray sworn into office

Newly-appointed Ellis County Judge John Wray posted the following statement to his Facebook page after being sworn into office by Judge Jim Chapman at the historic county courthouse:

“This morning, I was humbled and honored to take the oath of office as your next Ellis County Judge.

“I want to thank the Ellis County Commissioners for entrusting this very important role to me. We have four outstanding members of the Commissioners’ Court, and I look forward to working with each of them as we plan for the future of our rapidly growing county and provide good conservative management for the near future. We are blessed beyond measure to have four such dedicated public servants and county leaders.

“Over the past 8 days, since being selected for this important role, I have communicated with many of our county elected officials and department heads, and I am quite impressed (and very excited) by the team that our voters and elected officials have assembled.

“As your county judge, I am committed to transparency, accessibility, and conservative fiscal responsibility as we work together to plan for the population explosion projected for Ellis County in the next 25 years. I want to thank Judge Todd Little for his outstanding service as Ellis County Judge over the past six and a half years. I wish him well in his next role, and in all of his future endeavors. He has handed over leadership of a team that is on the right course.

“More to come. God bless Ellis County. And God bless Texas!”

Wray’s predecessor, Todd Little, accepted a position to serve as executive director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The county commissioners chose Little’s replacement from a pool of applicants who’d applied for the position. Wray will serve the remainder of Little’s term, which extends through Dec. 31, 2026. Per a previous county press release, Wray will not run for the seat, which will be on the ballot in the November 2026 general election.