Texas Judge Who Refused to Officiate Same Sex Weddings Awarded $640K Settlement

First Liberty Institute announced last week that a Travis County (Austin) district court awarded a settlement to Judge Dianne Hensley, a Waco-based judge, who was sanctioned by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct after declining to perform same-sex weddings.

Judge Hensley was originally disciplined for declining to officiate same-sex weddings because of her religious beliefs. She has now secured a legal victory, receiving a $10,000 settlement and more than $630,000 in attorneys’ fees as similar litigation involving judges across the state continues.

The court’s ruling, issued June 16, not only awarded Hensley the maximum compensatory damages allowed under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act but also barred the Commission from “investigating, sanctioning, or disciplining” Hensley for refusing to officiate same-sex weddings because of her religious beliefs, regardless of whether she continues to perform marriages for opposite-sex couples.

“Judge Hensley always adhered to the law and the legal guidance provided by the attorney general of Texas,” said First Liberty Institute Executive General Counsel Hiram Sasser. “We are grateful that this case has concluded and that Judge Hensley was vindicated.”

“To ensure that all residents of McLennan County have access to low-cost wedding ceremonies, Judge Hensley compiled a referral list of local wedding officiants that would perform same-sex ceremonies at her price,” First Liberty added.

Although Hensley received no public complaints, the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public warning accusing her of violating the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.

Hensley sued the Commission in 2019 for violating her rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In 2025, the Texas Supreme Court approved adding new language to the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct clarifying that “It is not a violation of these canons for a judge to publicly refrain from performing a wedding ceremony based upon a sincerely held religious belief.”

Despite the Texas Supreme Court’s amendments to the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct, the Commission didn’t immediately side with Hensley.

In a court filing also submitted in 2025, lawyers for the Commission argued that “The comment only gives a judge the authority to ‘opt out’ of officiating due to a sincere religious belief, but does not say that a judge can, at the same time, welcome to her chambers heterosexual couples for whom she willingly offers to conduct marriage ceremonies.”

In yet another separate lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas late last year, Hensley alleged that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriages nationwide was unconstitutional.

“Officiating a wedding ceremony is speech, and the commissioners are preventing Judge Hensley from engaging in this speech unless she agrees to perform homosexual marriages in violation of her Christian faith and in violation of Texas law.”

First Liberty said a subsequent Texas Supreme Court ruling proved decisive.

On January 9, 2026, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in a different case that the Commission has no authority under state law to discipline judges who refuse to perform same-sex weddings for moral or religious reasons. The district court entered judgment in favor of Judge Hensley shortly thereafter.”

“Although the Hensley litigation has concluded, the Commission is still facing a statewide class-action lawsuit on behalf of justices of the peace who were unwilling to perform same-sex marriages and stopped performing weddings entirely to avoid disciplinary action from the Commission,” First Liberty Institute added. “The class action is seeking damages in the tens of millions of dollars for income lost by justices of the peace throughout the state.”