Zimbabwean-Born Michelle Netsai Butler Makes History As First Black Judge in Denton County, Texas
Zimbabwean-born Michelle Netsai Butler has made history after winning election as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 6 in Denton County, Texas, becoming the county’s first Black elected judge. She is also the first Zimbabwean American judge elected in the United States.
Born in Harare and raised in Kambuzuma Section 6, Butler is a decades-long Carrollton resident and a formerly undocumented immigrant turned naturalized citizen. She has lived in Carrollton for more than 20 years, raising two daughters, and previously worked organizing campaigns including for Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
She won the seat in the November 3, 2026 election. As Justice of the Peace, she will preside over small civil disputes, landlord and tenant cases, misdemeanors, inquests and marriages in Precinct 6.
