Judge Jim Coronado serves as Judge of the 427th Criminal District Court. He was elected to this office on November 4, 2008 and sworn in on January 8, 2009. Prior to serving in this position he had been the Magistrate for the Travis County Criminal District Courts since being unanimously appointed by the district judges in 1991. He previously served contemporaneously as Municipal Judge in the cities of Kyle and Austin. He has served as a judge for 20 years and has presided over more than 30,000 felony proceedings in Travis County.

In 2006, Judge Coronado was the Democratic nominee for Justice of the Third Court of Appeals serving Travis and 23 other counties. He was voted “best qualified” by the majority of attorneys participating in the non-partisan judicial preference poll conducted by the State Bar of Texas. In the November election, he received 48.7% of the vote in an area larger than nine states. Jim received nearly 62% of the vote in his home county of Travis.

In the race for the 427th District Court, Judge Coronado again was voted "best qualified" for the bench in the Austin Bar Association's Judicial Preference Poll beating the Republican appointee by more than 3 to 1, garnering over 72% of the vote among the then three candidates.

Jim is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law. He entered UT at age 17 as a junior transfer from the University of Texas at El Paso. He worked his way through college and law school and was in the private practice of law in Austin for over ten years. He is a past president of the Austin/Travis County Bar Association.

Jim joined the Travis County Bar in 1979. During his Bar service he served on the Board of the Lawyer Referral Service for six years. He also served as president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin (formerly CAMAL) and chaired the District 9 Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee. Jim served continuously on the Austin/Travis County Bar Board of Directors from 1995-2006.

Jim has also been a leader in the State and National Bar. He served as a Director of the State Bar of Texas and on its Executive Committee. He served three years as chair of the State Bar Jury Service Committee. Judge Coronado is a Life Fellow and Trustee of the State Bar Foundation and chaired the State Bar Board committee on legal services to the poor. Jim chaired the State Bar Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession Committee for three years. He is a Master in the Robert Calvert Inn of Court. He was a founding member and president of the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas. In 1990 he was elected vice president of the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Judge Coronado’s work has been recognized by his community and his profession. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the City of Austin for his work on juvenile crime and gang violence. In 1995 his peers recognized him with the Judge Reynaldo Garza Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar for his dedication and efforts to increase diversity in the Bar. At 44 he was the youngest recipient ever of this award. In 1999 he received a Presidential Citation from the State Bar for lifetime achievement and service to the Bar.