Judge Elma Teresa Salinas Ender serves as the judge of the 341st District Court, a general jurisdiction court in Webb County.  When the 341st District Court was created in 1983, Judge Ender was appointed to the bench by Governor Mark White. She enjoys the distinction of being the first Mexican-American female judge in the State of Texas. She has been re-elected since then without opposition.

During her years in office, she has served as chair of and continues to serve as a member of the bail bond board, adult probation, juvenile probation, purchasing, auditing and local administrative judge.  Currently, Judge Salinas Ender serves as chair for the Board of Judges overseeing the Auditor and on the Indigent Defense Services Oversight Committee for the Webb County Judiciary. 

Judge Ender was one of the two district judges appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to the Texas Access to Justice Commission, the first commission ever created by the Supreme Court of Texas.  She served on the Texas Supreme Court Task Force of Foster Care, Court Improvement Project.  She currently serves on the Basic Projects CIP Committee for the Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families.  She has served on the Committee on Judicial Ethics of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas, the committee that issues advisory opinions construing the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Appointed in 1995 by then Governor George Bush, as an ad hoc committee member, Judge Salinas Ender worked to rewrite the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures. Appointed by Governor Mark White in 1986, she served on a Task Force charged with drafting professional standards to be used to certify juvenile detention centers.  She has served as President, Vice President and 4th Administrative District Representative for the Texas District Judges’ Association, 1993-96.

Judge Ender is involved in numerous civic and community activities.  Her leadership in organizations committed to the advancement of women, include Leadership Texas, the Laredo Business and Professional Women’s Association, her participation in the National Hispana Leadership Institute, which included study at Harvard University’s JFK School of Public Affairs.

She holds a Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a B.B.A. from University of Texas in Austin, with a major in accounting.