All of the judges for the Miss Texas State Pageant have been hand selected from a pool of over 100 applicants. All of the judges have had significant experience in the pageant industry and shall have no bias or relationship to any contestant or to any member, or associate of Sigma Tau Gamma. All judges will be screened prior to the event to ensure the safety of our contestants.  The following judges have been selected:

JUDGING CRITERIA

Pageant Judging is a responsibility and should be treated as such. Each delegate in the competition deserves fair and equal consideration. Each has worked hard and each has aspirations to be the next Miss Texas State titleholder. Judges have the power to make someone’s dreams come true. With power comes responsibility. We have selected judges who are worthy individuals and capable of making their own decisions.

We have instructed the judges to allow no one, including pageant staff, other judges, or the audience to influence their scoring decisions. Judges must not allow any biases such as religion, culture, ethnicity, race, or disability to influence their scoring decisions, either positively or negatively. Each delegate must be judged based upon their merits according to the criteria specified on the score sheets. Returning contestants are to be afforded no special consideration. Delegates who have many supporters in the audience are to be afforded no special consideration.

Our winners may be first time delegates who have never been in a pageant before or pageant veterans. Each delegate must be considered an equal contender in this competition. We have instructed the judges not to engage in unethical scoring practices. We have explained that it may be tempting to try to influence the outcome of the pageant by giving a favorite delegate a score higher than is merited by the criteria. This practice is unethical and must not be engaged in. Similarly, giving a delegate a score lower than deserved in an attempt to boost a favorite delegate in the overall ranking is prohibited.

In the small pageant world, it is inevitable that some experienced judges may have had prior contact with a delegate, either in a prior pageant or contest or simply casual interaction. We have instructed the judges not to allow any memory of prior performance in any past event to influence scoring decisions in this event. Similarly, we have instructed the judges not to allow any prior knowledge of a delegate to influence their performance as an ethic judge in this competition. Such prior knowledge may include: social interaction, whether in person, via telephone or email, observations at appearances or visibility of the delegate in industry publications and on the internet.

Judges may not engage in lengthy conversation with any delegate or her family before or during the pageant. Judges who find themselves in a social situation where it is impossible to leave (such as in an elevator) must limit their conversation to mundane issues such as the weather, the local area, quality of the meals served, etc. Judges may, of course, engage in conversation with any delegate or family member after the competition has ended. Following the competition, delegates may approach the judges for feedback regarding their performance. Judges should be encouraged but not obligated to provide helpful advice. If for any reason and at any point in the competition we believe that a judge is unable to score any delegate fairly, without bias, according to the criteria, and with a clear conscience, we will remove them from the judging panel and invalidate all of their scores.