A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Price moved to Texas in 1957, when he turned twelve years of age. He attended Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas, and served in the United States Marine Corps during the early stages of the Vietnam War. He graduated from East Texas State University, now Texas A&M University–Commerce in Commerce, Texas. In 1970, he received his legal degree from Southern Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco, Texas. After four years in private practice, Price was elected in 1974 as judge of the Dallas County Criminal Court No. 5 and served for three four-year terms, during part of which he was the presiding judge of the court. In 1986, 1990, and 1994, he was elected to the 282nd Criminal District Court, of which he was also the presiding judge. From 1991 to 1996, he was the chairman of the Community Justice Council Committee, in which capacity he was instrumental in the site selection, building, and administration of the Dallas County State Jail Facility, the largest institution of its kind in the state. Similarly, he worked to bring to fruition the Dallas County Judicial Drug Treatment Center. In 1996, while still on the 282nd state court, Price won a contested Republican runoff election for the Court of Criminal Appeals. He defeated his intra-party challenger, Cheryl Johnson, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who was practicing law in Austin. Price received 128,363 votes to Johnson's 95,941 in a runoff election. Two years later, Johnson won election to the same court, and the two became judicial colleagues. Price then unseated the Democratic incumbent, Judge Frank Maloney, 2,745,701 to 2,358,371. In 2000, Price unsuccessfully challenged fellow Republican Sharon Keller for the post of presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, a position which Keller still holds. He polled 101,514 votes to Keller's 122,958. In 2002, Price ran for his second term on the Court of Criminal Appeals. In a runoff election for Place 1, he defeated challenger Tim Taft, 121,039 to 88,566. In the November general election, Price defeated a Democrat, John W. Bull, 2,493,440 to 1,692,773. Two other candidates held the remaining 3.2 percent of the ballots cast. In 2008, running for Place 3, Price defeated still another Democrat, Susan Strawn, 3,949,722 to 3,482,718. The remaining 2.9 percent of the ballots casts went to the Libertarian Party nominee.
