In 1946, Wilson was elected to a four-year term as district attorney of Dallas County, having served from 1947 to 1951. In 1950, he was elected to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court, the final authority in civil cases and juvenile matters in the state. He left the court as associate justice in 1956 to run for attorney general to succeed the Democrat [[John Ben Shepperd]].<ref name=obit/>
While he was attorney general, Wilson received the Wymann Memorial Award for 1959–1960 as the "Outstanding Attorney General in the United States."<ref name=tsc/> He moved to halt [[prostitution]] in several cities, including [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], Victoria, Cuero, Big Spring, Texarkana, [[Beaumont]], and Port Arthur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southernhistory.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9225&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|title=Prostitution in Texas|publisher=''Southern History''|accessdate=December 24, 2008; no longer on-line}}</ref> Wilson's service as the top lawyer for state government ended in January 1963, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Vincent Waggoner Carr of [[Lubbock]].
==Back-to-back Senate and gubernatorial races, 1961-1962==