Barry Thomas Smitherman (born September 13, 1957) is an American lawyer who served as a member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2015. A Republican, he was appointed to the commission on July 8, 2011 by then Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacant post; on February 28, 2012 he was elected chairman of the commission, which regulates not railroads but the Texas oil and gas industry. Smitherman finished in third place with 281,064 votes (22.1 percent) in the primary race for attorney general.