Category: Texas Judiciary

Posted on

County-Level Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

Constitutional County Courts

The Texas Constitution states that each of the 254 counties in Texas will operate a county constitutional court, each of which will have a constitutional county judge who presides over the constitutional county court in addition to the county commissioners’ court during the office’s four-year term (we’ll come back to county commissioners’ courts when we look at local government later in this course).

Generally, constitutional county courts exercise both original and appellate jurisdiction:

  • concurrent original jurisdiction in civil actions between $200 and $10,000 and cases involving juvenile matters
  • exclusive original jurisdiction in misdemeanor cases (other than those involving official misconduct) with possible fines greater than $500 or a jail sentence of no more than one year
  • general jurisdiction over probate matters (i.e., wills, estates, and guardianship cases)
  • appellate jurisdiction of decisions made by local courts within the county

Thirty-six constitutional county courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the justice of the peace courts in civil law cases.  In counties with at least 1.75 million residents, constitutional county courts may also hear truancy cases.

“In at least seventy-four counties the constitutional county court’s judicial duties have been given, in whole or in part, to statutory county courts” (Womack, n.d.); in these counties, constitutional county courts focus on administrative functions (i.e., running county government).

Statutory County Courts

Statutory county courts, as the name suggests, are created by the Texas legislature.  The first statutory county court was created in 1907.  Currently, we have 249 statutory county courts.

“The . . . jurisdictions of the statutory courts vary greatly from county to county, depending on the decisions of the county” (Womack, n.d.).  Generally, statutory county courts have jurisdiction in civil, criminal, original, and appellate actions prescribed by law for constitutional county courts.  Additionally, these courts have concurrent original jurisdiction over civil matters up to $200,000 and appellate jurisdiction of final rulings and decisions of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission, with some courts having a higher maximum jurisdiction amount.  Ultimately, the actual jurisdiction of a statutory court depends on what is prescribed in statute; as such, the jurisdiction of statutory county courts varies greatly.

Statutory Probate Courts

Statutory probate courts, which are created by the Texas legislature, are limited in scope and solely perform probate matters.  Currently, there are 18 statutory probate courts located in ten different counties.

Posted on

Local Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

Municipal Courts

The Texas legislature created municipal courts in each incorporated municipality in Texas.  Municipalities may choose to establish their own municipal courts in city charters instead of those established by the state legislature.  Currently, there are 944 municipal courts.

Municipal courts exercise:

  • exclusive original jurisdiction over criminal violations of municipal ordinances
  • exclusive original jurisdiction over criminal cases arising under ordinances authorized by certain provisions of the Local Government Code
  • concurrent original jurisdiction in misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only
  • concurrent original jurisdiction over truancy cases

Municipal courts also perform magistrate functions, such as issuing search and arrest warrants, conducting preliminary hearings, and setting bail.

Most municipal courts, including those created by the Texas legislature, are not courts of record, which means appeals must be heard de novo; county-level courts hearing these appeals must review both questions of fact and questions of law.

Some municipal courts are courts of record; these courts may be granted additional jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases as authorized by the state legislature or municipality.  Appeals from municipal courts of record are treated like appeals from any other court of record: the appellate court considers only questions of law.

Justice of the Peace Courts

Justice of the peace courts are created by the Texas Constitution of 1876, which, as amended, provides that each Texas county be divided into between one and eight justice of the peace precincts.  Each of these precincts has one justice of the peace court and at least one justice of the peace, who serves a four-year term.  Currently, there are 802 justice of the peace courts in Texas.

Justice of the peace courts exercise:

  • concurrent original jurisdiction in misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only
  • exclusive original jurisdiction in civil actions of up to $200
  • concurrent original jurisdiction in civil actions between $200 and $10,000
  • exclusive original jurisdiction over forcible entry and eviction cases
  • concurrent original jurisdiction over repair and remedy cases and truancy cases

Justice of the peace courts also perform magistrate functions, such as issuing search and arrest warrants, conducting preliminary hearings, and setting bail.

Justice of the peace courts are not courts of record, which means appeals must be heard de novo.

 

Most cases heard by local trial courts involve minor traffic offenses.

Posted on

Texas Courts: The Basics

The Texas Constitution and Texas legislature have established a complex court system consisting of various local, county, and state courts, some of which have concurrent jurisdiction.  These courts can be classified into four different types: state appellate courts, which include the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, and 14 courts of appeals; state trial courts of general and special jurisdiction, which include 477 district courts; county trial courts of limited jurisdiction, which include 254 constitutional county courts, 249 statutory county courts, and 18 statutory probate courts, and local trial courts of limited jurisdiction, including 802 justice of the peace courts and 944 municipal courts.  That’s A LOT of courts!

Bifurcated High Courts

At the top of the Texas judicial system sit the two highest courts in the state: the Texas Supreme Court, which handles matters involving civil law, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which handles matters involving criminal law.  Bifurcated court systems in which courts specialize in civil or criminal law are fairly uncommon.  Texas is one of two states that have separate high courts of final appellate jurisdiction for civil law and criminal law (the other state with a bifurcated court system is Oklahoma).

Judicial Selection in Texas

Except for most municipal court judges (whose appointment is defined in individual city charters and typically involves appointment by the city council), judicial appointment in Texas occurs through partisan elections (i.e., with their names appearing alongside a political party on the ballot).  All judges except those serving on the Texas Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals are chosen by voters who reside within a geographic district; justices on the Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals are chosen partisan elections that are conducted statewide (similar to the governor).

Qualifications to run in judicial elections vary depending on the court in question and “increase with the level of the court” (Womack, n.d.), as summarized in the table below.

Type of Judge Qualifications
Justices of the Peace No special qualifications
Municipal Court Judges Must be licensed to practice law in Texas; other qualifications vary
Constitutional County Court Judges Must be “well informed of the law of the State”, which “has not been interpreted to include a law license or formal study of law” (Womack, n.d.)
Statutory County Court Judges Must be licensed to practice law in Texas

Must have practiced law for four years preceding the election

At least twenty-five years old
District Court Judges U.S. and Texas citizen

Must be licensed to practice law in Texas

Must have practiced law as a lawyer or judge for four years preceding the election
Appellate Justices
(Courts of Appeals, Supreme Court, & Court of Criminal Appeals)		 U.S. and Texas citizen

Must be licensed to practice law in Texas

Must have practiced law as a lawyer or judge of a court of record for at least ten years preceding the election

At least thirty-five years old

While there are benefits to partisan elections, many have criticized Texas’s use of partisan elections to select Texas judges.  Among these critics is former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson, who referred to this judicial selection method as “a broken system.”

Removal of Texas Judges

Like the method of selection of state judges, removal methods vary depending on the court in question.  There are six ways in which judges in Texas may be removed from office (not including resignation or death):

  1. Failure to be reelected:  As previously discussed, partisan elections are used to select most of our judges.  Voters may choose not to reelect a judge in a general election
  2. Removal by the Texas Supreme Court:  The Texas Supreme Court may remove state district court judges for incompetence, official misconduct, or negligence
  3. Impeachment process:  Judges may be impeached by the Texas House of Representatives and removed with a 2/3 vote by the Texas Senate
  4. Removal by the governor:  District court judges and justices serving on state appellate courts may be removed by the governor for willful neglect of duty, incompetence, habitual drunkenness, oppression in office, or other reasonable cause on the address of 2/3 of the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate
  5. State commission on judicial conduct:  The state commission on judicial misconduct investigates and prosecutes allegations of judicial misconduct.  If the commission recommends removal or retirement, the Texas Supreme Court chooses a tribunal of various courts of appeals judges to review the recommendation and enter a judgment.  These judgments may be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court
  6. Retirement:  District court judges and justices serving on state appellate courts are required to retire when they reach seventy-five years of age (the legislature is given the authority by the Texas Constitution to reduce this age to seventy years)
Posted on

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction refers to a court’s authority to hear a case and render an opinion.  Various types of jurisdiction exist within the federal and state court systems.

Original jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear an initial case.  When a court exercises original jurisdiction, it considers questions of fact and questions of law.  In other words, the court must first determine the facts of the case, or what happened; then, it must determine how the law applies in that particular case.

Appellate jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.  This occurs when one of the parties in the case appeals the case, or requests for a higher court to review the legal decision of a lower court.  When a court exercises appellate jurisdiction, it considers questions of law. (i.e., whether the lower court correctly interpreted and applied the appropriate legal provisions in rendering its judgment).  If there are questions about the facts of the case, the appellate court will remand the case, or send the case back to the lower court for further action (in this case, to review the facts).

Subject matter jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear cases relating to a specific type of claim.  The video below discusses subject matter jurisdiction in more detail, focusing predominantly on federal subject matter jurisdiction.

Regional jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear a case based on where the case originated.  Generally speaking, higher courts have broader regional jurisdiction than intermediate courts, and intermediate courts have broader regional jurisdiction than lower courts within the judicial hierarchy.

Sometimes, due to the type of claim involved in a case, more than one court may exercise overlapping original or appellate jurisdiction.  In this situation, the courts are said to have concurrent jurisdiction.  For example, federal criminal law sometimes overlaps with state criminal law; if someone is accused of committing a crime that falls into this overlap between federal and state criminal law statutes, the case may be initially heard in either a state court or a federal district court.  Exclusive jurisdiction, on the other hand, refers to the sole authority to hear a specific type of case.

Posted on

Judicial Federalism: The Dual Court System

The United States court system is based on judicial federalism, in which judicial authority is shared between levels of government.  The structure of the federal court system is outlined by Article III of the U.S. Constitution and statutory laws passed by Congress.  States are given the authority to establish their own court systems.

State courts hear most day-to-day cases (and approximately 90 percent of all criminal and civil cases).  State courts help the states retain their own sovereignty in judicial matters over their state laws, distinct from the national government.

Federal courts only hear cases that involve a “federal question” *(i.e., involve a federal criminal law, bureaucratic rule, etc., or raise the question whether some law or action violates the U.S. Constitution), interstate matters, and diversity of citizenship matters involving parties of two different states or between a U.S. citizen and a citizen of another nation (with a damage claim of at least $75,000).

State and federal court systems sometimes intersect and overlap each other.  When concurrent jurisdiction exists between the federal and state court systems, there are alternative venues in which someone may appeal for assistance.  Concurrent jurisdiction between federal and state court systems also means that there are different courts in which a person can face charges for a crime or violation.  Double-jeopardy only protects the accused from being tried for the same crime in the same court system; it does not protect the accused from being tried of the same crime in a different court system.