The Texas court system is one of the most complex judicial systems in the United States, if not the world. Even figuring out which county court to file your lawsuit may pose a challenge.
Since its creation in the late 1800s, the basic structure of the Texas judicial system has been expanded periodically on an ad hoc basis. The court system in Texas is hierarchical.
This means that cases begin in local trial courts and work their way up to the appeals courts.
There are several unique things about the Texas judicial system, including the types of courts in Texas. The State of Texas does not have a typical system of juvenile courts.
Some of the more populated counties have their juvenile cases heard by county judges or district judges who are designated to hear juvenile cases. Texas is also one of only two states that uses a bifurcated appellate court system, which means that the highest court in Texas is divided into two branches.
Judges and justices in Texas are selected using partisan, statewide elections. Vacancies between these elections are filled by gubernatorial appointments made with the advice and consent of the Texas Senate.
Qualifications for judge or justice in Texas include:
The term length is six years.
There are two high courts in Texas: the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Texas Supreme Court has jurisdiction over both civil matters and juvenile matters.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has jurisdiction over criminal matters. There are nine judges on each of these courts.
There are both pros and cons of having two high courts. Having two high courts complicates the administration of the Texas judicial system.
Because neither court is truly supreme, the high courts in Texas cannot resolve conflicts that arise when they reach different conclusions on specific points of law. On the other hand, having two high courts allows each to bring specialized knowledge to different cases, which benefits litigants.
In addition, having two high courts allows a larger number of appeals that would be possible to litigate if there was only one single high court. This allows each of the courts to provide greater certainty to the law by accepting cases that present new or complex legal issues or legal issues that the intermediate appellate courts do not agree on.
The majority of American jurisdictions have three levels of judicial review. Texas, in contrast, has five. At each of these levels, specific courts handle different types of cases and cases may be filed in more than one overlapping court.
The lowest level of court in Texas is the justice courts. Each county has to have at least one of these courts.
These courts have exclusive jurisdiction over small claims matters, or cases that have less than $5,000 in controversy. Justice Courts also have jurisdiction over traditional civil cases with less than $10,000 in controversy.
Unlike a traditional courtroom, a Justice Courts judge does not have to be a lawyer and can only grant monetary relief. This means that a petitioner should not file a complex case in Justice Courts and they would not be able to obtain an injunction or determine title to a property.
At the Texas county level, there are two types of county courts for civil matters, Constitutional County Courts and County Courts at Law. Constitutional County Courts hear cases with amounts in controversy between $200 and $5,000.
Similar to the Justice Courts, judges are not required to be attorneys. They can, however, issue injunctions.
They are also able to hear appeals from the local Justice Courts.
In certain counties, there are County Courts at Law. The Texas Legislature creates these courts as needed, typically for the specific purpose of hearing probate cases.
Once a County Court at Law has been established and empowered to hear probate issues, it can automatically hear cases that involve estate issues, for example, personal injury resulting in death or incapacity.
Texas District Courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction, can hear virtually all types of cases. These courts can hear any civil matter as long as there is more than $500 in controversy or if the other courts cannot hear it.
This includes disputes regarding title to a property. Texas District Court judges are required to be attorneys.
It is important to note that not all Texas counties have a district court, as some smaller counties share one.
There are fourteen intermediate appellate courts that have a structure and disposition of cases that are complicated by overlapping dockets and geographic jurisdictions.
Texas has two intermediate appellate courts with identical geographic jurisdictions and three that have overlap. Texas’s intermediate appellate court districts also run through many multi-county trial court districts.
This means that several district courts answer to more than one of the intermediate appellate courts. There are nine administrative regions that do not coincide with the intermediate appellate court districts.
Similar to the appellate court districts, the administrative regions also cut through multi-county trial court districts. There are seven types of trial courts in Texas, including:
In many places, one single county is divided into two or three district court districts, with each district comprising a different group of counties. In contrast to the federal court system and the court systems in other major states, Texas does not have special courts or procedures for complex litigation.
In Texas, there are nine administrative judicial regions. Each of these regions has a presiding judge who is responsible for efficiently managing litigation within that region.
Because the Governor of Texas appoints regional administrative judges for a fixed term, the administration of justice is not in the hands of an individual who is accountable to another judicial officer. Administration of courts is handled at the local level by judges who are accountable to their local officials for financial issues but who are not accountable to any individuals other than fellow judges to ensure the efficient administration of justice.
Texas relies heavily on locally generated revenue instead of state-generated revenue to fund its judicial system. City, county, and state governments share the cost of:
Court revenue is retained at the local level and other revenue passes to the Texas state government.
There have been numerous calls for reform of the judicial system in Texas. In 1918, the Texas Bar Association adopted a proposal to replace the judicial article of the Texas Constitution, Article V, with another judicial article.
This new judicial commentator proposed:
Since this time, there have been many attempts to revise Article V. The main concerns in these reform efforts included:
If you have any legal issues, questions, or concerns, it is important to consult with a Texas lawyer. This is because navigating the Texas judicial system can be difficult.
Your lawyer can help you determine the proper court in which to file your case. Having the assistance of an attorney can provide many benefits, including speeding up your case, preventing misfiling, and even representing you in court, if necessary.
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