Courts And Their Jurisdiction

 The student will be able to identify the court structure of Texas . 

The appellate courts of Texas include a Supreme Court, a Court of Criminal Appeals, and 14 intermediate courts of appeals.  In addition, the Texas Constitution establishes district courts as the state trial courts of general jurisdiction and provides for a single constitutional county court in each county, presided over by the county judge. In more populous counties, the Legislature has established statutory county courts to function as county courts at law and probate courts.

Also, the Constitution provides for justice of the peace courts in each county. These justice courts handle criminal misdemeanor cases and serve as small claims courts.   Finally, the Legislature has established municipal courts in each incorporated city of the State to handle criminal misdemeanor cases and city ordinance violations.

Supreme Court
JURISDICTION: The Supreme Court of Texas has statewide, final appellate jurisdiction in civil and juvenile cases, and original jurisdiction to issue writs. It has general responsibility for the efficient operation of the Texas judicial system; is empowered to make and enforce all necessary rules of civil trial practice and procedure, evidence, and appellate procedure; and promulgate rules of administration of justice in the State. In addition, the Court has final authority over the involuntary retirement or removal of all judges in the State, and the authority to transfer cases between the 14 courts of appeals.

Court Of Criminal Appeals
JURISDICTION: The Court of Criminal Appeals has statewide, final appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases; exclusive jurisdiction over automatic appeals in death penalty cases; and the power to issue writs. It is empowered to promulgate rules of evidence and rules for appellate procedure in criminal cases.

Courts Of Appeals
JURISDICTION: These 14 courts have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases from trial courts in each respective geographical court of appeals district of the State. These courts have limited original writ jurisdiction.

District Courts
JURISDICTION: There are 396 separate district courts, identified by separate numbers, each having its own geographical jurisdiction. Each district court has one judge. In a number of areas, the geographical jurisdiction of two or more district courts is overlapping. District courts are trial courts of general subject-matter jurisdiction. They have "exclusive, appellate, and original jurisdiction of all actions, proceedings, and remedies, except in cases where exclusive, appellate, or original jurisdiction may be conferred by (the) Constitution or other law on some other court. . ." Generally, this jurisdiction includes original jurisdiction of felony criminal prosecutions, suits for divorce, suits over title to land, election contests, and civil suits with an amount in controversy of at least $200.

County courts at law and constitutional county courts also exercise limited subject-matter jurisdiction over civil suits and thus, to a limited extent, share jurisdiction with the district courts. Individual statutes stipulate maximum amounts in controversy over which each county-level court may exercise jurisdiction. To the extent that such "dollar amount" jurisdiction coincides with the district court, the two courts have concurrent jurisdiction. Such concurrent jurisdiction of the district and county-level courts begins with suits involving $200 and extends to the maximum amount stipulated by the applicable statute pertaining to the individual county-level court. Above such maximum jurisdictional amount of the county-level courts, the district court exercises exclusive jurisdiction.

 The district courts hear contested matters involved in probate cases and have general supervisory control over commissioners courts. In addition, these courts have general original jurisdiction over all causes of action for which a remedy or jurisdiction is not provided by law or by the Constitution, and have the power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, injunction, certiorari, sequestration, attachment, garnishment, and all writs necessary to enforce their jurisdiction.

Most district courts exercise both criminal and civil jurisdiction, but in the metropolitan areas there is a tendency for the courts to specialize in either civil, criminal, or family law cases. In some instances, the courts that hear criminal cases exclusively are designated criminal district courts. A limited number of district courts also have the subject-matter jurisdiction normally exercised by county courts.

Appeals from judgments of the district courts are to the courts of appeals, except those capital offense cases in which the death penalty has been assessed, which are appealed directly to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

"Constitutional" County Courts
JURISDICTION:

a. Legal jurisdiction: The Texas Constitution establishes one county court in each of the 254 counties of the State, but not all such courts exercise judicial functions. In populous counties, the "county judge" may devote full time to the administration of county government.

By statute (Government Code, 26.042), constitutional county courts have juvenile jurisdiction and concurrent civil jurisdiction with justice of the peace courts in cases in which the matter in controversy exceeds $200 but does not exceed $5,000, exclusive of interest, and concurrent civil jurisdiction with district courts in cases in which the matter in controversy exceeds $500 but does not exceed $5,000, exclusive of interest. County courts have the general jurisdiction of a probate court (Probate Code, Sec. 4), and they have exclusive original jurisdiction of misdemeanors, other than those involving official misconduct, where the fine allowed exceeds $500 or where a jail sentence may be imposed (Government Code, 26.045).

Decisions from the municipal and justice of the peace courts may be appealed to the county court, and the appeal takes the form of a completely new trial (trial de novo). Appeals from municipal courts of record are an exception in which the county court reviews only the written record from the trial. Original and appellate judgments of the county court may be appealed to the court of appeals, with certain limitations.

In addition to these general grants of statutory jurisdiction, many constitutional county courts are granted additional jurisdiction by statutory provisions which apply only to those courts (Government Code, 26.101 to 26.354).

b. Geographical jurisdiction: Countywide.

 NOTE: The commissioners court is not a judicial entity; rather it is the governing body of the county. It is presided over by the constitutional county judge and includes four elected commissioners. Although it performs no judicial duties, the commissioners court can issue certain writs and contempt citations.

Statutory County Courts
JURISDICTION:

a. Legal jurisdiction: Under the constitutional provision which authorizes the Legislature to establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and to prescribe the jurisdiction of such courts, the Legislature has established 197 statutory county courts in 74 counties, primarily in metropolitan areas, to relieve the constitutional county judge of all or part of his judicial duties. (Three additional courts have been authorized by the Legislature but have not been implemented as of September 1, 1998. Four additional courts have been authorized by the Legislature to become operational at a later date.) The legal jurisdiction of the special county courts varies considerably according to the statute under which they are created. Some are intended to exercise subject-matter jurisdiction in only limited fields, such as civil, criminal, probate or appellate (from justice courts or municipal courts). The concurrent civil jurisdiction of these statutory county courts with the district court extends to greater amounts in controversy than the constitutional county courts.

b. Geographical jurisdiction: Countywide.

Justice Of The Peace Courts
JURISDICTION: The Texas Constitution provides that each county shall have, depending on the population, one to eight justice precincts. In each such precinct, depending on the population, one or more justices of the peace are to be elected. As of Fiscal Year 1998, there were 843 Justice of The Peace Courts.

Justice of the peace courts have original jurisdiction in misdemeanor criminal cases when punishment is by fine only. They have exclusive jurisdiction over civil cases where the amount in controversy is $200 or less and concurrent jurisdiction with both the county and district courts in civil matters in which exclusive jurisdiction is not in the district or county court and the amount in controversy is $5000 or less. By statute, they are granted jurisdiction over forcible entry and detainer actions.

A justice of the peace may issue warrants of search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings, serve as ex officio notary public, perform marriages, and serve as coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. The justice court also functions as a small claims court.

Municipal Courts
JURISDICTION: By a general statute, the Legislature has created a municipal court in each of the incorporated cities of the State. Presently, municipal courts are operating in approximately 850 cities and towns. Metropolitan cities usually have more than one municipal court.

The municipal courts have concurrent jurisdiction with justice of the peace courts in misdemeanor cases resulting from violations of state laws within the city limits (predominantly traffic offenses) when punishment is limited to a fine and in cases arising under Chapter 106 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code relating to minors that do not include confinement as an authorized sanction.

Municipal judges also serve as magistrates of the State. They have original and exclusive jurisdiction over violation of city ordinances punishable by a fine not to exceed: 1) $2,000 in cases arising under ordinances involving litter, fire safety, zoning, public health, and sanitation; and 2) $500 in all other cases arising under a municipal ordinance.

Municipal courts generally are not of record--that is, courts where the record of the trial, upon request of either party or at the direction of the court, is reduced to writing--and appeals from them are by trial de novo in the county court, county court at law, or district court. The Legislature has authorized the governing body of each city to establish municipal courts of record; appeals from these courts are on the record made therein.