Statutory County Courts at Law are created
by the Texas Legislature to address a local need; they
initially were created to handle the judicial functions of
the county judge.
The judge must be a licensed attorney practicing in Texas
for at least four years. Judges are elected countywide for a
four-year term. If they are appointed to fill a vacancy,
they are appointed by the county commissioners court.
The powers and duties are set out in the Government Code,
specifically Chapter 25. The judge can issue writs of
injunction, mandamus, attachment, garnishment,
sequestration, and habeas corpus in cases where the offense
charged is within the jurisdiction of the court. The judge
also can punish for contempt, and has all other powers and
duties of the county judge.
Some statutory courts are criminal, civil, probate, family,
family violence and juvenile, some hear only appeals, and
some do a little of everything. The court has jurisdiction
of appeals of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission and
probate jurisdiction, unless there is a statutory probate
court. The court does not have jurisdiction over matters
concerning roads, bridges, and public highways or over the
general administration of county business; the judge cannot
hear cases affecting title to land. The original
jurisdiction of trial courts is determined by the subject
matter and the amount in controversy at the time of the
filing of the suit.
The jurisdictional dollar limit of county courts varies from
county to county. It is not related to population. In Texas,
133 county courts at law have concurrent jurisdiction with
the district courts in civil cases where the dollar limit is
$100,000. Other jurisdictional dollar limits range from
$250,000 to $1 million. Fifteen counties have county courts
that have no dollar limit and can handle any case that
district courts handle.
In 55 counties, the county courts have concurrent
jurisdiction with the district courts in family law matters
including divorces, child custody, adoptions, child welfare,
child support, etc. Some county courts have limited family
jurisdiction. Other types of civil matters heard in the
county courts are condemnation that may involve millions of
dollars, personal injury, contract, landlord tenants, debt
collections, medical malpractice, justice of the peace and
small claim appeals, and administrative license revocation
appeals (license is suspended for DWI or DUI).
The county courts also have criminal jurisdiction of Class A
and B misdemeanors and appellate jurisdiction over class C
offenses and justice of the peace and municipal court
decisions. Some county courts have limited felony
jurisdiction and can conduct felony arraignments, pretrial
hearings, and accept guilty pleas, and some handle all
felony matters except capital murder cases.
Statutory county courts are very busy courts. In FY2004,
860,219 new cases were filed in these courts, the largest
number of cases ever added to the dockets in any fiscal
year. Of the total number of cases added to the courts’
docket, 70.4 percent were criminal, and 17.8 percent were
civil. Of the total number of new civil cases, 33 percent
were debt collections, 16 percent were personal injury, and
16 percent were family. Of the total number of criminal
cases on the dockets (1,225,662), 31.4 percent were
worthless checks, 17.3 percent were DWI or DUI cases, 9.7
percent were drug offenses, 8.8 percent were assault cases,
and 9.4 percent were traffic cases.
To confuse matters more, in 1985 the Court Administration
Act, Section 74.094 authorized that within a county,
district and statutory county court judges may exchange
benches. This means a statutory court judge can sit as a
district court judge and vice versa. How does it work in the
real world? For example, if my cases resolve, I call the
administrator and ask for a district court case. I sit as a
district court judge on that case. Section 74.094 gives me,
the judge assigned, the same power of the district court
that I am sitting for. This statute blurs the practical
distinctions between district and statutory county courts
and allows for the efficient use of judges.
County courts are important to the commissioners court
because:
1. many citizens interact with this trial court level either
as a juror or a party;
2. the commissioners court fills vacancies;
3. the income generated from these courts in fines and costs
is significant;
4. a significant percentage of the total monies spent on
attorney appointments for indigent defense is in misdemeanor
cases, i.e. 40 percent in Travis County; and
5. commissioners court determines the need to go to the
Legislature to create a new county court or to change the
jurisdiction as a solution to the heavy caseload.
The statutory county courts at law play a very significant
role in our trial courts. They are not second citizens to
the district courts. These courts are the answer to a local
need for additional courts to handle the heavy caseloads.
|
