Chapter 14A Lecture Notes

Chapter 14A: The Texas Court System

Key Terms:

appellate jurisdiction;

exclusive jurisdiction;

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I. Judicial Authority

A. Source of Judicial Authority

The judicial power of the State of Texas is derived from Article 5, §1 of the Texas Constitution, which provides:

The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Supreme Court, in one Court of Criminal Appeals, in Courts of Appeals, in District Courts, in County Courts, in Commissioners Courts, in Courts of Justices of the Peace, and in such other courts as may be provided by law.

The Legislature may establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and prescribe the jurisdiction and organization thereof, and may conform the jurisdiction of the district and other inferior courts thereto. (As amended November 4, 1980, effective September 1, 1981.)

B. Types of Courts

1. Trial Courts

a. Trial courts have original jurisdiction.Jurisdiction is the power of a court to try and decide a case. The trial court in which a case is first heard is said to have original jurisdiction. Original jurisdiction is the power to hear a case first, before any other court.

b. Trial courts are courts in which witnesses are heard, exhibits are offered into evidence, and a verdict (in a jury trial) or a decision (in a case tried by a judge alone) is reached based on the facts of the case.

1) In a civil case, the decision or verdict determines which party wins the lawsuit. In civil cases, a plaintiff is one who initiates a lawsuit, a defendant is the party against whom a lawsuit is brought.

2) in a criminal case, it determines whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime alleged. In criminal cases, the government is the equivalent of a plaintiff in that the government is the party who initiates the criminal action.

2. Appellate Courts

a. The appellate court to which a case is appealed from a lower court is said to have appellate jurisdiction. Appellate courts are thus vested with appellate jurisdiction. Appellate jurisdiction is the authority of a court to review decision of inferior (lower or trial) courts on questions of law. No new evidence is presented and no witnesses are heard on the appeal of a case. The facts of the case have been determined at the trial, and all testimony and evidence are contained in the record which was made in the trial court and sent to the appellate court when the appeal was made.

1) The appellate court makes its decision on the appeal based on a review of the record and the arguments of the attorneys for both sides.

2) The decision is based solely upon the evidence contained in the record and the law which pertains to the facts of the case.

b. Certain trial courts, usually county courts, hear appeals from justice of the peace courts and from those municipal courts where no written record of the proceedings is made.

1) In those situations the appeal takes the form of a trial de novo, which means that an entirely new trial is held since no record of the proceedings is made in the lower court.

2) A few municipal courts are courts of record and appeals from them are based on the written record of the trial.

II. Structure of the Texas Judiciary

A. Overview of the Texas Judicial System

1. The Texas court system consists of a Supreme Court, which is the highest state appellate court for civil matters; a Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the highest state appellate court for criminal matters; fourteen Courts of Appeals, which have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases; and four levels of trial courts.

2. The state trial courts of general jurisdiction are the district courts, which, in some metropolitan areas, specialize in civil, criminal, family law, or juvenile cases. Each district court has one judge.

3. Each of the 254 counties in Texas has a county court presided over by a county judge. To relieve the docket congestion of this single "constitutional" county court, the Legislature has established county courts at law and statutory probate courts in many counties with large populations.

4. In addition, each county is required to have at least one justice of the peace court. The most populous counties may have as many as sixteen. These courts also serve as small claims courts.

5. The Legislature has created municipal courts in each incorporated city within the State. Within the city limits, these courts have concurrent criminal jurisdiction with the justice of the peace courts.

B. The Appellate Courts

1. The Supreme Court of Texas

a. The Supreme Court of Texas is composed of a Chief Justice and eight justices. It has statewide, final appellate jurisdiction in all civil and juvenile cases.

1) Most of the cases heard by this Court are appeals from an appellate ruling by one of the intermediate Courts of Appeals.

2) The Supreme Court also has the authority to determine certain legal matters over which no other court has jurisdiction and to issue such orders as may be necessary to enforce its jurisdiction and to carry out the responsibilities of the Court.

b. In addition to its adjudicative functions, the Supreme Court has many administrative duties. It is responsible for the efficient operation of the Texas Judicial System.

1) The Court makes the rules of practice and procedure governing trials and appeals in civil and juvenile cases in the State, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the State Bar of Texas, and other state agencies in the judicial branch of government.

2) An important administrative function of the Supreme Court is the transfer of cases between the fourteen Courts of Appeals to obtain a more equal distribution of workload in those courts.

2. The Court of Criminal Appeals

a. The Court of Criminal Appeals is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges.

1) This Court has statewide, final appellate jurisdiction of criminal cases and makes rules of post-trial and appellate procedure for criminal cases.

2) Most of the cases heard by this Court are appeals from one of the fourteen intermediate Courts of Appeals. An important exception is that appeals in all criminal cases in which the death penalty has been imposed are made directly from the trial court to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

b. This Court has the authority to issue such orders as may be necessary to enforce its jurisdiction and judgments. In addition, it administers all funds for judicial education in the State of Texas.

3. The Courts of Appeals

a. The fourteen Courts of Appeals have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts.

b. Each Court of Appeals has jurisdiction in a specific geographical region of the State. Each Court is presided over by a chief justice and has at least two other justices.

1) The specific number of justices on each Court is set by statute and ranges from three to thirteen. Presently there are eighty justices authorized for these Courts.

2) Appeals in the Courts of Appeals are usually heard by a panel of three justices, unless in a particular case an en banc hearing is ordered, in which instance all the justices of that Court hear and consider the case.

C. The Trial Courts

The Texas trial court system consists of several different types of courts, each handling different categories of cases. These courts include the district courts, the county courts, the county courts of law, the probate courts, the municipal courts, and the justice of the peace courts.

1. The District Courts

a. The district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of Texas. The geographical area served by each court is established by the Legislature, but each county must be served by at least one district court.

b In sparsely populated areas of the State, several counties may be served by a single district court, while an urban county may be served by many district courts.

c. District courts have original jurisdiction in all felony criminal cases, divorce cases, cases involving title to land, election contest cases, civil matters in which the amount in controversy (the amount of money or damages involved) is $200 or more, and any matters in which jurisdiction is not placed in another trial court. While most district courts try both criminal and civil cases, in the more densely populated counties the courts may specialize in civil, criminal, juvenile, or family law matters.

2. The Constitutional County Courts

a. As provided in the Texas Constitution, each of the 254 counties of the State has a single county court presided over by a county judge. In most cases, the county judge is a non-lawyer.

b. These courts have concurrent jurisdiction with justice of the peace and district courts in civil cases in which the amount in controversy is small. Jurisdiction is said to be concurrent when two levels of courts have authority to try the same type of case.

c. The constitutional county courts generally hear the probate cases filed in the county, unless the legislature has established a probate in the county. El Paso County has a probate court.

a) Constitutional county courts have original jurisdiction over all Class A and Class B misdemeanor criminal cases, which are the more serious minor offenses.

b) These courts usually have appellate jurisdiction in cases appealed from justice of the peace and municipal courts, except in counties where county courts at law have been established.

c) Unless the appeal is one from a designated municipal court of record (trial proceedings are recorded by a court reporter), the appeal takes the form of a trial de novo (a completely new trial).

d. In addition to performing judicial functions, the county judge serves as the administrative head of the county government. In the more populated counties, the Legislature has created county courts at law and statutory probate courts to relieve the county judge of most, and in some cases all, of the judicial duties usually performed by that office.

3. The County Courts at Law

a. Because the Constitution limits each county to a single county court, the Legislature has created statutory county courts at law in the larger counties to aid the single county court in its judicial functions.

b. The legal jurisdiction of the special county-level trial courts varies considerably and is established by the statute which creates the particular court. The jurisdiction of statutorily-created county courts at law is usually concurrent with the jurisdiction of the county and district courts in the county.

c. The civil jurisdiction of most county courts at law varies, but is usually more than that of the justice of the peace courts and less than that of the district courts. County courts at law usually have appellate jurisdiction in cases appealed from justice of the peace and municipal courts. In El Paso County, the county courts at law have concurrent jurisdiction with the state district courts.

4. The Probate Courts

a. The Texas Constitution grants jurisdiction over probate matters to either the constitutional county court or to the district court. El Paso has a statutorily established probate court.

1) Probate matters include the administration of estates of deceased persons, will contests, the guardianship of minors and incapacitated persons, and mental illness matters. In some counties, the Legislature has granted the county court at law concurrent jurisdiction in probate matters with the constitutional county court.

2) In other counties, the Legislature has granted the county court at law concurrent jurisdiction in probate matters with the district court. In the more populated counties, the Legislature has created specialized probate courts (entitled statutory probate courts) to hear probate matters exclusively.

b. Probate matters might be heard in the county court, county court at law, statutory probate court, or district court of a particular county.

5. The Juvenile Courts

a. Except in the most populous counties, Texas has no separate system of juvenile courts. Rather, one of the regular district or county judges in each county is designated to hear juvenile cases. However, it is sometimes the custom to refer to a court which is hearing juvenile cases as the "Juvenile Court."

b. Juvenile cases include proceedings brought against persons between the ages of 10 and 17 who are alleged to have engaged in unlawful conduct as defined by the Texas Family Code.

1) This statute labels conduct subject to its provisions as either delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision. Generally, delinquent conduct is defined as conduct by a child which, if committed by an adult, would be a serious criminal offense.

2) Conduct indicating a need for supervision includes such matters as truancy, running away, and activity which would be considered a minor criminal violation if committed by an adult.

3) Under certain circumstances and after a hearing, the juvenile court judge may certify a juvenile for trial as an adult if the juvenile was at least 14 years of age at the time of the offense.

6. The Justice of the Peace Courts

a. The Texas Constitution requires that each county in the State establish between one and eight justice of the peace precincts, depending upon the population of the county. Also, depending on the population of the precinct, either one or two justice of the peace courts are to be established in each precinct. At the current time, there are approximately 900 justice of the peace courts in Texas.

b. Justice of the peace courts have original jurisdiction in Class C misdemeanor criminal cases, which are less serious minor offenses. These courts also have jurisdiction of minor civil matters.

c. A justice of the peace may issue search or arrest warrants, and may serve as the coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. These courts also function as small claims courts.

7. The Municipal Courts

a. Under its authority to create such other courts as may be necessary, the Texas Legislature has created municipal courts in each of the incorporated cities of the State.

1) Municipal courts operate in approximately 850 cities and towns.

2) The larger cities are served by multiple courts, the number depending upon the population of the city and the needs of the public.

b. These courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over violations of city ordinances and, within the city limits, have concurrent jurisdiction with justice of the peace courts over Class C misdemeanor criminal cases where the punishment upon conviction is by small fine only.

1) When city ordinances relating to fire safety, zoning, public health, or sanitation are violated, fines of up to $2,000 may be charged, when authorized by the governing body of the city.

2) Municipal judges may issue search or arrest warrants.

3) These courts do not have jurisdiction in most civil cases but do have limited civil jurisdiction in cases which involve owners of dangerous dogs.

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Chief Justice Richard Barajas
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics
Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Last updated: July 2001