Texas County Court Information

The Texas County Court is the limited jurisdiction trial court present in all of the state's counties. According to the provision of the Texas Constitution, each county has been assigned a Texas County Court. So, the number of county courts in Texas is 254, or one for each county.

The county courts of Texas are served by a single county judge. These county courts hear both civil and criminal cases and function along with the courts of law and the probate courts in offering legal services to the counties' populations. They have concurrent jurisdiction, i.e. both have the power to try similar type of cases, with the district courts and justice of the peace in civil cases (where the amount of dispute is comparatively small).

Texas County Court: Judicial Duties

The chief functions of the Texas County Courts are as follows:

·    Original jurisdiction in civil cases (the amount in question must be between $200 to $10,000)
·    Exclusive jurisdiction of original nature over Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases, where the minor offenses are of a serious nature and involve an incarceration sentence and/or a fine that is more than $500
·    Probate cases; however, if contested, may be taken up by the District Courts
·    Juvenile cases

The Texas County Court can exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases that have been appealed from the municipal courts or from justice of the peace courts. In cases where the appeal does not originate from a designated municipal court of record where a court reporter is responsible for recording all the trial proceedings, a trial de novo is arranged. A trial de novo refers to the beginning of a completely new trial.

Texas County Court Judge: Administrative Functions

The responsibility of the county court judge does not end with the performance of judicial functions only. He or she is also the head of administration of the county government. That is why in the larger and more populated counties of Texas, the Legislature has established county courts of law and statutory probate courts for better judicial function.

In most of the counties, the county court judge is assisted by the county court of law and statutory probate court; however in certain counties, all judicial duties are the responsibility of the latter two and the county court judge looks after the administration of the county government only.

Texas County Court of Law

For better dissemination of judicial duties in the larger Texas counties, the Legislature has provided for the establishment of Texas County Court of Law in some of the counties. These statutory courts have been created to help the county court in offering judicial services to the population of larger counties.

Each county court of law has been established by a particular statute and the jurisdiction of the court is outlined in the statute itself. All these are special county level courts where trials are held. The county courts of law have concurrent jurisdiction with county courts as well as district courts functioning in the county. There are 231 county courts of law in Texas.

Texas County Court of Law: Jurisdiction

Texas County Court of Law usually has civil and appellate jurisdiction. However the jurisdiction varies from one county to another. Generally a county court of law can hear civil cases where the amount of controversy is between $200 and $100,000. The civil jurisdiction of this court is almost always less than that of the Texas District Courts but more than that of the Texas Justice of the Peace Courts. They can also hear appellate cases directed from the municipal courts or the justice of the peace courts.

Texas Statutory Probate Courts

Texas Statutory Probate Courts are also an aid to the Texas County Courts. They exercise limited jurisdiction over probate matters. The total number of statutory probate courts in Texas is 18.

Texas County Courts: How to Obtain Information

In order to access information about the county courts in a particular Texas county all you need to do is visit http://www.texascounties4u.org/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/websites.html#list. The webpage has an interactive map that helps you to navigate to the particular county whose information you are looking for. You can also find a list of the county websites on the same webpage. For example, if you are looking for information about the county courts of law in Angelina County, Texas, you could it at http://www.angelinacounty.net/ccl1/ and http://www.angelinacounty.net/ccl2/.

The information on the Angelina County Court of Texas webpage includes the following:

Office Location:

Angelina County Courthouse
215 East Lufkin Avenue
2nd Floor
Lufkin, Texas

Mailing Address:

P. O. Box 908
Lufkin, Texas 75902

Contact Details:

Judge Robert K. Inselmann Jr.
Phone: 936/639-2204 
Fax: 936-639-2673
Email: binselmann@angelinacounty.net

Judge Derek C. Flournoy
Phone: 936/634-8984     
Fax: 936/634-8145       
E-mail: dflournoy@angelinacounty.net

You can obtain information about the court rules and amendments from this website as well. Details about the court staff and the different forms are also available from this webpage.

Texas Office of Court Administration: Trial Court Judicial Data Management System

The Texas Office of Court Administration also offers individuals access to court related information from an online source. The Trial Court Judicial Data Management System offers a Directory Search for this purpose. You can find the Directory Search at http://dm.courts.state.tx.us/OCA/DirectorySearch.aspx. For accessing information from the judicial directory database of Texas, you need to fill out certain fields to narrow down your search results. The search criteria include the following:

·    Search Type: either by court or by personnel
·    Court Type: either by all courts functioning in Texas or by a particular type of court, e.g. Texas County Courts
·    County: where you specify a particular county
·    Court: where you provide the name of the particular court
·    Address City: either all cities within a particular county or a particular city
·    Sort By: either by county or county population or court name or court type

The directory search helps you to locate a lot of information in regard to the courts of Texas. For example if you are searching for all the county courts in the Dallas County, Texas, the results would reveal all the names of the courts along with details like classification (whether they are constitutionally a county court or county court of law or statutory probate court), the contact details (including phone and fax numbers and websites, if any) and the address and contact email.

The directory search is updated on a regular basis and you can submit your own updates. For this you need to email the update details to DirectoryUpdate@courts.state.tx.us.

You can also search for details of the cases filed at the Texas County Courts from the courthouse locations. However the task becomes easier if you can search for the information from online sources. But all Texas counties do not offer this facility, so you need to check for the same to access information on particular case details.

Specific County Court Information:

Bexar County Court

Travis County Court