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Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary

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Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE TEXAS JUDICIARY FISCAL YEAR 2011 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE TEXAS JUDICIARY FISCAL YEAR 2011 Published By OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION CARL REYNOLDS, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR 205 WEST 14TH STREET, SUITE 600 POST OFFICE BOX 12066 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2066 (512) 463-1625 FAX: (512) 463-1648 WWW.TXCOURTS.GOV MARCH 2012 Table of Contents TEXAS COURTS: A DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY Court Structure and Function Court Structure Chart .....................................................................................................................................2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................3 Funding of the Texas Judicial Branch ...........................................................................................................3 Court Structure and Function ........................................................................................................................5 Judicial Administration ..................................................................................................................................9 Court Reorganization Bill ...............................................................................................................................10 Notes ..................................................................................................................................................................10 Information About Texas Judges Judicial Qualifications and Selection in the State of Texas ........................................................................13 Profile of Judges ...............................................................................................................................................14 Newly Elected State Judges ............................................................................................................................15 State Judges Appointed ..................................................................................................................................16 Salaries and Turnover of Elected State Judges Salaries of Elected State Judges .....................................................................................................................18 Turnover of Elected State Judges ..................................................................................................................20 ACTIVITY OF THE TEXAS COURTS Cautionary Statement .............................................................................................................................................23 Caseload Trends in the Appellate Courts Supreme Court ................................................................................................................................................25 Court of Criminal Appeals .............................................................................................................................28 Courts of Appeals ............................................................................................................................................31 Caseload Trends in the Trial Courts Trends in Texas District and County-Level Courts ....................................................................................36 Assigned Judges in the Trial Courts .............................................................................................................38 Explanation of Changes to Information Collected from District and County-Level Courts ................39 District Courts ..................................................................................................................................................40 Statutory County Courts ................................................................................................................................53 Constitutional County Courts .......................................................................................................................66 Juvenile Cases (District and County-Level Courts) ....................................................................................73 Probate and Guardianship Cases (County-Level Courts) .........................................................................77 Applications for Involuntary Mental Health Services ...............................................................................79 Justice Courts....................................................................................................................................................80 Municipal Courts .............................................................................................................................................84 Counties or Courts that Did Not Submit All Monthly Activity Reports for the Fiscal Year ................87 Other Required Reports .......................................................................................................................................89 ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE JUDICIAL SUPPORT AGENCIES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ..................................91 EXPLANATION OF CASE CATEGORIES BY COURT LEVEL.....................................................................................108 i OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION A Message from the Administrative Director Welcome to the Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary. Many of you have been contact- ing OCA to inquire about the apparent delay in this year’s publication. Although the report was completed about three months later than what has been the usual in recent years, I am pleased to release the latest report. This year’s report includes new informa- tion collected from the district, statutory county, and constitutional county courts of the state and reflects years of work by OCA staff and the considerable efforts of district and county clerks and judges, case management vendors, and local information technology staff to implement changes necessitated by new Texas Judicial Council reporting require- ments. The Judicial Council hopes that you will find the new and significantly expanded information useful. The most significant changes to the district and county-level court reporting are in the area of family, juvenile, and probate cases. In addition, information for statutory county courts (typically called county courts at law) has been separated from information for the constitutional county courts (typically called county courts) because the functions of and requirements for a statutory county court differ greatly from a constitutional county court. In addition to the substantial changes in information collected from the district and county-level courts, the fiscal year ending August 31, 2011, included some significant changes for the Office of Court Administration in the aftermath of the 82nd Legislature, Regular and 1st Called Sessions. The Task Force on Indigent Defense became the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, but remained connected to OCA, which will continue the high-value collaboration for both agencies. OCA was given the responsibility to collect fees for the regulation of process servers, an important recognition of that program. OCA was also given the responsibility, formerly held by the Comptroller, to audit local collection improvement programs, along with a reaffirmation of the mandatory nature of that program. Furthermore, OCA was given several new responsibilities by the passage of H.B. 79 (1st C.S.), the court reorganization bill that has been endorsed by the Judicial Council for three legislative sessions. Overall, of the bills filed in response to Judicial Council resolutions, three-quarters achieved final passage. Although OCA experienced large budget cuts in certain areas of the agency and significant, growing demands in all areas, we still had a very productive year. Details may be found in the annual report of the judicial agency, boards and commissions section of this report. Our office is dedicated to providing resources and information for the efficient administration of the judicial branch of state government. Please contact us if there is anything we can do in furtherance of that mission. We also invite you to explore Texas Courts Online, http://www.txcourts.gov, for more information on the Texas judiciary. ii Texas Courts: A Descriptive Summary Photo courtesy of TexasCourthouses.com Victoria County Courthouse - Victoria 1 COURT STRUCTURE OF TEXAS SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 Supreme Court Court of Criminal Appeals (1 Court -- 9 Justices) (1 Court -- 9 Judges) State Highest -- Statewide Jurisdiction -- -- Statewide-- Jurisdiction Jurisdiction -- -- Appellate Courts Final appellate jurisdiction in civil Final appellate jurisdiction in cases and juvenile cases. criminal cases. Civil Appeals Criminal Appeals Courts of Appeals s e c (14 Courts -- 80 Justices) f n o e t s l -- Regional Jurisdiction -- n State Intermediate a e e S p Appellate Courts h Intermediate appeals from trial courts p t a A in their respective courts of appeals e districts. D District Courts (456 Courts -- 456 Judges) (359 Districts Containing One County and 97 Districts Containing More than One County) State Trial Courts -- Jurisdiction -- of General and 1 Original jurisdiction in civil actions over $200, divorce, Special Jurisdiction title to land, contested elections. Original jurisdiction in felony criminal matters. Juvenile matters. 13 district courts are designated criminal district courts; some others are directed
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