Fifth Administrative Judicial Region
Verified judges, local rules, standing orders, and controlling division-assignment orders for Brooks County, Cameron County, Duval County, Hidalgo County, Jim Hogg County, Jim Wells County, Kenedy County, Kleberg County, Nueces County, Starr County, Willacy County — every entry cites its official source with a last-verified date.
Official site: https://www.txcourts.gov/5ajr/
140
judicial officers
56
published rules
11
counties
0
assignment orders
Rules by category
- Local Rules19
- Remote / Zoom Hearings12
- Standing Orders12
- Divisional Instructions6
- E-Filing3
- Self-Represented Litigants2
- Administrative Orders1
- Appeals1
Source health (7 registered)
Counties in this circuit
Bench (140 judicial officers)
District judges
County-level judges
Justices of the peace
Associate judges, masters & magistrates
Titles shown as district judges, county-level judges (constitutional county courts, statutory county courts at law, probate courts), justices of the peace, and associate judges or masters per the Office of Court Administration roster and each court's own pages.
Recently verified rules
Search all rules →Local Rules of Hidalgo County, Texas District Courts — effective May 1, 1999 (or on Supreme Court approval)
The Hidalgo County district courts' local rules: filing and random assignment, transfers by order of the presiding judge or with the receiving court's consent, docket control and settings, motions and hearings, pretrial and trial procedures, jury matters, and effective date (Rule 13.1: May 1, 1999 or on approval by the Supreme Court under Rule 3a).
Local Rules of the District Court of Kleberg County, Texas (105th Judicial District) — effective September 1, 1991
The 1991 local rules of the 105th District Court sitting in Kleberg County: time standards, clerk reporting, civil filing/transfer/docketing and cause numbering (D and C suffixes), preliminary conferences, motion practice (conferral certificate, hearing or 15-day submission, summary judgment by submission), trial settings and jury demands, criminal filing (CRF cause numbers, superseding indictments), arraignment and pretrial-motion deadlines, court sessions and hours, attorney vacation notice, and the Local Administrative District Judge.
Willacy County Civil Rules — Local Rules for the District and County Courts of Willacy and Cameron Counties (Willacy County edition; effective September 28, 2011; approved by the Supreme Court of Texas, March 2012)
The civil local rules of the 197th District Court sitting in Willacy County, extended by Part Two to the Willacy County Court's civil and probate dockets: random filing and assignment with transfer of related cases to the earlier case's court (recusal and MDL exceptions); temporary and ex parte orders presented only after filing and assignment, with written certifications about opposing counsel; limits on ex parte family-law restraining orders and a mandatory bona fide belief affidavit for protective orders; severance disfavored; docket-control conferences and pre-trial hearings; no hearing on less than three days' notice absent an emergency motion; special settings and postponement motions filed more than ten days before trial; amended pleadings within 20 days of an order or seven days before trial; Level 3 expert designation at 90/60 days before trial; an initial pre-trial conference requested by the 90th day; dilatory-plea waiver windows (30 and 7 days); certificates of conference on discovery motions; announcements of readiness; dismissal for want of prosecution; withdrawal only by Rule 10 motion; filing format (Notices of Discovery not filed); withdrawal and copying of files; proposed orders and judgments within thirty days of rendition; and Part Three's authority, repeal, citation, severability and courtroom-conduct rules for the public, counsel and officers of the court.
Cameron County Local Rules — civil rules of the district and county courts (Local Rules for the District and County Courts of Willacy and Cameron Counties) — effective September 27, 2011; Supreme Court-approved
The civil local rules of the district courts and county courts of Cameron County (the Cameron County Local Rules section of the joint Willacy–Cameron registration): filing, assignment and transfer; temporary and ex parte orders; family-law temporary and protective orders; severance; trial, pre-trial and special settings (no hearing on less than three days' notice absent emergency); pleadings; pre-trial conference; dilatory pleas ten days before trial; appearances and announcements; dismissal for want of prosecution; withdrawal of counsel; filing and e-filing; withdrawal and copying of files; orders and judgments within thirty days; county-court application; authority, repeal, citation, conduct of the public, counsel and officers of the court.
Hidalgo County Probate Courts Nos. 1 and 2 — Administrative Order 2026-1, Presiding Judges' Bench Exchange Order (July 21, 2026)
Under Government Code § 25.0022(c) the presiding judges of Probate Courts No. 1 and No. 2 may sit and act for each other in any matter pending in either court; orders may be signed without a bench-exchange order or recital; cases stay in the assigned court unless both judges agree to a transfer; objections on the sole ground of the exchange will not be considered.
Kenedy County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 (Judge C. G. Schulz) — General Trial Information for defendants
Judge Cecilia G. Schulz's posted trial information for the Precinct 3 justice court: how trials proceed under the constitutions and the Code of Criminal Procedure, the defendant's rights and options, and appearance requirements including that juveniles and minors appear with a parent even when represented.
Hidalgo County Local Rules to Implement the Texas Fair Defense Act — standards and procedures for appointment of counsel for indigent defendants (amended October 19, 2023; effective January 1, 2024)
The Hidalgo County judges' Fair Defense Act local rules of administration: prompt magistration and appointment of counsel, indigence standards, the appointment wheel and attorney qualifications by offense level, duties of appointed counsel, and fee and payment procedures — amended October 19, 2023 and effective January 1, 2024.
229th District Court (Starr, Jim Hogg and Duval Counties) — rules regarding appointment of ad litem attorneys, guardians ad litem, social study investigators and mediators (January 11, 2022)
Judge Baldemar Garza's January 11, 2022 letter and rules on court appointments under the 84th Legislature's reporting statutes: the appointment lists the court maintains, how attorneys apply to be placed on them (information due by February 28, 2022), rotation and reporting of appointments and fees, and qualifications for ad litem, guardian ad litem, social-study and mediator appointments.
Fifth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas — Rules for the Appeal of a Trial Court's Disapproval of or Failure to Act on a Request for Payment of Court Appointed Attorney's Fees (20 days after a disapproval order; 80 days after an unanswered request)
The presiding judge's procedures for court-appointed attorneys' fee appeals under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 26.05: the attorney files a motion with the Presiding Judge of the Fifth Region within twenty (20) days of the trial court's order disapproving the fee, or within eighty (80) days of submitting the request if the trial court fails to act; the trial judge may respond and resolve the matter, and if no resolution is noticed within twenty (20) days of the motion the Presiding Judge rules under art. 26.05; the county pays the approved amount within 45 days under art. 26.05(c).
Rules of the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas (adopted March 9, 1979) — the regional rules of administration on the registry (TOPICs 322)
The Council of Judges' rules for the Fifth Administrative Judicial District adopted at Laredo on March 9, 1979 under article 200a of the Revised Civil Statutes: assignment and transfer of judges and cases, docket administration and reporting within the region, the relationship between regional and county rules (county rules govern where they conflict), filing with each district clerk and the Supreme Court. The registered copy is the publisher's edition under Presiding Judge J. Manuel Banales, with a front note that the region was revising the rules; no later regional rules are registered.
229th District Court (Jim Hogg County) — Plea Paperwork Protocol: State and defense responsibilities for plea packets, signatures and fingerprints
The 229th District Court's plea-paperwork protocol: the State e-mails defense counsel the documents needing the defendant's signature or fingerprints (admonishments, addendum, pleas of true, video-plea requests, appeal certifications, judgments, community-supervision conditions) and e-files the rest; defense counsel obtains the defendant's signatures and fingerprints — in custody or, for out-of-custody defendants, at the probation office the same or next day — and brings the documents to the court for signature.
Duval County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 (Judge Linda Garza-Moncada) — court instructions for disposing of a citation: pleas, payment and juvenile appearances
The Precinct 4 justice court's instruction letter: a plea of no contest or guilty makes the fine and costs due, a not-guilty plea brings a mailed court date, remittances by money order or cashier's check only (personal checks returned), juveniles 16 and under must contact the court with a parent or guardian before the appearance date, and payment online or by phone.