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Bastrop County, TX

All 9 county-scoped rules

Every published instrument scoped to Bastrop County, newest effective date first. 2 region-wide and 1,248 statewide instruments also apply here — search all three layers together. Procedural information only; not legal advice.

Published rules, newest effective date first

Showing 1–9 of 9

Standing OrdersBastrop County

21st/335th (& Bastrop 423rd/465th) District Courts — Standing Order on Motions for Summary Judgment (Bastrop County; eff. July 8, 2026)

The shared summary-judgment standing order of the 21st, 335th, 423rd and 465th District Courts serving Washington, Burleson, Lee and Bastrop Counties (eff. July 8, 2026), as applied in Bastrop County: precise motion titling; the clerk immediately calls a filed motion to the court's attention; the court sets the motion for submission or hearing 35 days after filing and within 60 days (or 90 on docket need, good cause, or movant consent), with resets kept inside those windows; the nonmovant responds within 21 days of filing; an oral-hearing request must appear in the response title; the movant replies within 7 days without raising new grounds; each party files a separate proposed order before the submission/hearing date; and an Amended Motion for Summary Judgment resets all timelines and automatically denies the original without prejudice by operation of law.

High confidence· verified August 29, 2026Standing Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, 21st/335th/423rd/465th District Courts (Washington, Burleson, Lee and Bastrop Counties) (filed July 8, 2026) (TOPICs reg. doc 3026)
Local RulesBastrop County · Judge Mercer Benton Eskew

Local Rules of the Bastrop County Court at Law (filed Apr. 9, 2025)

The local rules governing the setting and trial of civil and criminal cases in the Bastrop County Court at Law: the Court Coordinator/Administrator makes all civil hearing settings; civil cases are set by phone or (preferably) email with all parties copied, and the requesting party notices all parties once a date is given; settings longer than two hours require special arrangement; and the rules address scheduling, hearings, and trial practice before the CCL.

High confidence· verified September 21, 2026Local Rules, Bastrop County Court at Law (filed Apr. 9, 2025) (TOPICs reg. doc 2381; supersedes doc 722)
Local RulesBastrop County

Local Rules for the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts (Bastrop County edition, eff. Feb. 13, 2025)

The shared local rules of the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts of Bastrop, Burleson, Lee and Washington Counties (Bastrop additionally hosts the 423rd and 465th), revised January 2025 and effective February 13, 2025, as registered for Bastrop County: attorney conduct and courtroom decorum (rise to address the court, no ex parte case discussion with the press or outside opposing counsel); recording/broadcasting of proceedings prohibited without prior court permission; withdrawal of counsel only by motion with the client's last-known address/email and, if without consent, certified-mail/email notice (a hearing required in criminal cases); attorney vacation letters up to four consecutive weeks on 90 days' notice; conflicting-settings priority (juvenile, criminal, statutory-preference, preferentially-set, lowest cause number, earliest setting request) with a duty to notify all courts; mandatory e-filing (TRCP 21/21c sensitive data); the Local Administrative District Judge elected annually by the four counties' district judges (Gov't Code 74.091, TRJA 9); bench/case exchange to accommodate dockets; interpreter advance notice; adoption of the Second Administrative Judicial Region's Rules of Administration (which prevail on conflict); CIVIL — rotating filing between the courts, time standards (jury 18 months, non-jury 12 months from appearance), submission-for-ruling on 10 days' notice, setting-request mechanics, jury demand and fee within 10 days of the bench-trial setting notice, no reset except by Rule 11 agreement/court-approved agreement/granted continuance (trial settings never passed by counsel agreement alone), annual dismissal-for-want-of-prosecution docket (TRCP 165a), Rule 166 pretrial/scheduling conferences with the proposed charge/witness/exhibit lists due noon the Friday before jury week, order-submission mechanics (same-day duplicate to opponents, 10-day objection window, dismissal-with-prejudice if no proposed order within 14+7 days), ADR/mediation encouraged (Ch. 154), and telephone/video hearings for non-evidentiary matters by advance arrangement; FAMILY — six/three-month contested/uncontested time standards, sworn inventories within 75 days in property-division cases, child-support per the Supreme Court guidelines, a mandatory 4-hour Parent Education and Family Stabilization course before a final-hearing setting, and the county Standing Order Regarding Children, Property and Conduct applying to every divorce/SAPCR/modification; CRIMINAL — adoption of the Texas Fair Defense Act local rules (appointed-counsel fee schedule $100-$250/hour or fixed $700 plea / $600-per-day trial), case-flow scheduling with bond forfeiture for a signed-reset no-show, 9:00 a.m. docket call with the State announcing ready, pleas at any docket call, and CCP art. 28.01 pretrial practice.

High confidence· verified September 23, 2026Local Rules for the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts of Bastrop, Burleson, Lee and Washington Counties (rev. 1-2025, eff. Feb. 13, 2025) (TOPICs reg. doc 2214)
Standing OrdersBastrop County

21st, 335th, 423rd and 465th District Courts (Bastrop County) — Standing Order Regarding and Adopting a Confidentiality Policy and Agreement (filed Jan. 16, 2025)

General standing order of the district courts sitting in Bastrop County adopting a court-employee confidentiality policy and agreement under Texas Rule of Judicial Administration 7.1: the duty of confidentiality, the Code of Judicial Conduct canons and Government Code §21.013 that underlie it, and the agreement court personnel sign.

High confidence· verified September 21, 2026STANDING ORDER REGARDING AND ADOPTING A CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY AND AGREEMENT, registered with the Office of Court Administration as TOPICs document 2247 (Standing Orders, registered 01/16/2025).
Standing OrdersBastrop County

Bastrop County Court at Law & 21st/335th/423rd/465th District Courts — Standing Order Regarding Medical and Mental Health Records

A self-executing Bastrop County standing order (the County Court at Law and the 21st, 335th, 423rd and 465th District Courts) sealing medical and mental-health records from the public: all medical and/or mental-health records filed as pleadings or exhibits in any cause in the Bastrop County Clerk's or District Clerk's office are SEALED from the public, while the parties and their attorneys in that specific cause retain access; effective immediately and applicable to past, pending, and future causes until a different order is signed.

High confidence· verified September 23, 2026Standing Order Regarding Medical and Mental Health Records, Bastrop County Court at Law and 21st/335th/423rd/465th District Courts (Jan. 16, 2025) (TOPICs reg. doc 2246)
Standing OrdersBastrop County

Bastrop County Standing Order Regarding Children, Property and Conduct of the Parties

Bastrop County's self-executing family standing order (the County Court at Law and the 21st, 335th, 423rd and 465th District Courts of Bastrop County), applying in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in the county: it protects the children (no removal to change residence or evade jurisdiction; no disruption of school/day-care), the parties (no threats, harassment, profane communication, bodily injury, or interception of mail/electronic communications), the marital property in divorce cases (no destroying, concealing, encumbering, transferring, or alienating property to defeat a just division; no incurring debt beyond legal expenses; no unauthorized account withdrawals), electronic data (no destroying/altering relevant ESI, deleting social-media content, or using the other party's passwords), and insurance coverage, with the standard authorizations for ordinary business, living, and litigation expenses.

High confidence· verified September 21, 2026Bastrop County Standing Order Regarding Children, Property and Conduct of the Parties (TOPICs reg. doc 2215)
Standing OrdersBastrop County

21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts — Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (Bastrop County edition)

The shared district AI standing order for the 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts as registered for Bastrop County: before using any AI-generated information in a court submission, every attorney or self-represented litigant must sign and file a certification that all AI-created or AI-contributed language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and analysis were verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources by a Texas-licensed attorney (a human being), acknowledging responsibility and possible sanction (Texas Disciplinary Rules, TRCP, CPRC ch. 10, the court's inherent power, or contempt) for noncompliance. The order recites that generative AI is currently unreliable, prone to bias, and prone to fabrication, and that its creators are not licensed, disciplinary-rule-bound attorneys.

High confidence· verified September 21, 2026Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence, 21st, 335th, 423rd, and 465th District Courts, Bastrop County (amended 7-1-24) (TOPICs reg. doc 2297)
Standing OrdersBastrop County · Judge Chris Duggan

423rd District Court (Bastrop) — Standing Order Regarding Family Law Cases (Jan. 27, 2020)

The 423rd District Court’s standing order for every divorce and SAPCR heard in the court: no contested family case receives a final-hearing setting unless first set for a Rule 166 pretrial/status conference on the uncontested docket (to check parenting-class completion, exchange of sworn inventories and proposed property divisions, and ADR feasibility — waivable case-by-case); attorneys (or pro se parties) must file a Disposition Proposal (Local Rule 7.14) and Financial Information Statements/sworn inventories (Local Rule 7.16); and all contested family cases must attempt ADR (private mediator or the Frank G. Evans Dispute Resolution Services of Bastrop County) with a written certification filed before the final hearing — each requirement waivable case-by-case, and the court may reset a final hearing if the rules are not followed.

High confidence· verified September 22, 2026Standing Order Regarding Family Law Cases Heard in the 423rd Judicial District Court of Bastrop County (Jan. 27, 2020) (TOPICs reg. doc 725)
Standing OrdersBastrop County

Standing Order Regarding Dockets Set Pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a Dismissal Docket (“Drop” Docket) — Bastrop County District Courts and County Court at Law (signed Aug. 1, 2016)

Standing order of the 21st, 335th and 423rd District Courts and the County Court at Law of Bastrop County on the Rule 165a dismissal (“drop”) docket: each court pulls its own dismissal docket; a motion to retain does not remove a cause from the docket and must specifically allege good cause; parties and attorneys must appear on the docket date, which also serves as a status hearing for retained causes; the District Clerk keeps a master list.

High confidence· verified September 23, 2026General Orders: Drop Dockets Set, registered with the Office of Court Administration as TOPICs document 729 (Standing Orders, registered 01/01/2023).