Loading…
Dallas County, TX
Every published instrument scoped to Dallas County, newest effective date first. 4 region-wide and 1,248 statewide instruments also apply here — search all three layers together. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Showing 1–50 of 94 · page 1 of 2
Policies and Procedures of the 44th District Court, Hon. Veretta L. Frazier (the July 14, 2026 edition on the court's own page — the newest per-court policy instrument in the Dallas corpus, and the court's only policy document: no TOPICs registration exists for it): motion-docket and courtesy-copy practice, submission classes, Arial-preference formatting floors, the redline working-charge protocol, the 90-day summary-judgment filing regime implementing the March 2026 general order, walk-in TROs, default show-your-work standards, and continuance rules.
The felony appointed-counsel fee schedule adopted under CCP art. 26.05 by the Criminal District Court judges and the district judges giving preference to criminal cases — composed to the CURRENT July 2026 edition (adopted by majority vote Feb. 10, 2026; applying to all appointments on or after July 6, 2026; certified by Presiding Judge Audra Riley), with the registered May 2023 edition receipted: the fixed-rate-or-itemized ($135/hour) election, disposition rates from $400 (probation violation) through $1,250 (first-degree or non-death capital) with state-jail and third-degree tiers split, trial-day and competency-hearing rates, appellate rates, the $750 no-prior-approval cap on expert and investigative expenses, Defense Portal voucher and tenth-hour time-documentation requirements, and the written-findings dispute procedure with §26.05 appeals.
The 14th District Court's current Uniform Scheduling Orders — Level 2 and Level 3 (website editions posted April 9, 2026; captured from the court's own page): the controlling pretrial deadline structure under TRCP 166, 190 and 192, with mandatory appearance at the Initial Trial Setting and the orders' own no-continuance term.
The Justice Court Appeal Rules sheet posted by JP Precinct 1 Place 2 (April 2026 edition, captured from the court's own page): the TRCP 506.1 appeal-perfection requirements from justice court to the County Courts at Law — bond amounts and the 21-day window, filing fees, and the inability-to-pay alternative; the composition also carries the court's Repair & Remedy appeal sheet (Rule 509.8): 21-day written notice of appeal, enforcement stayed on timely notice with no bond required, appellant pays county-court costs, the $64 justice-court appeal fee, and the County Clerk's 20-day fee window.
Policies and Procedures of Dallas County Court at Law No. 4, Hon. Dianne K. Jones (the March 4, 2026 edition on the court's page): the hearing-request-form scheduling process (effective 3/1/2025 — hearings no longer set by the Clerk's Office), scheduling-order and mediation regimes, DWOP timing, continuance limits, courtesy-notebook deadlines, submission-docket mechanics, Zoom election, Robinson timing, and the summary-judgment discovery-completion practice; the edition also carries the court's AI standing order, composed as its own rule.
Standing Order governing the use of artificial intelligence tools in matters filed in or presented to County Court at Law No. 4, Hon. Dianne K. Jones (published in the court's Policies & Procedures, 2026-03-04 edition; captured from the court's own page) — the fourth AI regime identified in the First Administrative Judicial Region and Dallas County's first bench AI rule in this corpus: a verification duty grounded in Disciplinary Rule 1.01 and Texas Ethics Opinion No. 705 (2025), a certification imposed by the act of filing, submission standards treating AI output as non-authoritative, and enforcement through striking, sanctions, and disciplinary referral.
Justice Court Precinct 4, Place 1's local rule mandating e-filing of all cases (original effective June 1, 2023; modified March 4, 2026): paper filings ended May 31, 2023, all filings through E-File Texas or E-File Texas Self-Help with a lobby kiosk for litigants without computer access — and, per the March 2026 modification, appeals in all cases and immediate-possession bonds must be filed in person.
General Order of the Civil District Courts sitting in Dallas County (signed March 2, 2026 by the presiding judges of the 14th, 44th, 68th, 95th, 101st, 116th, 134th, 160th, 162nd, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, and 298th District Courts), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 03/06/2026): every motion for summary judgment must be filed at least 90 days before the trial setting, untimely motions are automatically denied absent leave, and the order supersedes contrary scheduling orders and Rule 11 agreements.
Dallas County Standing Order Regarding Children, Pets, Property and Conduct of the Parties (Family District Courts General Orders, current edition F2026/05, revised Jan. 31, 2026 — a re-adoption of the same operative text by the current bench: Hon. Kim Brown (254th), Vonda Bailey (255th), Sandre Streete (256th), Ashley Wysocki (301st), Sandra Jackson (302nd), LaDeitra Adkins (303rd), and Andrea D. Plumlee (330th)), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/11/2023). The order "applies in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Dallas County" automatically, without request: child-disruption prohibitions, pet protection, party-conduct restraints, divorce-case property/records/insurance freezes with specific authorizations, mandatory petition attachment, and its TRO-to-temporary-injunction lifecycle.
Policies and Procedures of the 162nd District Court, Hon. Kim Bailey Phipps (updated January 28, 2026; the court's own page — no TOPICs registration exists for this court's policies): continuance rules with the morning-of-trial bar, the Monday dismissal/status docket with its four DWOP triggers, the 45-day expert-challenge waiver, the submission-only summary-judgment regime with automatic setting and a 90-day ruling commitment, pretrial conference obligations, TUTSA protective-order captioning, and the associate-judge referral list.
County Court at Law No. 5's policies and procedures (approved Jan. 5, 2026): Zoom oral-hearing dockets with registration-language notice requirements and 3-day/21-day notice rules, the oral-hearing and off-docket motion taxonomies (including HB16-era submission-default summary judgments on the Friday 8 a.m. docket), detailed default-judgment and substituted-service proof requirements with the 30-day SCRA search window, Thursday non-jury trials and scheduling-order-driven jury settings, mandatory Monday pre-trial conferences with the Wednesday e-file deadline, the 24-juror panel default, the automatic first 30-day uncontested continuance, vacation-letter practice, the 60-day final-disposition flow, and the 90-day service/30-day-ASO dismissal triggers.
Policies and Procedures of the 134th District Court, Hon. Dale Tillery (the September 23, 2025 edition on the court's own page — an own-site-only instrument): the immediate trial-docket placement regime, daily submission and hearing structure including the Saturday MSTeams summary-judgment slot, the Monday discovery docket, the 18-month client-signature continuance rule, and the reporter's thumb-drive exhibit standards.
Dallas County Criminal Court Local Rules (revised August 20, 2025), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 10/07/2025): transfers between courts, initial settings after jail release, recusal and disqualification procedure, misdemeanor case assignments among the County Criminal Courts, writ-bond procedure, judges and the magistrate acting for absent judges, occupational driver's license practice, appointed-counsel compensation, decorum and professionalism, the magistrate's appointment and duties, and the Local Administrative Judge's duties and selection.
The joint standing orders of the 304th and 305th Juvenile District Courts (Hon. Andrea Martin; Hon. Cheryl Lee Shannon): Standing Order 2025/001 (Mar. 21, 2025) closing all detention hearings to the public under Family Code §54.08, and Standing Order 2025/005 (Aug. 12, 2025) requiring juvenile delinquency cases involving sibling accomplices, or accomplices in conduct resulting in a death, to be heard in the court of first filing, with DA notification duties and good-cause judicial discretion.
Policies and Procedures of the 193rd District Court, Hon. Bridgett N. Whitmore — composed to the CURRENT June 25, 2025 own-site edition (the registered 10/07/2023 edition receipted as the registration of record): the Tuesday one-week trial docket with no special settings, pre-trial exchange and expert-challenge deadlines, the mandatory Joint Pretrial Order for longer trials, the virtual-first motions docket, the temporary-injunction briefing timetable, the conference-default motion-to-compel rule, the service/default dismissal triggers, the 25-page brief limit, and courtroom decorum.
The Dallas County Court (misdemeanor) indigent defense plan adopted by the County Criminal Court and County Criminal Court of Appeals judges under CCP Art. 26.04 (TIDC-registered; preamble dated June 9, 2025): 48-hour magistration and 24-hour transmission deadlines, the 150%-of-poverty/$15,000-asset indigence standard with benefits-based eligibility, one-working-day appointment, wheel qualifications (CLE with the immigration requirement, experience tracks, quarterly list updates, the 250-appointments-per-year ceiling), the confirm-receipt and initial-contact clocks, no case trading, removal and reinstatement procedures, and the electronic voucher regime with fee appeals to the First Administrative Judicial Region's presiding judge.
The Dallas County Probate Courts' fee-petition guidelines (revised Spring 2025, applying to all billing on or after June 1, 2025): the experience-banded attorney rate table (up to $250–$600/hour with board-certification gates at the top), outside-attorney supporting-affidavit thresholds at $1,000 and $5,000, ad litem compensation ($150/hour county-pay; $600 typical solvent-estate fee), dual-compensation disclosure rules for attorney-fiduciaries, the paralegal rate table with the single $25 enhancement, tenth-hour billing, travel and research reimbursement limits, the $.15 copy cap, application content requirements including the no-block-billing rule, personal responsibility for misfeasance costs, and the file-as-application-not-claim rule with its mandatory-hearing consequence.
Policies and Procedures for the 95th District Court, Hon. Monica McCoy Purdy (May 2, 2025), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 05/07/2025): the in-person/virtual hearing docket structure, coordinator-vs-clerk setting channels, a trial-announcement policy that expressly overrides Local Rules 3.02 and 3.04, dismissal-hearing triggers, judge-copy and proposed-order requirements, pre-trial conference obligations, the mandatory protective-order form, and continuance rules.
County Court at Law No. 1's procedures (May 2025): the 120-day dismissal docket with the once-only Motion to Retain, the 30-day disposition docket, coordinator-set motion dockets with 48-hour email response windows, Wednesday/Friday motion days, courtesy-copy binders for 10-plus-page motions, the two-MSJ-per-side limit, no telephone hearings, Thursday trial announcements, Monday jury and Thursday non-jury trials, the mandatory Agreed Scheduling Order regime with the approved-mediator requirement and mediation-before-MSJ rule, continuance requirements, and mediation attendance sanctions.
The 302nd District Court's family-docket policies (Hon. Sandra L. Jackson; AJ Tamika Jones Abendroth; Mar. 11, 2025): the DJ/AJ docket split, the annual July 1–Aug. 15 appointment-application window with the Sept. 1 list, wage-withholding-required child-support orders, the required pre-hearing contempt and commitment orders, the 30-day final-order deadline on pain of dismissal, mandatory mediation with written waiver motions, AJ-set pre-trials and special sets with Financial Information Statements, DJ prove-up windows, the ten-day-letter order-signing rule, and the 30-day withdrawal cutoff before final trial.
Justice Court Precinct 1, Place 1's local rule mandating electronic filing of all cases effective March 1, 2025 (signed by Judge Thomas G. Jones, Jan. 17, 2025): paper filings are no longer accepted, with pro se litigants and attorneys filing through E-File Texas Self Help or E-File Texas, and in-person submission reserved for cases the e-filing systems will not accept.
County Court at Law No. 4's Zoom notice and procedures (posted Feb. 17, 2025): waiting-room practice with case-number renaming, the no-recording rule, the noon-business-day-before exhibit deadline to the court reporter with numeric premarking, submission-docket and special-set requests by email, pass-by-setting-party-only cancellations, and proposed orders e-filed before hearings.
Policies and Procedures of the 192nd Judicial District Court, Hon. Maria Aceves, Presiding — composed to the CURRENT Revised 1/28/2025 own-site edition (the registered 2023 edition receipted as the registration of record): Local-Rules compliance enforcement, scheduling and continuance practice, motion-docket deadlines (7-day MSJ responses, leave required for late filings), TRO no-shopping with the associate-judge referral chain, the protective-order and substitute-service forms, DWOP notices at 30 days, the 30-day proposed-judgment obligation, and the Court's media-coverage adherence to Sup. Ct. Misc. Docket No. 92-0067.
Probate Court No. 3's Court Procedures, Judicial Preferences & Requirements (rev. Jan. 24, 2025; posted Mar. 2026): Zoom testimony mechanics with the notarization rule for call-in witnesses, the $600 registry deposit for safe-deposit-box motions, three-signature substitution motions, small-estate-affidavit review flow, the 60-day annual-account deadline with TEC §309.057 sanctions, hard-copy delivery of 15-plus-page audit filings, summary-judgment titling and submission-default, the mediation-before-setting rule for contested matters, the Agreed Scheduling Order gate on trial settings, and pre-hearing exhibit delivery with PII/HIPAA redaction.
Instructions for Associate Judge Craig's docket for the 95th Court (effective July 15, 2024; captured from the court's own page): submission-based minor prove-ups and default prove-ups with their required e-filed papers, the Zoom channel for non-evidentiary hearings, and the DWOP and final-disposition docket procedures — the operative instrument of the civil associate judge's docket for this court.
Standing Order in Limine of the 193rd District Court (posted Feb. 5, 2024 edition; captured from the court's own page): thirty standing limine prohibitions operating in every jury trial in the court unless suspended for the specific trial — counsel must approach the bench and secure a ruling before mentioning any covered matter, and must admonish clients and non-adverse witnesses to the same effect. The order is expressly not a final admissibility ruling.
County Court at Law No. 2's posted FAQs/policies (effective Jan. 1, 2024): Zoom for remote proceedings, Tuesday–Wednesday jury trials, party-conferred Tuesday scheduling-order dates, agreed-or-hearing rule for scheduling orders and continuances, Thursday trial announcements by email, minor prove-ups in all minor cases, no-appearance dismissal/disposition hearings, and the submission docket's e-filed proposed-order requirement.
Court Policies and Procedures of the 101st Judicial District Court, Hon. Staci Williams (modified November 6, 2023), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 11/06/2023): scheduling-order contents, the 60-day dismissal-docket policy, emergency/TRO practice, discovery-dispute procedure, motion and courtesy-copy requirements, submission dockets, the two-week trial docket with announcement windows, continuance policy, voir dire and trial mechanics, ad litem appointments, and the court reporter's exhibit and transcript requirements.
The Dallas County Probate Courts' Administrative Order 2023-1 (signed Oct. 2, 2023 by the judges of all three statutory probate courts): for applications filed on or after November 1, 2023, the attorney ad litem fee deposit payable at filing is $600 for both Applications for Guardianship and Applications for Determination of Heirship — the third step in the deposit lineage (AO 2011-2 set $400 effective 2012; AO 2021-6 raised it to $500; AO 2023-1 to $600), held by the County Clerk for court-ordered disbursement to the appointed ad litem.
Remote Detention Hearing Procedures adopted under Texas Family Code § 54.012 by the 304th and 305th District Courts (the Dallas County Juvenile Courts; signed by Presiding Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon; submitted to the Office of Court Administration September 27, 2023), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 10/07/2023): the statutory plan governing juvenile detention hearings conducted as remote proceedings — participation, confrontation-compliant camera requirements, and evidence handling.
Justice Court Precinct 4, Place 1's local rule mandating electronic communications for all cases effective May 1, 2023 (signed Jan. 13, 2023, Judge Michael Jones Jr.): all litigant-court communications via E-File Texas (preferred), email, or fax, every communication carrying a valid email address, with the court's outbound channels identified and litigants responsible for keeping their email current.
The 303rd District Court's family-docket policies (Hon. LaDeitra Adkins, rev. Feb. 2, 2023): AJ temporary orders effective pending appeal (with the final-order-pending-appeal bar), affidavit-finalized agreed orders, wage-withholding-required child-support orders monitored by the county child-support office, Monday quarter-hour contempt settings with required proposed orders, the six-month dismissal docket with pre-date retain requests, the Local Rule 8.02 30-day final-order rule with dismissal on default, mandatory mediation with FCS/DMS referral for indigent parties, the marriage-date requirement in divorce orders, family-violence statements in all conservatorship orders, pre-trial-driven trial settings with completed studies and mediation, and the 30-day withdrawal cutoff.
Justice Court Precinct 3, Place 1's standing policy (adopted from the declaratory judgment in Hunt v. The Trellis at Lake Highlands, Dallas County Court at Law No. 5, No. CC-22-02457-E, decided Sept. 19, 2022): no writ of possession issues where an eviction appeal has been perfected by bond or by a statement of inability to afford the appeal bond; non-payment-of-rent appeals are processed like holdover appeals, jurisdiction passes to the County Courts at Law, and the writ issues only where no appeal is perfected.
The 302nd District Court's standard Pre-Trial Order (Hon. Sandra L. Jackson; 2022 update, captured from the court's own page): the family-docket pretrial regime with seven-day filing deadlines, the mediation and inventory obligations, the 30-day discovery close, and Rule 165a/215 enforcement.
Justice Court Precinct 3, Place 1's posted requirements for Occupations Code chapter 2308 towing/booting hearings: venue in the county of tow (or of the parking facility for boots), the 14-business-day written-request deadline with its statutory tolling rules, the eight required request contents, waiver on late delivery, and the court's fee schedule effective Jan. 1, 2022 ($54 filing, $64 appeal, certified and plain copy rates).
Standing Order Regarding Trial Exhibits of the 134th District Court, Hon. Dale B. Tillery (entered December 28, 2021; captured from the court's own page): the jump-drive exhibit regime for civil cases listing thirty or more exhibits collectively — joint preparation of an admitted-exhibits drive for jury deliberations and the appellate record.
Standing Order Concerning Disclosures entered April 13, 2021 for the Dallas County Tax Court docket of the Civil District Courts — signed "Carl Ginsberg, Former Judge of the 193rd Judicial District Court, Sitting by Assignment for the Civil District Courts of Dallas County As the Dallas County Tax Court Judge" (captured from the county's tax-court page): every delinquent ad valorem tax collection suit is exempted from the Rule 194 disclosure regime, restorable only by motion for leave.
Four standing administrative orders of the Dallas County Probate Courts composed together: AO 2011-3 (eff. Nov. 1, 2011 — a $100 cash bond for guardians of the person only, deposit collected at filing), AO 2014-3 (June 13, 2014 — party name changes by motion and order with certified basis documents, submission default), AO 2021-2 (the Clerk issues notice by posting when a Final Account is filed, with seven prescribed notice elements, first-Monday-after-service hearings, and 10-day return dates), and AO 2021-4 (citation by publication runs in the Daily Commercial Record AND on the OCA public website, posted by the Clerk at no charge with matching return dates, for applications served on or after July 1, 2020).
The 68th District Court's Standing Order for Disclosure of Information Before Hearing to Approve Transfer of Structured Settlement Payments (Hon. Martin Hoffman, Oct. 24, 2020): implementing the CPRC §141.004 express findings, the annuitant/transferor and transferee must each file ten sworn disclosures at least five business days before the approval hearing — financial resources, debts, assets, foreseeable liabilities and needs, intended use of the lump sum, dependents, percentage assigned, and full prior-transfer and denied-application histories.
The Dallas County Probate Courts' policy on self-represented litigants (eff. Sept. 1, 2020, Version 13): when representation by counsel is mandatory (executor/administrator applications, guardianship applications for another, third-party representation, or when the court requires counsel), the five limited categories where pro se appearance is permitted subject to court approval, the standards binding authorized pro se litigants, the constructive-receipt mail rule, the immediate-copies service duty, and the courts' legal-assistance referral list.
General Order of the Civil District Courts sitting in Dallas County (signed April 6, 2020 by the thirteen civil presiding judges), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 10/07/2023): the 25-page limit on motions and briefs with formatting floors — the instrument the individual courts' policies cite as the amended page-limit rule.
The 303rd District Court's CPS billing guidelines for appointed counsel (effective Jan. 1, 2020): $100/hour billed in tenth-hour increments with segregated, never-doubled time; no reimbursement of routine expenses; pre-approved travel only (nothing within Dallas County; over 60 miles at $80/hour plus IRS mileage with mapping-printout proof); monthly Request-for-Payment billing on the county form with itemized invoices; second-Friday monthly pay consideration; and denial of supplemental bills for paid periods and of work older than ninety days.
The Supreme Court-approved Local Rules of the Statutory Probate Courts of Dallas County (Misc. Docket No. 19-9079, Aug. 23, 2019), governing all three statutory probate courts as standing orders enforceable by contempt: random assignment (mental-illness cases to Probate Court No. 3), transfer and consolidation practice, the submission-ruling regime with its 14-day objection window, the 2-hour TRO notice rule, the four verbatim certificate-of-conference forms with the three-attempt/two-business-day conference duty, Rule 91a motion mechanics, brief deadlines, the motion-to-quash deposition stay, self-represented-litigant restrictions, ad litem answer deadlines, vacation letters, remote testimony, the two-disinterested-witness heirship preference, Medicaid muniment statements, personal-representative signature requirements, and temporary-administration accounting.
Justice Court Precinct 1, Place 2's repair-and-remedy fee schedule (Hon. Valencia Nash, effective Mar. 19, 2019): the $66 filing fee (service extra), $80 per-defendant Dallas County service, subpoena service with cash witness tenders, certified and plain copy rates, the $25 appeal transcript, the $5 abstract of judgment, and in/out-of-county writ-of-execution fees, with one original petition plus a copy per defendant.
The 193rd District Court's Standing Scheduling Order (signed Jan. 1, 2019; posted in the court's June 2025 refresh): Tuesday 9:30 a.m. trial settings with DWOP at trial for silent plaintiffs, the 120/90/85-day pleading, responsible-third-party, joinder, and expert ladder, 45-day dispositive-motion and motion-to-compel deadlines, 30-day discovery close with the presumption against late supplements, the deposition-keyed Daubert clock with the affidavit-only direct-testimony hearing procedure, mediation 30 days out under the Standing Mediation Order, the 14/10/2-day pretrial exchange ladder (exchanged, not filed), day-of-trial appearance with witnesses on one-hour standby, automatic first continuances, Rule 299a judgment practice with the 30-day tender rule, and the court's Zoom exhibit procedures.
Rules of Administration adopted under Tex. Gov't Code § 74.093 by the Criminal District Courts and the District Courts giving preference to criminal cases of Dallas County (adopted January 2012; Rule 2.2(13) amended by majority vote June 7, 2018, effective June 14, 2018, signed March 11, 2020), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 06/22/2023): rotating criminal filings, the thirteen transfer rules, State Jail Felony jury-week transfers, hours and the Frank Crowley venue, judicial absences, monthly meetings, the Presiding Criminal District Judge's election, and each court's authority to adopt supplemental rules.
The Dallas County Dispute Resolution Center's cancellation and rescheduling policy for court-ordered mediations (posted Nov. 29, 2016): cancellation only on all-party agreement confirmed by the Center, documented medical emergency, or pre-mediation settlement; rescheduling on all-party agreement with 72-hour advance notice or documented medical emergency; and the report-back rule for unexcused non-appearance.
The 304th District Court's (juvenile) amended policies (Hon. Andrea Martin, Feb. 5, 2015): CPS scheduling orders in every case, the no-continuances-without-exigency rule, 30-day final-order entry, mandatory mediation in all CPS cases, indigence review with 24-hour attorney-ad-litem contact and 72-hour responsive-pleading duties, ordered §262.102/§262.109 parental notices, CASA assignment at filing, jury elections by the first permanency hearing, certificate-of-conference enforcement, timed dockets with written exhibit lists, Wednesday/Thursday prove-up windows, and Certificate-of-Court attorney billing.
The Civil District Courts' Omnibus Order of Referral under Gov't Code §54A.101 et seq. (effective Jan. 1, 2015): all matters referred to the civil associate judges with §54A.108 powers, trial-on-the-merits referrals subject to a written objection filed within 10 days of notice, no objection to other referrals, de novo requests within seven working days of notice of the decision, and associate-judge orders in full force pending de novo except receiver appointments.
Local Rules of the Civil Courts of Dallas County — the Supreme Court-approved combined rulebook (Misc. Docket No. 14-9023, Tex. R. Civ. P. 3a) governing the thirteen Civil District Courts (14th, 44th, 68th, 95th, 101st, 116th, 134th, 160th, 162nd, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, and 298th) and County Courts at Law Nos. 1–5, as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (registered twice: 01/05/2023 under the County Civil Courts listing, doc 908, and 03/06/2026 with appendixes, doc 2852 — byte-distinct scans, text-identical instrument). Filing, assignment and transfer; motions, conference and proposed-order practice; trial announcements; attorney obligations; County Court at Law modifications.