Third Administrative Judicial Region of Texas — Rules of Administration

High confidence· verified September 6, 2026Local RulesThird Administrative Judicial Region of Texas — Rules of Administration (Council of Judges; Tex. Gov't Code sec. 74.048(c) and Rule 4(c) of the Rules of Judicial Administration; amended through January 1, 1999) — region print (media/589351), with TOPICs registration doc 320 as the dual receipt.

Summary

The Rules of Administration of the Third Administrative Judicial Region (the 27-county Central Texas region), promulgated by the Council of Judges under Section 74.048(c) of the Texas Government Code and Rule 4(c) of the Supreme Court Rules of Judicial Administration (amended through January 1, 1999): region-wide rules governing case-disposition time standards, the local rules each court adopts, the information administrative judges supply to the regional presiding judge, jury plans, and attorney vacations.

Applies to

Applies region-wide across the twenty-seven counties of the Third Administrative Judicial Region (Central Texas region). Administrative case-management standards; procedural information only, not legal advice.

Requirement

Rules of Administration, Third Administrative Judicial Region. Authority: these rules are promulgated by the Council of Judges of the Third Administrative Judicial Region of the State of Texas pursuant to Section 74.048(c) of the Texas Government Code and Rule 4(c) of the Rules of Judicial Administration adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas, amended through January 1, 1999. Rule 1: these rules apply to all district and statutory county courts of the Third Administrative Judicial Region. Rule 2: judges in the region should make every reasonable effort to ensure that each case filed is brought to trial or final disposition in conformity with the time standards adopted by Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules of Judicial Administration. Rule 3: each court in the region shall adopt and uniformly follow local rules governing the filing, docketing and assignment of cases to achieve the time standards of Rule 6, and meet the requirements of Rules 7, 9 and 10 of the Rules of Judicial Administration; if a county has both district and statutory county courts, the judges of each level shall adopt local rules and attempt to make all local rules uniform within the county so far as practicable. Rule 4: the local administrative judge(s) of each county shall send the regional presiding judge such information as requested regarding the status of the county's dockets and docket-management systems, and shall cause the proper clerk to send the regional presiding judge a copy of the Office of Court Administration monthly report and other requested docket information. Rule 5: the courts in the region may adopt a jury plan consistent with the statutes governing the selection, management and assignment of prospective jurors and the time of jury service, file the plan with the district clerk, and secure the approval of the county commissioners court when required. Rule 6: Attorney Vacations — a case shall not be set for trial during a week for which an attorney in charge (as defined by Rule 8 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure) has given a complying vacation notice; attorneys may designate a maximum of four weeks in a calendar year by filing written notification with the appropriate clerk and court administrator of any county in which the attorney has a pending case, the notice filed at least ninety (90) days in advance of each designated vacation week and applying only to cases not already scheduled for trial, with the court retaining discretion to consider a motion regarding a vacation setting. Together with the further rules of the instrument governing the administration of the district and statutory county courts of the region.

Source of truth

Rules of Administration, Third Administrative Judicial Region. Promulgated by the Council of Judges under Tex. Gov't Code sec. 74.048(c) and Rule 4(c) of the Rules of Judicial Administration (amended through January 1, 1999). Region-wide rules governing case-disposition time standards, local rules, information supplied to the regional presiding judge, jury plans, and attorney vacations.

Official source: TOPICs — Texas local rules registry (topics.txcourts.gov)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 24, 2026
Effective date: January 1, 1999
Last verified: September 6, 2026benchpath-tx-ajr3-region-2026-09-06

Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-06 instrument-true from the region print (media/589351, sha d91b25f0…, text layer read in full); TOPICs doc 320 is the dual receipt. Supersedes the recon-era twin tx-topics-320-3rd-ajr-local-rules, now archived with a successor pointer. Region-level (court-less, county-less) rule for the 3rd Administrative Judicial Region; presiding judge Hon. Dib Waldrip (appointed November 2022).

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