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The unanimous Courthouse Policies Order of the District and Statutory County Court judges for the Russell Steindam Courthouse (July 9, 2025): courtroom demeanor for all cases (silence, no signals of approval/disapproval, silenced devices, no immature children, no food/drink/gum, dress code, no signs/banners, no juror contact), the photography-and-recording prohibition (personal cell phones and computers excepted from the device ban but recording of individuals with matters before the courts barred without approval; absolute juror, minor, and court-staff protections; no recording of attorney conferences), the prohibited-weapons regime (no firearms, knives, chemical agents, Tasers, or batons — applying even to off-duty officers on personal business, who secure weapons at the security desk), and sanctions.
Texas > Collin County > the District Courts and Statutory County Courts (county courts at law and probate court) sitting in the Russell Steindam Courthouse — the unanimous courthouse-wide decorum, recording, and security order
Docusign Envelope ID: 3BF08C40-7B0E-408D-84A0-D6C77308E3BB [Letterhead: 199th Judicial District, Judge Angela Tucker; 219th Judicial District, Judge Jennifer Edgeworth; 296th Judicial District, Judge John Roach, Jr.; 366th Judicial District, Judge Tom Nowak; 380th Judicial District, Judge Benjamin N. Smith; 401st Judicial District, Judge Kimberly M. Laseter; 416th Judicial District, Judge Andrea Thompson; 417th Judicial District, Judge Cynthia Wheless; 429th Judicial District, Judge Jill Renfro Willis; 468th Judicial District, Judge Lindsey Wynne; 469th Judicial District, Judge Piper McCraw; 470th Judicial District, Judge Brook Fulks; 471st Judicial District, Judge Bryan Gantt; 493rd Judicial District, Judge Christine A. Nowak; 494th Judicial District, Judge Kathryn L. Pruitt; County Court at Law No. 1, Judge Corinne Mason; County Court at Law No. 2, Judge Barnett Walker; County Court at Law No. 3, Judge Lance Baxter; County Court at Law No. 4, Judge David Rippel; County Court at Law No. 5, Judge Randy Johnson; County Court at Law No. 6, Judge Jay Bender; County Court at Law No. 7, Judge David Waddill; Probate Court No. 1, Judge Sarah Duff; seal of the State of Texas] DISTRICT COURTS AND STATUTORY COUNTY COURTS IN AND FOR COLLIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE POLICIES ORDER In the exercise of the inherent power to provide for the orderly disposition of all proceedings taking place in and for the Courts of Collin County, the undersigned agree to the following rules and procedures for the Russell Steindam Courthouse. The Judges of the District Courts and Statutory County Courts unanimously ORDER, as follows: I. COURTROOM DEMEANOR FOR ALL CASES a. In all cases, the atmosphere in the courtroom must be quiet, calm, and deliberative. Evidence in a case may be complex, graphic, emotional, and sometimes very tedious. All persons attending proceedings must be willing to commit to a serious attitude. b. Persons in the courtroom should remain silent during all proceedings. Talking, shaking of heads, gestures, or any other signals of approval or disapproval of the proceedings are prohibited. c. Persons may not cause distractions with devices, books, papers, or other materials during the court proceedings in the courtrooms. All electronic devices must be silenced in the courtrooms. No one may make voice calls in the courtrooms. d. Children not mature enough to maintain proper decorum are not permitted in the courtrooms. Exceptions for special events or special proceedings shall be made by the presiding judge e. There will be no drinks, snacks, or chewing gum in courtrooms. f. Persons in the courthouse must be dressed in appropriate courtroom attire; no shorts, tank tops, or flip flops. Obscene, revealing, derogatory articles of clothing or clothing tending to advocate for an outcome in a court proceeding are prohibited in the courthouse. g. No signs, banners, or other distracting, disruptive, or potentially improperly prejudicial material may be brought into, worn, or displayed in the courthouse. h. Any attempt by anyone to communicate with or influence a member of any jury panel, juror, or alternate, before the return of a final judgment in the trial may be investigated, cited for, or possibly punished in a criminal cause of action, for criminal contempt of court, and such other sanctions as deemed necessary by the LAJ or presiding judge for the due and proper administration of justice. II. PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING In an effort to protect the privacy of those individuals appearing before the court, to maintain one official court record, ensure the safety of individuals, and prevent distractions, recording and photography of individuals with matters before the Courts is prohibited without prior approval of the Courts. This prohibition extends to all persons in the courtrooms, hallways, and common areas of the courthouse past the security checkpoint. Furthermore, photographs, audio recordings, or video recordings made in contravention of this policy cannot be made part of the official court record. a. PRESENCE OF CAMERAS/RECORDING DEVICES - Devices capable of photography, audio, or visual recording, with the exception of personal cell phones or personal computers, are prohibited inside the courthouse. b. REQUESTS FROM THE MEDIA - Media members may make requests for access to specific proceedings in the courtroom to the presiding judicial officer in accordance with each court’s individual media policy. c. JUROR PRIVACY - At no time shall a potential juror, juror, or alternate be photographed, recorded, or filmed. Influence, intimidation, harassment of potential or active jurors, or attempts at the same, made on or off courthouse grounds are subject to investigation, citation, or possible punishment in a criminal cause of action, criminal contempt of court, and/or such other sanctions as deemed necessary by the LAJ or presiding judge for the due and proper administration of justice. i. MINORS - At no time shall a minor witness or an accompanying minor of those in the courtroom be photographed. j. COURT STAFF - No visual recording or photographing of court employees is permitted in the courtrooms without prior approval. This includes the judge, bailiff, sheriff’s deputies, court reporter, court coordinator, and others. d. PROTECTION OF PRIVILEGE - Audio and visual recording, if permitted, shall be limited to those proceedings open to the public. In order to protect the attorney-client privilege and the right to effective assistance of counsel, no audio or visual recording is permitted of conferences involving counsel or between counsels. III. PROHIBITED ITEMS a. No firearms, knives, chemical agents (including pepper spray), Tasers, batons, or any other item that could be used as a weapon shall be brought into any courthouse except as provided for in this order or as necessary for court proceedings. b. This prohibition applies to all individuals, including members of the public, parties to a case, attorneys, and law enforcement officers who are present for personal business and not acting in an official agency capacity. c. "Personal business" includes, but is not limited to: attending court for a personal legal matter (civil or criminal), accompanying a friend or family member, or observing proceedings unrelated to the officer’s official duties. d. Licensed peace officers and other law enforcement or security personnel who are appearing in an official capacity and whose duties reasonably require the possession of a weapon, may carry such weapons, consistent with their agency policy and courthouse security protocols. e. Any person prohibited from carrying a weapon into a courtroom under this order — including off-duty law enforcement officers attending court on personal business — must secure such weapons at the security desk located in the courthouse lobby prior to entering any courtroom or secure court area. Weapons may be stored in a designated lockbox or other secured location as provided by courthouse security personnel. IV. SANCTIONS Any violation of this or any other court orders, and any conduct the judge finds disruptive of the proceedings may result in: a. An order of temporary or permanent exclusion of the offender from the courtroom and/or courthouse, b. Contempt of court sanctions, punishable by confinement in the Collin County jail for up to 6 months or a fine not to exceed $500, for each offense, c. Confiscation or prohibited items, d. Referrals to appropriate licensing or disciplinary bodies e. Referrals for investigation, arrest, and/or charges to proper law enforcement agencies for violations of the laws of the State of Texas and/or United States. f. Such other sanctions as deemed necessary by the judge to ensure the due and proper administration of justice. V. ENFORCEMENT OF THIS ORDER Courthouse security is the purview of the Collin County Sheriff. To effectuate the ends of justice within the courthouse, other peace officers, including Sheriff’s deputies, constables, and court bailiffs, are authorized to enforce this order as situations dictate. Such officers may conduct screening to prevent prohibited items from entering the courthouse. Such officers may deny entry to the courthouse, direct removal of individuals, from the courthouse or the courthouse grounds, and prohibited items as necessary. Permanent exclusion from the courthouse may only be made by written order of the LAJ, subject to review, upon request by request of law enforcement, courthouse staff, or presiding judge. Orders for temporary exclusion from the courthouse may be made at the discretion of courthouse security personnel or by verbal order of a presiding judge. At no time shall exclusion be for a period of longer than 72 hours without written order. Persons who have been previously temporarily prohibited may require or agree to be escorted by security personnel until such individual’s courthouse business is concluded. APPROVED FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS AND STATUTORY COUNTY COURTS IN AND FOR COLLIN COUNTY ON JUNE 11, 2025. [signature] Judge Angela Tucker, 199th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Jennifer Edgeworth, 219th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge John Roach, Jr., 296th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Tom Nowak, 366th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Benjamin N. Smith, 380th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Kimberly M. Laseter, 401st Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Andrea Thompson, 416th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Cynthia Wheless, 417th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Jill Renfro Willis, 429th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Lindsey Wynne, 468th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Piper McCraw, 469th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Brook Fulks, 470th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Bryan Gantt, 471st Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Christine A. Nowak, 493rd Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Kathryn L. Pruitt, 494th Judicial District Court [signature] Judge Corinne Mason, County Court at Law No. 1 [signature] Judge Barnett Walker, County Court at Law No. 2 [signature] Judge Lance Baxter, County Court at Law No. 3 [signature] Judge David Rippel, County Court at Law No. 4 [signature] Judge Randy Johnson, County Court at Law No. 5 [signature] Judge Jay Bender, County Court at Law No. 6 [signature] Judge David Waddill, County Court at Law No. 7 [signature] Judge Sarah Duff, Probate Court No. 1
Reviewer note: Operative provisions composed verbatim from the registered document (text layer, 6 pp); signed by the full district + statutory-county bench (signature block matches the OCA roster); custody sha256 in the registry ledger (doc 2446). [RECOMPOSED 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P7, digital-layer lane): the full text of the registered file (sha256 53f38e549bdd..., 6 pages) replaces the earlier 2,618-character abstract. Method: pypdfium2 text layer reflowed page-aware, cross-checked word-by-word against PyMuPDF (5 substantive difference(s), 0 page-furniture), owner-corpus candidate sentences 100% (19/19) matched, 4 running header/footer line(s) removed, no U+FFFD/U+FFFE/form-feed debris. NOT yet checked page by page against the render, so confidence is medium with an open re-verification task; flip to high when a reviewer has read every page against the PDF. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p7-2026-09-21] [BY-EYE CHECK 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P11): every page of the registered file (sha256 53f38e549bdd..., 6 page(s)) read against the rendered PDF; file-stamp, caption and signature-block defects of the text layer corrected from the render; confidence lifted to high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p11-2026-09-21]
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.