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The Local Rules of Practice for the District Courts of Collin County (approved by all sixteen district judges May 6, 2026): conduct and decorum with the TRCP 18c recording ban (adoptions excepted), contact-information and vacation-letter duties, the anti-forum-shopping related-filings rule, electronic-filing and TRCP 21c sensitive-data/initials requirements, the district clerk's ministerial limits and the court-registry disbursement-order drafting rules with the 30-day waiver language, the conference requirement for setting hearings (two-attempt), continuances only by consent on a verified motion, ex parte relief mechanics with the 2-hour notice rule and its Title 4 / imminent-harm exceptions, the 20-minute-per-side family-law temporary-orders limit, motion-practice certificate-of-conference in three forms, the non-party government-employee subpoena conference/certificate rule, discovery-motion single-document rule, the form protective order, attorney-withdrawal mechanics, DWOP grounds, the 30-day final-judgment rule, and the §4.8 AI accuracy-verification requirement.
Texas > Collin County > all sixteen district courts (199th, 219th, 296th, 366th, 380th, 401st, 416th, 417th, 429th, 468th, 469th, 470th, 471st, 493rd, 494th — approved and signed by their judges May 6, 2026) — the district-courts' governing practice rulebook; the county courts at law carry their own §4.8-analog AI regime in CCL Standing Order No. 3
[Docusign Envelope ID: 9F0D41C2-3188-8A9B-8230-55953B6BFF0D, printed at the top of each page] 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 Smith 401st Judicial District, Judge Kim Laseter 416th Judicial District, Judge Andrea Thompson 417th Judicial District, Judge Cynthia Wheless [Seal of the State of Texas] 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 Nowak 494th Judicial District, Judge Kathryn Pruitt LOCAL RULES OF PRACTICE FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS OF COLLIN COUNTY The district judges of Collin County hereby adopt these rules pursuant to Rule 3a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rule 10, Texas Rules of Judicial Administration. 1. Conduct and Decorum ... 2 1.1. Standards for All Attorneys and Self-Represented Litigants ... 2 1.2. Photographs, Broadcasting, Live Streaming, and Recordings ... 2 2. Information and the District Clerk ... 2 2.1. Contact Information ... 2 2.2. Vacation letters ... 2 2.3. Related Filings ... 2 2.4. Document Filing and Electronic Filing ... 3 2.5. Sensitive Data and Initials ... 3 2.6. Contact with the District Clerk’s Office ... 3 2.7. Court Registry ... 3 3. Setting Hearings and Trials ... 4 3.1. Conference Requirement for Setting Hearings ... 4 3.2. Continuances ... 4 3.3. Conflicting settings ... 4 3.4. Ex Parte Relief ... 5 3.5. Temporary Orders in Family Law Cases ... 5 4. Litigation and Discovery ... 5 4.1. Motion Practice ... 5 4.2. Subpoenas Directed at Non-Party Government Employees ... 6 4.3. Discovery Motions ... 7 4.4. Form Protective Order for Discovery ... 7 4.5. Attorney Withdrawals ... 7 4.6. Dismissals for Want of Prosecution (DWOP) ... 7 4.7. Final Judgments Due Within 30 Days ... 8 4.8. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Court Filings ... 8 1. Conduct and Decorum 1.1. Standards for All Attorneys and Self-Represented Litigants Every attorney must thoroughly read and follow the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the Texas Lawyer’s Creed. Self-represented litigants must also behave with professional decorum to the court, other attorneys, and other people involved with the litigation. All of these rules apply equally to self-represented litigants and attorneys. 1.2. Photographs, Broadcasting, Live Streaming, and Recordings No one may take photographs, broadcast, live stream, or make recordings (audio or video) in the courthouse, unless specifically authorized by written court order pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 18c. Adoptions are exempt from this rule. Parties may take photographs at adoption proceedings. 2. Information and the District Clerk 2.1. Contact Information Attorneys and self-represented litigants are required to provide to the court and district clerk a current mailing address and an email address. Each person must notify the district clerk of any change in address, email, or phone number. If you do not open emails or mail sent to the address you provided, the court will still proceed as if you had received the communication. 2.2. Vacation letters A party or attorney may send a vacation letter to the other parties or file it in the case, reserving a reasonable number of days during which no hearings, depositions, or trials are requested to be set. If a matter is set without that person’s approval, and it conflicts with the previously-sent vacation letter, the affected person should bring the issue to the court’s attention. 2.3. Related Filings Forum shopping is prohibited. Once a case is filed in a court, other cases involving related claims or parties will also be filed in that court, even if non-suited or refiled. Parties must notify the district clerk if related litigation has been previously filed in a court. 2.4. Document Filing and Electronic Filing Attorneys must use the electronic filing system. Self-represented litigants may use electronic filing or file documents directly with the district clerk. Electronic filings must comply with Tex. R. Civ. P. 21 and any other applicable electronic filing rules or standards. The district clerk may publish information regarding acceptable formatting and technical requirements for electronic documents. 2.5. Sensitive Data and Initials All attorneys and self-represented litigants must follow Tex. R. Civ. P. 21c and must redact sensitive data before filing documents. If the inclusion of sensitive data is required by law, then the document may be marked with a notice that the document contains sensitive data; otherwise, the document must not contain that notice. If a party has filed a document containing unredacted sensitive data, that party must resubmit a redacted substitute document. A pleading must not contain initials in place of the first and last names unless redaction of the name is required or permitted by Tex. R. Civ. P. 21c, other law, or court order. 2.6. Contact with the District Clerk’s Office Employees of the district clerk cannot provide legal advice and may only provide access to court records pursuant to relevant statutes and rules. Employees cannot receive or relay personal messages or calls or read pleadings to anyone. Employees may only provide the following information in response to requests: (a) whether an answer has been filed; (b) existence and setting of a case; (c) existence of a setting of a matter and/or motion in a pending case; (d) return of service and a date; and (e) correct style of a case when correct cause number is supplied. 2.7. Court Registry As ministerial officers, employees of the district clerk cannot exercise personal discretion relating to a court’s registry. Orders must be clear, complete, and without uncertainty. Please consider addressing the following issues when drafting an order to disburse: (a) The order states that the district clerk is ORDERED to issue the check. (b) The order states exactly who is to receive the check, for example, “the District Clerk is ordered to issue a check payable to Jane Marie Doe.” (c) The order includes the amount to be paid, for example: “the District Clerk is ordered to issue a check payable to Jane Marie Doe for an amount equal to all funds plus accrued interest,” or “the District Clerk is ordered to issue a check payable to Jane Marie Doe for an amount equal to the principle amount of $100, plus accrued interest.” (d) The order specifically waives the 30-day waiting period. Without this language, the district clerk may wait 30 days before making the disbursement. Language such as “immediately,” “instanter,” and “without delay” are not sufficient to waive the 30-day waiting period. The 30-day waiting period will be automatically waived for criminal cash bond disbursements and for the Office of the Attorney General. If an order’s language does not clearly direct the district clerk, there will be no disbursement until any defects are cured. Interest earned and fees charged on registry funds are governed by the Texas Local Government Code. 3. Setting Hearings and Trials 3.1. Conference Requirement for Setting Hearings (a) The Court may set a hearing on its own initiative at any time, with or without a request from a party, including in circumstances involving the inability of the parties to agree on a hearing date, a lack of response from a party, for docket management, compliance with Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a, or as otherwise deemed appropriate by the Court. (b) Except as provided in subsection (a), parties shall make a good-faith effort to confer and obtain agreement on a hearing date before requesting that the Court set a hearing. (c) A party may request that the Court set a hearing without agreement only after making reasonable efforts to confer with opposing counsel or self-represented party, which shall include at least two attempts to contact the opposing side using customary means of communication. (d) Any request to set a hearing shall include a brief statement describing the efforts made to confer and whether agreement on a hearing date was reached. (e) Nothing in subsections (b)-(d) modifies or waives the requirements of Rule 4.1.2 or 4.1.3. 3.2. Continuances A trial or hearing cannot be postponed or rescheduled without the consent of the court. Any motion for continuance must be verified and will be heard at a time set by the court. 3.3. Conflicting settings A conflicting setting exists when an attorney is already set for trial or hearing in another court or an attorney is assigned to more than one court at the same time. An attorney must immediately notify all courts in which the attorney is set for hearing or trial if the attorney has a conflicting setting. 3.4. Ex Parte Relief 3.4.1. No application for relief shall be presented to a judge until it has been filed and assigned to a court. Anyone seeking ex parte relief must notify the judge whether any other litigation is pending relating to the parties or the subject matter. 3.4.2. Except as provided below, anyone applying for a temporary restraining order or other ex parte relief must, at least two hours before presenting the application to a court, notify all other parties (including unrepresented parties), or their counsel if known, provide a copy of the application, and provide a copy of the proposed order. 3.4.3. Advance notification is not required if (a) the application is for a protective order under Title 4 of the Texas Family Code or Article 7A of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure; (b) the application sets forth a reasonable basis for believing that irreparable harm is likely imminent and there is insufficient time to notify opposing counsel or parties; or (c) the application sets forth a reasonable basis for believing that notifying the opposing counsel or party would impair the court’s ability to grant relief due to the danger that the subject matter of the application could be compromised, removed, or destroyed. 3.4.4. If the judge to which a case is assigned is unavailable, the application may be presented to another sitting district judge or, upon permission from the sitting district judge, to a visiting judge. Any district judge may sit for the court to which the case has been assigned. 3.5. Temporary Orders in Family Law Cases Each party present at any hearing on temporary orders shall be limited to twenty minutes total to present its evidence, cross-examine, rebut, and argue its case, unless the court affirmatively orders otherwise. 4. Litigation and Discovery 4.1. Motion Practice 4.1.1. Parties are directed to use all reasonable efforts to attempt to resolve pre-trial disputes to avoid the necessity of judicial intervention. 4.1.2. Except as provided in Section 4.1.3, no counsel for a party shall file any motion unless accompanied with a Certificate of Conference signed by counsel for movant and stating: (a) Counsel for movant and counsel for respondent have personally conducted a conference at which there was a substantive discussion of the relief sought in this motion and despite best efforts the counsel have not been able to revolve those matters presented; or (b) Counsel for movant has personally attempted to contact the counsel for respondent to resolve the matters presented, but counsel for respondent has failed to respond or attempt to resolve the matters presented; or (c) Counsel for movant has conferred with opposing counsel on the merits of the issues contained in this motion, and opposing counsel has indicated that the motion is unopposed. 4.1.3. The requirement for a Certificate of Conference set forth in this Rule does not apply to dispositive motions, motions for summary judgment, default judgments, motions for voluntary dismissal or nonsuit, post-verdict motions and motions involving service of citation. 4.2. Subpoenas Directed at Non-Party Government Employees Before issuing a subpoena directed at a non-party government employee, the requesting party must comply with the requirements of this section. 4.2.1. Conference Requirement. During regular business hours, at least 3 business days before the subpoena is issued, the requesting party must contact the legal representative or chief executive officer of the government entity and make a reasonable good faith inquiry to ascertain the name and capacity of the person with knowledge of the matter and records sought. 4.2.2. Certificate Requirement. The subpoena must include a certificate that provides the following information: (a) the party timely attempted to contact the legal representative or chief executive officer on (list dates, times, methods of contact, and persons contacted) and provided a detailed message alerting the person of the reasons for the subpoena, but received no response; or (b) the party conferred with an authorized representative and was unable to agree on a representative to appear or provide documents because the person or documents sought were critical for the following reasons: (list reasons). If a party fails to comply with these requirements, the court may grant the motion of a person/entity opposing the subpoena on that ground and may award expenses and attorney fees to the person/entity opposing the subpoena. 4.3. Discovery Motions All motions for discovery sanctions, requests for rulings on discovery objections, and motions to compel discovery shall set out within the body of the motion the interrogatory or request which is in dispute, and the objection and answer or response which is in dispute, so that all matters necessary for the Court’s consideration are set out in one concise document. 4.4. Form Protective Order for Discovery Parties may agree to use the standard form protective order published on the district courts’ website. Upon the motion of one party for entry of the standard form protective order, the court may enter that order unless a party files an objection within 10 days of receiving notice of the motion. 4.5. Attorney Withdrawals Motions to withdraw must comply with all requirements of Tex. R. Civ. P. 10. Counsel may not withdraw within 30 days of trial without leave of court. The withdrawal motion and order must contain the client’s last known email address. A motion to withdraw may be granted without hearing if: (a) The client has signed the motion or order, consenting to the withdrawal; (b) Another lawyer has made an appearance on behalf of the client; or (c) The motion is accompanied by a letter that notifies the client of the client’s right to object to the withdrawal within 10 days of the date the letter was mailed, the withdrawing attorney certifies that the motion and letter were sent to the client’s last known address by both certified and regular first class mail, and no objection is filed. 4.6. Dismissals for Want of Prosecution (DWOP) A case may be dismissed for want of prosecution for any of the following reasons: (a) Failure of plaintiff to set the case for trial, enter a scheduling order, or take other appropriate action after notice that the case will be dismissed for want of prosecution; (b) Failure of plaintiff or plaintiff’s counsel to appear for trial or a pretrial conference; (c) Failure of plaintiff to announce “ready” when the case is called for trial; or (d) For any other reason permitted by law. 4.7. Final Judgments Due Within 30 Days Within 30 days after reported settlement, rendition, or verdict, parties shall submit to the court a written final judgment, indicating whether it is approved by all parties as to form or substance. If a final judgment is not submitted to the court within 30 days, the court may presume that the parties wish the case dismissed with prejudice with costs taxed at the court’s discretion. A party may file a motion to request more time. 4.8. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Court Filings All self-represented litigants and attorneys who utilize any form of artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT, Harvey.AI, Google Bard, TensorFlow, OpenAI, Bing) for legal research or drafting in connection with a case shall, before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, ensure that such information is accurate and correctly portrayed to the court. APPROVED FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS OF COLLIN COUNTY AND SIGNED ON MAY 6, 2026. [DocuSign signature] HON. ANGELA TUCKER, 199TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. JENNIFER EDGEWORTH, 219TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. JOHN R. ROACH, JR., 296TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. TOM NOWAK, 366TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. BENJAMIN N. SMITH, 380TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. KIM LASETER, 401ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. ANDREA THOMPSON, 416TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. CYNTHIA WHELESS, 417TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. JILL RENFRO WILLIS, 429TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. LINDSEY WYNNE, 468TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. PIPER MCCRAW, 469TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. BROOK FULKS, 470TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. BRYAN GANTT, 471ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] CHRISTINE NOWAK, 493RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [DocuSign signature] HON. KATHRYN L. PRUITT, 494TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
[Docusign Envelope ID: 9F0D41C2-3188-8A9B-8230-55953B6BFF0D, printed at the top of each page] 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 Smith 401st Judicial District, Judge Kim Laseter 416th Judicial District, Judge And
Reviewer note: Operative provisions composed verbatim from the registered document (has a text layer; DocuSign-executed May 6, 2026 by all district judges — signature block matches the OCA bench); the §4.8 AI rule is the district courts' AI regime, the accuracy-verification counterpart to the county courts at law's mandatory-disclosure CCL Standing Order No. 3; the own-site copy (district-courts/documents/lrp.pdf) is the same instrument; custody sha256 in the registry ledger (doc 3015). Companion: the Local Rules of Administration (doc 2441). [TRANSCRIBED BY EYE 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P12): every page of the registered file (sha256 39181664738f..., 9 page(s), digital layer that failed the machine checks; text taken from the layer and corrected word by word from the page) read against the rendered file; verbatim, source typos kept, stamps/signatures bracketed; the earlier abstract replaced by the full instrument; confidence high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p12-2026-09-21]
Division XI: information forms for data processing (Rule 11.2); required action - action taken on all calendared cases and a future date always set (Rule 11.19); and pro tem judges - an attorney named as a plaintiff in a civil or small claims case may not sit as a judge pro-tem during the case or within six months following its resolution, nor one named as a defendant in two or more such cases (Rule 11.22). Rules 11.1, 11.3 to 11.5, 11.7 to 11.18, 11.20 and 11.21 are repealed, and Rule 11.6 (voluntary arbitration; see Local Rule 10.2) was repealed and renumbered.
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.