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The district courts' self-executing criminal discovery standing order (effective May 1, 2021, applying in every criminal case unless otherwise ordered): the State's first-announcement-setting production (reports, statements, Art. 38.22 defendant statements, warrants, expert/lab reports, records, and all Brady/exculpatory material), the 20-days-before-trial production (404(b)/609/38.37 notice, witness lists, jail-call recordings, inspection of seized/physical evidence, impeachment convictions, benefit/leniency promises), the defense's 20-day expert-witness list, the on-the-record 'last best' plea-offer announcement at the pre-trial hearing, and expert voir-dire practice.
Texas > Collin County > the district courts hearing criminal cases — the self-executing criminal discovery order implementing the Michael Morton Act (CCP Art. 39.14) discovery regime; applies in every criminal case unless the presiding judge orders otherwise
[Letterhead: 199th Judicial District, Hon. Angela Tucker; 219th Judicial District, Hon. Jennifer Edgeworth; 296th Judicial District, Hon. John Roach, Jr.; 366th Judicial District, Hon. Tom Nowak; 380th Judicial District, Hon. Benjamin Smith; 401st Judicial District, Hon. George Flint; 416th Judicial District, Hon. Andrea Thompson; seal of the State of Texas Judicial Branch] DISTRICT JUDGES IN AND FOR COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS STANDING DISCOVERY ORDER FOR CRIMINAL CASES The district judges presiding over criminal cases in Collin County, Texas hereby adopt this Standing Discovery Order for Criminal Cases, which shall apply in every criminal case unless otherwise ordered by the presiding judge, effective May 1, 2021. This Order applies to all items in the possession, custody, or control of the state's attorney, the investigating officers, other state agents, and any person under contract with the state. Electronic duplicates of documents, physical evidence and photographs may be substituted for paper or physical copies. PRODUCTION BY THE STATE: No later than the first announcement setting, the state is ORDERED to provide to the defense the following items which are in the possession of the state’s attorney: 1. Copies, or an opportunity for the defense to inspect and copy, all police reports, witness statements, photographs, audio and video recordings, and any other non-privileged information that constitutes or contains evidence material to any matter related to the case. 2. All written or recorded statements of the defendant, along with all confessions or statements, whether verbal or otherwise, made pursuant to Art. 38.22, C.C.P. 3. Copies, or disclosure of the existence, of any and all public records, including search and arrest warrants (with accompanying affidavits). 4. Copies of any expert reports, including autopsy reports and laboratory reports of any examinations of contraband, substances, fluids, hairs, fingerprints, blood samples, ballistics, soil, fibers and paints. 5. Copies of all business, medical, or governmental records expected to be introduced by the state. 6. All exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating documents, items, or information that tends to negate the guilt of the defendant or that would tend to reduce the punishment for the offense charged. No later than 20 days prior to the start of trial, the state is ORDERED to provide to the defense: 1. Written notice of the state’s intent to use evidence of the defendant’s prior bad acts and extraneous offenses at trial (Rule 404(b) and Rule 609, T.R.E., and Art. 38.37, C.C.P.). 2. A written list of all anticipated trial witnesses, including experts, and their contact information, to be supplemented as others are discovered. 3. All non-privileged audio recordings of a jailed defendant’s telephone calls. 4. An opportunity for the inspection of: a. All items seized from the defendant; b. All items seized from any codefendant or accomplice; c. All physical objects to be introduced at trial; d. All documents and photographs and investigative charts or diagrams to be introduced at trial; e. All contraband, weapons, and implements of criminal activity seized or acquired by the state or its agents in the investigation of the alleged offense; f. All records of conviction which may be admissible in evidence or used for impeachment of the defendant; and g. All tangible items of physical evidence collected by the state or its agents concerning the alleged offense, including but not limited to, latent fingerprints, footprints, hairs, fibers, fingernail scrapings, body fluids, biological material, tire tracts, and paint scrapings. 5. All promises of benefit or lenience afforded to any accomplice or prospective witness in connection with his or her proposed testimony or cooperation. 6. All convictions and pending charges which may be admissible to impeach the testimony of a named state’s witness. 7. In the event that photographs, diagrams, or models are prepared as “jury aids” or “demonstrative aids” by the state’s attorneys (or at their direction) before trial, such items will be considered work product unless the defense demonstrates a “particularized need” for inspection thereof. PRODUCTION BY DEFENSE: Counsel for the defendant is ORDERED to provide a list of expert witnesses to the state at least 20 days prior to trial. FINAL PLEA BARGAIN OFFER AND DEADLINE FOR PLEA AGREEMENTS No later than at the formal pre-trial hearing, unless accomplished at a separate “admonishment” hearing held prior to the pre-trial hearing with the Court’s approval, the state’s “last best” plea bargain offer shall be announced on the record, in the presence of the defendant and his/her counsel. If rejected by the defendant, a subsequent plea agreement will not be approved absent good cause shown. EXPERT WITNESSES: Voir dire examination of an expert witness will generally be held at the time of trial in such a manner that is respectful of the jury’s time. However, if either side anticipates that an examination will exceed one hour, such shall be made known to the Court so that an additional pre-trial hearing can be scheduled for this purpose. INDIGENT DEFENDANTS: In the event that defense counsel has been appointed by the Court to represent an indigent defendant, the state and its agents shall, within reason, furnish copies, photocopies and duplications at no charge to the defense. ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY: Attorneys shall refrain from filing any motion that duplicates any provision of this Standing Order. Conflicting motions may be overruled without a hearing. In the event that additional, particularized discovery is necessary, the defense may file a written motion for discovery concerning a matter not addressed in this Order, and any such motion shall be presented to the Court at the earliest opportunity before trial. However, no attorney shall file a discovery motion without first conferring with opposing counsel, and no motion will be considered by the Court or set for a hearing unless it is accompanied by a certificate of conference, which shall include a statement that the moving party has made a good faith effort to resolve the matter by agreement. Nothing herein precludes a party from filing a motion for a protective order, to compel compliance, or to modify this Order. SUPPLEMENTATION: It shall be the duty of the state’s attorney to immediately disclose to the defense all newly discovered information, evidence, or other material within the scope of this Order, and the state’s attorney has a continuing duty to make any such disclosure expeditiously. If the state later discovers or learns of any additional information subject to disclosure under this Order, the state shall notify the defense and furnish the same for inspection and copying as soon as practicable. Counsel for both sides shall exercise reasonable diligence in arranging a mutually convenient time to supplement discovery. DISCOVERY LOG: Prior to the start of trial, the state and defense shall submit to the Court a written discovery log, acknowledging the disclosure and receipt of all documents, items, and information provided to the defense. EFFECT OF OTHER RULES Nothing in this Order should be construed to relieve an attorney of any other legal or ethical obligation required by law or other rule, including but not limited to, the requirements set forth in Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 39.14 and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. IT IS SO ORDERED. SIGNED ON 1 MAY 2021. [signature] HON. ANGELA TUCKER, 199TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. JENNIFER EDGEWORTH, 219TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. JOHN ROACH, JR., 296TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. TOM NOWAK, 366TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. BENJAMIN N. SMITH, 380TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. GEORGE B. FLINT, 401ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [signature] HON. ANDREA THOMPSON, 416TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT [Running footer: District Courts Standing Order for Discovery in Criminal Cases]
Reviewer note: Operative provisions composed verbatim from the registered document (text layer); a self-executing discovery order binding the State in every criminal case; own-site copy at district-courts/documents/standingdiscoveryorderforcriminalcases.pdf; custody sha256 in the registry ledger (doc 550). [RECOMPOSED 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P7, digital-layer lane): the full text of the registered file (sha256 efa693c5ca29..., 4 pages) replaces the earlier 2,643-character abstract. Method: pypdfium2 text layer reflowed page-aware, cross-checked word-by-word against PyMuPDF (0 substantive difference(s), 4 page-furniture), owner-corpus candidate sentences 100% (14/14) matched, 0 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 efa693c5ca29..., 4 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.