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The standing order of the Denton County district courts, county criminal courts and County Court at Law No. 1 (sitting as juvenile court), signed Dec. 10, 2019 and effective Jan. 1, 2020: the Magistrate Court, presided over by the Associate Criminal Judge under Chapter 54A, is the court for every criminal matter arising from an arrest by warrant or on view while the person is in the Sheriff's custody or on bail and no complaint, information or indictment has been filed, with authority to modify bonds and conditions until a charge is filed, after which only the court of filing acts; any motion, writ or filing in a pre-charge criminal matter is filed with the Denton County District Clerk as the designated clerk of the Magistrate Court; the Magistrate Court keeps the docket and records (probable-cause affidavits, commitments, warnings, bail conditions, risk assessments, mental-health evaluations) and files them with the District Clerk, who transfers misdemeanors to the County Clerk once a complaint or information is accepted; preliminary matters in filed cases may be assigned to the Magistrate Court only by a specific order of assignment and it may never render a final disposition; the record on appeal includes the order under which the magistrate acted; a court reporter is provided on a party's request with the cost taxable; sworn witnesses are subject to perjury and attachment; the referring court may modify, reject or adopt the magistrate's action; bond forfeitures are filed with the district or county clerk according to where the case stands; the clerks charge the same court costs as in the district or county courts.
Texas > Denton County > Magistrate Court, District Courts with criminal jurisdiction and County Criminal Courts Nos. 1–5 — defendants, counsel and clerks in unfiled (pre-charge) criminal matters.
"ACCORDINGLY, ON AND AFTER JANUARY 1st, 2020: 1. Assignment of Magistrate Court Authority. a. … the Judges of the 16th, 158th, 211th, 362nd, 367th, 393rd, 431st, 442nd and 462nd District Courts of Denton County, the Judges of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th County Criminal Courts at Law and the Judge of County Court at Law No. 1 (Sitting as the Juvenile Court), herein direct and authorize the designation of the Magistrate Court as the court in which all criminal matters related to the arrest or any individuals in the custody of the Denton County Sheriff pursuant to arrest under warrant or 'on-view' arrest pursuant to Chapters 14 and 15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and which remain in custody or free on bail or conditions of release prior to the filing of a criminal complaint, information or indictment by the Denton County District Attorney. The Magistrate Court retains authority to modify or consider any motions and issue any orders necessary for the enforcement or modification of any bond or conditions related to the custody or release or any defendant or criminal matter prior to the filing of a complaint, information or indictment. b. Upon the filing of any criminal matter … by criminal complaint, information or indictment in a court of competent jurisdiction in Denton County, Texas, the Magistrate Court shall no longer have the authority to enforce, modify or dispose of any criminal matter without the express permission or direction of the Court in which such matter is properly filed. c. The Associate District and County Criminal Court Judge (Associate Criminal Judge) shall preside over the Magistrate Court. … d. Any and all motions, writs and filings of any kind in any criminal matter prior to filing of a complaint, information or indictment arising from a charge or arrest of an individual by the Denton County Sheriff or any police agency of Denton County, Texas shall be filed with the Denton County District Clerk, as the designated clerk of the Magistrate Court. … 2. District Clerk Designated as Clerk for the Denton County Magistrate Court. a. The Denton County District Clerk is herein designated as, and shall serve as the clerk of the Magistrate Court for the filing and safekeeping of any and all records, motions or other filings in any criminal matter pending in the Magistrate Court prior to filing of a complaint, information or indictment. b. After acceptance of any misdemeanor criminal offense by the Denton County District Attorney, and upon the filing of a complaint or information as to any matter previously pending in the magistrate court in a County Criminal Court at Law for Denton County, Texas, the District Clerk shall transfer said matter to the County Clerk for filing with a County Criminal Court at Law. … d. Any preliminary motion, writ or request related to a criminal matter which has not been charged by complaint, information or indictment … may be considered by the Magistrate Court, without a specific order of referral by a Judge of a District or County Court Judge. However, any preliminary motion, writ or request that does, other than one resulting in adjudication or final disposition as to any matter which has been filed and assigned to a Denton County District or County Court, may be assigned to the Magistrate Court, but only if an Order of Assignment specifically referencing the case, authority and subject matter of the hearing has been issued by the presiding judge of the Court from which the matter has been referred. Under no circumstances may the Magistrate Court consider or rule on any motion, writ or request that results in final disposition or adjudication of the matter. e. The clerk of the Court shall include as part of the record on appeal a copy of the order and local administrative rule under which a Magistrate Court acted. f. At the request of a party, the court may provide a court reporter to record the proceedings before the magistrate. If the magistrate court provides a court reporter, the cost may be taxed as a cost of court. g. A witness who appears before a magistrate and is sworn is subject to the penalties for perjury provided by law. The magistrate court may issue attachment against and may fine or detain a witness whose failure to appear after being summoned or whose refusal to answer questions has been certified to the court. h. At the conclusion of any proceeding to which the Magistrate Court has been assigned, the Magistrate Court shall transmit to the referring court any papers relating to the case, including the magistrate's findings, conclusions, orders, recommendations, or other action taken. i. As to any matter referred to the magistrate court, a referring court may modify, correct, reject, reverse, or recommit for further information any action taken by the magistrate. If the court does not modify, correct, reject, reverse, or recommit an action of the magistrate, the action becomes the decree of the court. j. Bail bonds and personal bonds may be forfeited by the magistrate court in the manner provided by Chapter 22, Code of Criminal Procedure, and those forfeitures shall be filed with (1) the district clerk if the case has not been filed by complaint, information or indictment in either a district or county criminal court, (2) the district clerk if the case has been filed in a district court as a felony, or (3) the county clerk if the case has been filed as a misdemeanor case in a county criminal court at law. k. When the district clerk is the clerk as herein authorized, the district clerk shall charge the same court costs for cases filed in, transferred to, or assigned to the magistrate court that are charged in the district courts. When the county clerk is the clerk under this subchapter, the county clerk shall charge the same court costs … that are charged in the county courts."
"ACCORDINGLY, ON AND AFTER JANUARY 1st, 2020: 1. Assignment of Magistrate Court Authority. a. … the Judges of the 16th, 158th, 211th, 362nd, 367th, 393rd, 431st, 442nd and 462nd District Courts of Denton County, the Judges of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th County Criminal Courts at Law and the Judge of County Court at Law No. 1 (Sitting as the Juvenile Court), herein direct and authorize the desi
Reviewer note: Own-site document (image-only, 5 pp) read through the pypdfium2 vision lane 2026-09-06 and transcribed verbatim (Section 1(c), (e) and (f) and Section 2(c) summarized); signed Dec. 10, 2019 by the then benches (Shipman 16th, Burgess 158th, Shanklin 211th, McFarling 362nd, Margaret Barnes 367th, Doug Robison 393rd, Jonathan Bailey 431st, Haertling 442nd, Breading 462nd; Jim Crouch CCC1, Piel CCC2, Beadle CCC3, Oliver CCC4, Waddill CCC5; McCary CCL1) — three of those district judges have since been succeeded, recorded here as historical authorship; the Magistrate Court page prints (docs 2569 and 485) are the same order and are folded as companion receipts. The 2025–2026 SB 9 orders supplement this order for subsequent-felony bail and document transfer. Composed as a county-level rule (court-less) benchpath-ajr8-denton (own-site lane).
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.
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.