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The county's master local rules for every district and statutory county court, adopted by the trial judges acting in concert (Gov't Code § 74.093) and effective Jan. 1, 2025, repealing all prior local rules. Title I (general): attorneys' duties, courtroom conduct (no electronic devices except participating counsel, no recording, no campaign materials), pro se parties held to the rules, conflicting settings with a priority ladder, vacation letters filed 45 days ahead, first continuance or pass granted before announcement day, continuance motions 10 days before trial, the certificate-of-conference requirement for every non-dispositive motion, briefs 3 working days before hearing, proposed orders tendered 2 working days before submission with 5 days to object, evidence in court-of-appeals-uploadable formats. Title II (civil): ex parte applications filed first and certified, affidavit default prove-ups for liquidated damages, bankruptcy notice in 3 days, deposition notices under 10 days presumed unreasonable with a conference recital, DWOP grounds after 60 days without a setting, trial settings no sooner than 75 days from request with 7-day objections, the Eighth Region rules followed, 'ready' announcements 5–15 days before trial, settlement judgments within 30 days, witness/exhibit lists and exhibits marked 7 days before trial, business-records and § 18.001 affidavits filed without attachments, video-deposition designations 30 days before trial. Title III (family): filing and transfer of ancillary actions, the attorney's certificate for ex parte relief, mandatory sworn inventories within 60 days of appearance and financial information 3 days before the first hearing, a certificate of conference before any hearing is set, two-business-day notice of final settings, pre-trial conference attendance. Title IV (criminal/juvenile): letters of representation within 3 business days, defendants present at every setting. Title V: e-filing rules for the County and District Clerks (separate lead documents, page numbering, one-inch margins, no PDF portfolios, proposed orders as subsequent filings, three business days to cure a returned filing, no audio/video via eFile).
Texas > Denton County > all twelve district courts, County Courts at Law Nos. 1–2, County Criminal Courts Nos. 1–5 — civil, family, criminal and juvenile proceedings and e-filing with the District and County Clerks. Signed by the district and statutory county judges (the signature page names Judges Brent Hill, 367th; Michael Dickens, 477th; and the 393rd, 467th, 481st and County Criminal Court 4 benches among the signers).
Rule 1.1.1: "These Rules are the Local Rules of Court of Denton County, Texas. They shall govern proceedings in the District and Statutory County Courts of Denton County, Texas …" 1.1.4: "These Rules are a standing order of all District and Statutory County Courts of this county … Knowing or intentional violation of these Rules may be punished by contempt or other sanction …" 1.2.1–1.2.2: "All prior Local Rules are repealed as of the effective date of these Rules. These Rules are effective January 1, 2025." Rule 1.5.4: "No electronic devices shall be used in Court, except by attorneys or the attorney's staff during hearings in which that attorney is participating. Further, no audible sounds from communication devices or other electronic devices shall be permitted and no recording of court proceedings shall be permitted." 1.5.5: "Campaign materials are prohibited in the courtroom." 1.7.2: pro se parties "shall be expected to read and follow these Local Rules and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Evidence, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Rules of Appellate Procedure … Each person who fails to comply may be sanctioned, fined, or punished as in other cases." Rule 1.8.3 (conflicting settings): priority to "(a) Criminal cases (b) Case given preference by statute (c) Preferentially set cases (d) Case with earliest filing date (e) Case set at earliest date by a Court official." 1.8.5: "If a vacation letter is filed not later than 45 days prior to the start of the attorney's designated vacation, no hearings or trials shall be set in a case during the attorney's vacation, and no orders shall be submitted under Rule 1.13 during the attorney's vacation. However, the filing of a vacation letter shall not affect any settings that exist at the time of filing of the letter." Rule 1.9.3: "The first continuance and/or first pass shall be granted on or prior to announcement day without necessity of showing cause, subject to approval by the trial judge. … Substitution of counsel is ordinarily not good cause for subsequent continuances." 1.9.4: "Except for good cause shown, any Motion for Continuance will be filed no less than 10 days prior to the trial date …" Rule 1.11.2: "No motions, objections, or special exceptions will be set for hearing unless the moving party shall have certified in such motion or in a letter substantially the following: 'A conference was held on (date) with (name of attorney for opposing party) on the merits of this motion. A reasonable effort has been made to resolve the dispute without the necessity of court intervention and the effort failed. Therefore, it is presented to the Court for determination.' OR 'A conference was not held with (name of attorney for opposing party) on the merits of this motion because (explanation of inability to confer).'" 1.11.3: coordinators schedule hearings; the movant "shall immediately notify all other parties in writing … and shall immediately file a written notice of hearing." 1.11.6: the certificate rule "does not pertain to dispositive motions … or to Motions for New Trial." Rule 1.12: briefs on non-summary-judgment motions "not later than 3 working days before the scheduled hearing"; summary-judgment reply briefs "no less than 3 days before the hearing." Rule 1.13: proposed orders "tendered to the opposing party at least 2 working days before they are submitted to the Court … If an order is not approved as to form and no specific objections are filed within 5 days of the submission of the proposed order, the Court will presume that there are no objections as to form." Rule 1.15: evidence "in a format that may be uploaded and accepted by the appropriate court of appeals and which comports to the recommendations of the Judicial Committee on Information Technology." Title II — Rule 2.1.1: "No application for action or relief of any kind shall be presented to a judge until the application or case has been filed with the clerk and assigned to a court, unless it is impossible to do so." 2.1.3: every ex parte application carries one of three certificates (no counsel known; counsel notified and stated whether they wish to be heard; diligent attempts to notify unsuccessful). Rule 2.2: "default prove-ups for liquidated damages may be made through affidavits. However, a prove-up hearing shall be required for cases involving unliquidated damages." Rule 2.4.1: bankruptcy — notify the coordinator immediately and give written notice "within 3 days of any bankruptcy filing." Rule 2.6.1: "Notice of less than 10 calendar days under Rules 21a and 199.2(a) … shall be presumed to be unreasonable." 2.6.2: deposition notices recite the conference attempt; "Failure to hold such conference or to make adequate attempt to hold such conference prior to noticing a deposition shall be grounds to quash the deposition." Rule 2.7.1: DWOP for "Failure of the Plaintiff to request a setting or take other appropriate action after the case has been pending for more than 60 days," failure to appear, or failure to announce ready. Rule 2.8.1: trial settings on written request, "not sooner than 75 days from the date of the request for the initial trial setting"; 2.8.3–2.8.4: objections within 7 days of service, ineffective without a hearing request. Rule 2.9.2: "Denton County District and Statutory County Courts shall adhere to and follow the 8th Administrative Judicial Region Rules of Administration." Rule 2.10: a party seeking affirmative relief "must announce 'ready' or 'not ready,' not less than 5 days nor more than 15 days prior to the trial setting." Rule 2.11: after a settlement announcement, "a final judgment or order signed by all attorneys shall be submitted to the Court not later than 30 days after the passed setting." Rule 2.13: at trial deliver "a witness list, exhibit list, any motion in limine, and any requested instructions and questions if trial is by jury (on disk, flash drive, or other similar storage device) … At least seven (7) days prior to commencement of trial, all exhibits must be marked, exchanged, and examined by counsel." Rule 2.14: TRE 902(10) and CPRC § 18.001 affidavits are filed "however, the attachments shall not be filed." Rule 2.15: video-deposition page/line designations "not later than 30 days prior to trial," objections within 10 days, heard no later than 10 days before trial; "Objections to visually recorded testimony that are not heard prior to trial are waived." Title III (family) — Rule 3.1.1: ancillary and post-judgment actions filed in the rendering court; refiled cases transferred back on motion within 30 days of answer. 3.1.4: "Each attorney and pro se party is expected to be familiar with the particular rules established by each District Court and the particular forms promulgated by each District Court … posted on the applicable District Court's website at www.dentoncounty.gov." Rule 3.2.2: the Attorney's Certificate for Ex Parte Relief (no opposing attorney known; or all attorneys of record notified with the pleadings, proposed order and time and place of presentment, with the four conferral outcomes). Rule 3.3.1: in contested divorces each party sends a sworn inventory "not later than 60 days from Respondent's appearance but in no event less than 30 days prior to a final trial setting," filing a certificate of compliance; 3.3.2: "Not later than the third day before the first hearing on any matter in a contested divorce case, each party shall send to opposing counsel a financial information statement" with two years of tax returns, three months of paystubs and children's insurance documents. Rule 3.4.2: no motion set (except sanctions, venue, special appearance and jurisdictional pleas) until the movant confers; unopposed motions carry an agreed order, opposed ones the Certificate of Conference. 3.4.4: a non-final setting may be removed or reset only by agreement or after reasonable notice. 3.4.5: final hearings set only after conferring, with written notice to all opposing parties "within two business days"; no final setting that would "deny or materially interfere with any party's right to obtain discovery." Rule 3.5: pre-trial conference attendance by the attorney in charge or one fully authorized; non-attorneys may not be sent; consequences for non-appearance include waiver, cancellation of settings, DWOP or default. Title IV — Rule 4.1.1: "Attorneys shall file with the applicable court clerk a letter of representation within 3 business days of being retained" (with a motion to substitute where counsel already appears). 4.1.2: "All Defendants/Respondents shall be present at each and every setting in their case unless such appearance is excused by the Court." 4.1.3–4.1.4: appointed counsel must know the indigent defense plans; each court's own rules and forms are posted on the county website. Title V — Rule 5.2.1 (County Clerk): no combined filings; documents signed with full contact information and bar number. Rule 5.3.7 (District Clerk): documents "descriptively titled," each page numbered and titled in the lower margin, orders as separate documents, one-inch margins, sensitive-data compliance; "(h) Fiats must be filed as a separate Notice of Hearing …; (i) … each filing must be filed separately; (j) PDF packages and portfolios are not permitted …; (k) Proposed orders should not be filed as an initial filing/envelope. They must be filed as a subsequent filing/envelope; … (m) All submitted documents that are returned for correction to the filer will have three (3) business days to make the required correction to receive the original submission date …; (n) Any proposed order … that requires a subsequent form to be submitted to any law enforcement agency … must be included at the time the proposed order is submitted." 5.3.9: "Electronic submission of a document does not constitute an accepted-filing." 5.3.10: "No audio or video media files may be filed with the clerk using the electronic filing manager … All audio and video media should be delivered to the applicable Court of record as needed per that Court's protocols."
Rule 1.1.1: "These Rules are the Local Rules of Court of Denton County, Texas. They shall govern proceedings in the District and Statutory County Courts of Denton County, Texas …" 1.1.4: "These Rules are a standing order of all District and Statutory County Courts of this county … Knowing or intentional violation of these Rules may be punished by contempt or other sanction …" 1.2.1–1.2.2: "All pri
Reviewer note: Text-layer registration (25 pp, 44,116 chars) read in full 2026-09-06; quoted verbatim by rule number (OCR artifacts in the file-stamp header disregarded). One instrument covering five Titles — composed as the county master; the 442nd's Practice Tips (1827) state that where they overlap, the Practice Tips control in that court. Composed benchpath-ajr8-denton. County-site receipt(s) in custody 2026-09-06: https://www.dentoncounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1373/Uniform-Rules-of-Court-PDF (January 6, 2023 (superseded) edition); https://www.dentoncounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7182/Uniform-Rules-of-Court-effective-January-6-2023-PDF (January 6, 2023 (superseded) edition); https://www.dentoncounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4146/Denton-County-Rules-of-Court-Local-Rules-PDF (September 1, 2003 (superseded scan) edition); https://www.dentoncounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/957/Uniform-Rules-of-Court-for-the-District-and-Statutory-County-Courts-of-Denton-County-Texas-PDF (identical edition).
Establishes a Traffic Violations Bureau within the Clerk of the County Court under Fla. R. Traf. Ct. 6.100(a) (Burnstein, C.J., Nov. 1, 1988).
Approves the National Highway Safety Council Defensive Driving course as a school to which traffic courts may require attendance (Fla. R. Traf. Ct. 6.110(a)).
Designates the D.W.I. Counterattack School (Broward County Commission on Alcoholism) as an approved school for court-ordered attendance (Fla. R. Traf. Ct. 6.110(a)).