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The 443rd District Court's comprehensive criminal-practice rules (revised Jan. 15, 2026, Judge Grace Pandithurai), applying "in every criminal case" in the court: attorney conduct and 30-day vacation letters; the three-announcement setting structure (first announcement 3 weeks after indictment for in-custody cases, ~40 days otherwise; second-announcement appearance waivable by e-filed waiver 2 business days ahead); the Standing Discovery and Pretrial Order and Conditions of Bond entered by the clerk at indictment; evidentiary motions due 10 business days before pretrial conference (duplicates of the standing order denied); plea timing; two-setting revocation/adjudication track; decorum, attire, refreshment, and a cell-phone/electronics policy that bans recording-capable smart glasses; a certificate-of-conference regime under which the coordinator sets certified motions for hearing; unilateral continuances requiring a contingent appearance date; 30-day suppression-hearing timing; voir dire time limits (45–60 minutes; 1:15 for child-abuse, multi-defense, causation, or death cases) and content restrictions; juror-card confidentiality; witness-readiness and bench-conference record rules.
Texas > Ellis County > 443rd District Court — every criminal case (the 443rd holds approximately one-half of Ellis County felonies under Court Rules of Administration § III). Rev. Jan. 15, 2026, signature block Hon. Grace Pandithurai. Works together with the court's Standing Discovery and Pretrial Order and Felony Bond Conditions (each published separately).
Reviewer note: Text-layer document (7 pages, sha256 a28c3974…, 176,579 B) transcribed with operative provisions verbatim; posted in the county's COURT POLICIES, RULES, ORDERS AND PROCEDURES vein (elliscountytx.gov/1290) as "443RD COURT RULES AND PROCEDURES." The file name carries the 2025-03-20 signing batch; the instrument's own revision line (Jan. 15, 2026) controls the edition date. Composed benchpath-ajr1-p6.
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.
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