434th District Court Policies (registered court procedures) — Fort Bend County, TX · BenchPath

434th District Court Policies (registered court procedures)

High confidence· verified September 21, 2026Local RulesFort Bend County, 434th District Court Policies (registered court procedures) (TOPICs reg. doc. 149)

Summary

434th District Court Policies (registered court procedures) — Fort Bend County. The operative requirements are quoted verbatim from the governing document (registered/posted 01/01/2023); the document in custody is the controlling text.

Applies to

Texas > Fort Bend County > 434th District Court

Requirement

434th District Court These policies also apply for all proceedings held in the 434th Associate District Court In compliance with the President's Coronavirus Guidelines for America, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidance regarding Mass Gatherings or Large Community Events, the Supreme Court of Texas' 43rd Emergency Order Regarding the COVID-19 State Disaster, and out of a concern for public health, safety, and wellbeing, the 434th District Court will be holding limited in-person dockets. CRIMINAL DOCKETS • THE DOCKET CONTROL ORDER (provided below) SHALL APPLY TO ALL PENDING CRIMINAL CASES. • The Docket Control Order shall be signed by ALL parties and filed with FBC District Clerk at the Arraignment Docket. • ALL RESETS SHALL BE EFILED WITH THE DISTRICT CLERK'S OFFICE WITH NOTICE GIVEN TO THE FORT BEND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. • The Reset provided below is to be used for ALL Electronic Resets. Please download to your P.C. before entering the required information. • Electronic Resets are being accepted on all pending cases with scheduled court appearances. All resets must be submitted by 9:00 a.m. the day of, but no more than 3 days prior to, docket call. It is the attorney's responsibility to get their Client's Signature OR Sign by Permission (W/ NOTICE TO CLIENT). THIS INCLUDES CLIENTS IN CUSTODY. All cases not timely submitted will be subject to bond forfeiture. • You will need to contact the District Attorney's Office at 281-341-4460 to have any pleas worked out before court and to notify them of any essential hearings. Defendants will appear in person. Paperwork must be e-filed 48 hours in advance and notice given to the Court Coordinator and Prosecutors. Please note that all hearings will be done via Webex, unless deemed essential by the court for an in-person hearing. • IF AN INTERPRETER IS NEEDED, please let the Court know at least one week in advance. [File stamp: FILED DEC 16 2022 at 1:26 [handwritten] P.M., Clerk District Court, Fort Bend Co., TX] CIVIL DOCKETS • Please contact the Court Coordinator for available hearing dates and times at 434DC@fortbendcountytx.gov. • After obtaining a hearing date and time, please e-file a notice of hearing for all civil cases with the District Clerk's Office. • Civil Trials scheduled through June 30, 2022, will need a new Docket Control Order in place. Please email the court for new dates. • For your convenience, please see attached CIVIL DOCKET CONTROL ORDER. NOTICE OF ACCOMODATIONS FOR AT-RISK INDIVIDUALS Due to COVID-19, many individuals are considered "at-risk" members of the vulnerable population. These members include, but are not limited to, individuals who are over 65 and individuals with serious underlying health conditions, such as high blood pressure, chronic lung disease, obesity, asthma, and those whose immune systems are compromised. If you believe you are a member of this vulnerable population, please contact the Court Coordinator, Tonie Guevara, via email at 434DC@fortbendcountytx.gov and provide your full name, cause number, and contact information to advise the court regarding your need for special accommodations and a specialized docket to ensure your continued safety. Presiding Judge/ Honorable J. Christian Becerra Associate Judge/ Honorable Argie Brame Court Staff Court Coordinator: Tonie Guevara; Email: 434DC@fortbendcountytx.gov; Telephone: 281-633-7653 Court Reporter: Rhonda Colgin; Email: Rhonda.Colgin@fortbendcountytx.gov; Telephone: 281-633-7654 Bailiff: Joseph Regalado Associate Judge Court Coordinator: Lena Smith; Email: Lena.Smith@fortbendcountytx.gov Bailiff: Gary Marin [Attached form] Cause No. ______ ______ v. ______ § IN THE DISTRICT COURT, FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS, 434th JUDICIAL DISTRICT DOCKET CONTROL ORDER The following docket control order shall apply to this case unless modified by the court. If no date is given below, the item is governed by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. 1. JOINDER. All parties must be added and served, whether by amendment or third-party practice, by this date. THE PARTY CAUSING THE JOINDER SHALL PROVIDE A COPY OF THIS DOCKET CONTROL ORDER AT THE TIME OF SERVICE. 2. EXPERT WITNESS DESIGNATION. Expert witness designations are required and must be served by the following dates. The designation must include the information listed in Rule 194.2 (f). Failure to timely respond will be governed by Rule 193.6. (a) Experts for parties seeking affirmative relief. (b) All other experts. 3. MEDIATION. Parties must complete mediation by this date. 4. DISCOVERY. All discovery must be completed before the end of the discovery period. Parties seeking discovery must serve requests sufficiently far in advance of the end of the discovery period that the deadline for responding will be within the deadline to complete discovery. 5. DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS AND PLEAS. Must be heard by oral hearing. (a) No-evidence motions for summary judgment may only be heard after this date. (b) All other dispositive motions or pleas must be heard by this date. 6. CHALLENGES TO EXPERT TESTIMONY. All motions to exclude expert testimony and evidentiary challenges to expert testimony must be filed by this date, unless extended by leave of court. 7. PLEADINGS. All amendments and supplements must be filed by this date. This order does not preclude prompt filing of pleadings directly responsive to any timely filed pleadings. 8. DOCKET CALL. Parties shall be prepared to discuss all aspects of trial with the court on this date. TIME: ______. Failure to appear will be grounds for dismissal for want of prosecution. 9. TRIAL. If not assigned by the second Friday following this date, the case will be reset. DATED: ______. ______ JUDGE PRESIDING [Attached form] No. ______ THE STATE OF TEXAS VS. ______ § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS, 434th JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT CRIMINAL DOCKET CONTROL ORDER The following schedule will control disposition of this case: 1. First Setting (Judge Brame / Courtroom 2A) a. Defense / State sign Docket Control Order. b. Defense to file Discovery Request. 2. Arraignment / Discovery Compliance Setting (Judge Brame / Courtroom 2A) Mandatory IN PERSON appearance by Defense Counsel and Defendant a. Arraign Defendant b. Discovery Compliance c. Plea offer to be made by the State. 3. First Setting with Judge Becerra, Courtroom 3I 4. Pre-Trial Motions and Requests (Judge Becerra / Courtroom 3I) 5. Pre-Trial Motions (Judge Becerra / Courtroom 3I) 6. Trial (Judge Becerra / Courtroom 3I) Signed on ______, 20__. ______ Attorney for the Defendant ______ Attorney for the State ______ Presiding Judge 434th District Court

Source of truth

Official source: TOPICs — Texas local rules registry (topics.txcourts.gov)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 24, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 21, 2026benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p11-2026-09-21

Reviewer note: Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim from the registered document; the full document (sha256 7f36ca466cc6…) is the controlling text. The registered instrument (filed December 16, 2022) frames its docket procedures in COVID-era emergency-order terms and remains the court's only registered procedures document; currency caveat carried on the composed summary. [RECOMPOSED 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P7, digital-layer lane): the full text of the registered file (sha256 7f36ca466cc6..., 4 pages) replaces the earlier 1,920-character abstract. Method: pypdfium2 text layer reflowed page-aware, cross-checked word-by-word against PyMuPDF (0 substantive difference(s), 0 page-furniture), owner-corpus candidate sentences 100% (17/17) 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 7f36ca466cc6..., 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]

Related rules

Local RulesDuval County

Duval County Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act) — Order Amending Local Rules of the District/County Court of Duval County, amended July 11, 2022

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.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Order Amending Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act, Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 906), District/County Court of Duval County, Texas, Rules 1-9 and the compensation attachment, amended and effective July 11, 2022, approved August 2022 and signed by Baldemar Garza, District Judge, 229th Judicial District Court, and E.B. Garcia, County Judge, Duval County; file-stamped by the Duval County Clerk August 8, 2022; TOPICs registration 2817 (Duval County, registered 02/12/2026).