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Eleventh Amended Fort Bend County Adult Plan and Local Rules for the Appointment of Counsel to Indigent Defendants — Fort Bend County. The operative requirements are quoted verbatim from the governing document (registered/posted 12/31/2025); the document in custody is the controlling text.
Texas > Fort Bend County > District and County Courts
26.04, ET SEQ., TEXAS RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE", hereinafter referred to as the "Plan", shall take the place of the “TENTH AMENDED FORT BEND COUNTY ADULT PLAN AND LOCAL RULES FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL TO INDIGENT DEFENDANTS IN THE DISTRICT AND COUNTY COURTS OF FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS PURSUANT TO ART.26.05, ET SEQ., TEXAS RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (adopted November 11, 2023, by the Fort Bend County Council of Judges), which previous Plan and Supplement have heretofore governed the appointment and payment of counsel for indigent adult defendants in felony and misdemeanor cases. … This Plan, when adopted, shall apply to magistrate and probable cause hearings and to the setting of bonds and is adopted in order to comply with the provisions and requirements of Art 26.05, et seq., Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. … In the event that the Task Force on Indigent Defense provides for requirements not contemplated by this Plan, this Plan shall be amended at the first opportunity. … If there is any conflict between this Plan and any local rule that addresses the matters included herein, this Plan and the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure shall apply. … At the time of the magistrate and probable cause hearings, the arresting officer for each arrestee shall have filed, at the time of booking into the jail, a printed (by computer or email) and concise probable cause affidavit with such additional information (offense report, etc.) as necessary for the magistrate judge to make the appropriate judgment. “Arrestee” is defined herein as a person who is arrested with or without an indictment or information having been filed and may sometimes be referred to herein as “Defendant.” No one shall be booked into jail without a filed “Probable Cause Affidavit.” Affidavits for a warrant Revised as of 10.29.25 for arrest must be faxed or delivered to the jail upon arrest from the arresting agency. … If not authorized to appoint counsel, the magistrate shall, without unnecessary delay but in no event longer than 24 hours after an Arrestee’s arrest, transmit, or cause to be transmitted, to the proper appointing magistrate or appointing authority an Arrestee’s request for counsel. … Before releasing on bail a defendant charged with an offense punishable as a felony, a magistrate shall ensure that the defendant has appeared before the magistrate, and the magistrate has considered the public safety report prepared under Article 17.022 Texas Code Criminal Procedure for the defendant. … A magistrate judge conducting magistrate and probable cause hearings, as provided for in these rules, shall be a Judge, Associate Judge or an assigned Judge designated by the appropriate Local Administrative Judge of Fort Bend County in order to ensure consistent compliance with all local rules and the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. … Each Arrestee shall be brought before the magistrate within 48 hours of arrest. … The morning after arrest, at a time established by the magistrate, every felony and misdemeanor Arrestee shall be brought to the magistrate jail courtroom, or other designated courtroom or place, for a magistrate to hold a probable cause hearing, to set bail and to determine the need for court appointed counsel. … During the weekends, the magistrate shall hold magistrate and probable cause hearings at a time as determined by the magistrate, and the magistrate will timely advise the jail of such time and place in advance of the hearing(s). … The jail shall have each Arrestee and the necessary files and papers ready for review by the magistrate at the jail courtroom, or other designated place, prior to the magistrate’s arrival. …
Reviewer note: Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim from the registered document; the full document (sha256 8dc54f8ebe3b…) is the controlling text. Revised October 29, 2025. Supersedes the Tenth Amended plan (TOPICs doc 1690, 11/21/2023); the county's CCL pages still post the superseded Ninth Amended plan (filed 8/28/2023) — currency noted on the source record.
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