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Local Rules of the District Courts of Fort Bend County, Texas — 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.
Texas > Fort Bend County > all District Courts
These rules supersede any and all previously published Local Rules of the District Courts of Fort Bend County. … Where attorney or counsel is used in these rules, the term shall also apply to a pro se party/party not represented by counsel. … Except with the consent of all parties, no court will assign cases to jury trial: the week of Thanksgiving and the last two (2) weeks of December. … COUNTY CLOSED: if the County Judge announces that county buildings are closed, the District Courts shall remain closed until the reopening is announced; essential court matters will be rescheduled or heard at approved alternate locations. … No photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, live streaming, tweeting, or broadcasting of any proceeding is permitted without express permission from the Court; a person wishing to broadcast, televise, record, or photograph a proceeding must file a request with the court clerk. … Attorneys shall call all dual settings to the attention of the affected judges as soon as they are known; trial cases take precedence over non-trial settings; preferential trial settings take precedence over conflicting trial settings; trial settings where the defendant is in custody take precedence over settings where the defendant is on bond. … An attorney may designate up to four weeks per calendar year as vacation, during which the attorney will not be assigned to trial or required to engage in pretrial proceedings [Rule 14, Eleventh AJR Regional Rules]. … Attorneys must notify the District Clerk of any change of address, telephone, fax, or e-mail; notices sent to the address of record are deemed received; appointed attorneys shall additionally notify the office of Indigent Defense. … CIVIL: cases are randomly assigned and remain on the docket of the court to which they are assigned unless transferred; claims based on a prior judgment shall be assigned to the court of original judgment; matters refiled after non-suit, DWOP, or other disposition involving substantially related parties and claims shall be assigned to the court where the prior matter was pending. … Motions to consolidate shall be heard in the court where the first-filed case is pending; a severed case remains in the court where the original case is pending, receiving the same file date and number with a letter designation. … Motions may be heard by written submission: state a Monday 8:00 a.m. submission date at least 10 days from filing; responses shall be filed at least 3 days before the submission date; failure to respond may be considered no opposition. … Opposed motions shall contain a certificate of conference (not required for summary judgment, default judgment, voluntary dismissal/non-suit, or motions to effect service of citation). … Trial settings require a court order; the original setting must comply with TRCP 245; cases not assigned to trial by the Friday after the setting date are reset. … At least annually each court shall dismiss for want of prosecution (TRCP 165a, notice given): cases on file more than 120 days with no answer filed, cases on file more than 18 months not set for trial, and cases where a party failed to take specified action. … No application for immediate or temporary relief shall be presented to a judge until it has been filed (emergencies excepted); applications must state whether the opposing party is known to be represented and by whom. … FAMILY: subsequent suits involving substantially the same parties or subject matter shall be filed in or transferred to the court of the first suit; Texas Family Code continuing-exclusive-jurisdiction provisions take precedence. … Before any temporary-orders hearing involving child or spousal support the parties shall exchange a Financial Information Statement, income tax returns for the two preceding years, and the three most recent payroll stubs — this rule constitutes a discovery request and is enforceable under TRCP 215. … Before final trial the parties shall exchange a sworn Inventory and Appraisement, FIS, Family Code financial information, suggested child-support findings, and a proposed property division. … All cases pending and filed in the future are hereby referred to the associate judge of each court pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code § 201.006; this Rule constitutes the Order of Referral required by § 201.006(a)(2). … Disputes concerning conservatorship, rights and duties, possession and access, custody, or visitation shall be referred to mediation before a temporary hearing on those issues; unless waived for good cause, all cases shall be submitted to ADR before final trial. … In all contested cases, absent good cause, all parents or individuals seeking conservatorship of a child shall attend a parent education course. … CRIMINAL: felony cases are randomly filed and assigned and remain unless transferred according to the Direct Filing Order; the defendant and their attorney shall be present at docket call; requests to transfer an inmate to the courthouse shall be made to the bailiff at least 2 days in advance; a written motion to withdraw must be filed no later than 15 days before a trial setting; a designated voucher must be filed within 60 days of a plea, dismissal, or disposition; reasonable expenses over $500 (experts, investigators) must be pre-approved by the Presiding Judge.
Reviewer note: Operative provisions transcribed verbatim by vision-read of the registered scanned document (rasterized at 170 dpi and read page-by-page this session); the registered document (sha256 5690d54c9cc3…) is the controlling text. Adopted December 28, 2022 by the eight district judges then sitting; also registered by the 268th District Court as TOPICs doc 1179 (identical bytes). Full section-by-section transcript retained in the build archive (fb-transcripts/545-district-local-rules.md).
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)).