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Direct Filing Order, Section 3 (Criminal Cases) as amended — Harris County District Courts Trying Criminal Cases (ordered September 14, 2023; effective October… — posted on the court's own website — the court-procedure tier (standing procedures, policies, and preferences the court itself publishes), distinct from the TOPICs-registered local-rules tier (TRCP 3a registration applies to local rules). Operative requirements quoted verbatim; the posted document is the controlling text.
Texas > Harris County > District Courts Trying Criminal Cases
The following rules shall govern the filing, assignment and docketing of felony cases and other matters within the jurisdiction of the district court in the Harris County District Courts Trying Criminal Cases (hereinabove referred to as the Criminal District Court Division): … The district clerk shall accept and file all felony complaints presented and initiate an electronic case file and identify each case with a unique file number in numerical sequence. … Said cases shall be assigned to one of the district courts by the utilization of the Automated Random Assignment System. … 3. … When the district clerk files a felony complaint and the defendant is then in the custody of law enforcement officials in Harris County, the district clerk shall update the electronic records in the JWEB Case Management System which certifies that charges have been filed, and the sheriff will then take custody of the defendant based on said record. … By this order of the judges of the Criminal District Court Division, law enforcement officials in Harris County shall cause the defendants in their respective custody to be delivered to the criminal law hearing officer within twelve hours of charges being filed and entered by the district clerk in the JWEB Case Management System and the District Attorney Intake Management System, but no later than 48 hours after arrest. … Defendants released on bail prior to appearance before the criminal law hearing officer shall appear before the assigned district court at the posted docket time on the Preliminary Assigned Court Appearance docket as set forth in 1(A)7 below. … 7. … Upon creation of the case, the district clerk shall cause to be established a separate Preliminary Assigned Court Appearance (PACA) Docket for all complaints filed for each of the said district courts as follows: a. … Upon acceptance of a "Petition for Occupational Driver's License" or a "Petition for Restricted Driver's License," the district clerk shall determine by research whether the driver's license of the petitioner named in such petition was suspended as a result of a judgment entered by a district court. … If the district clerk's research indicates that said driver's license of the petitioner was suspended by a district court, the district clerk shall docket said petitioner in the district court which issued the final judgment, and in no other district court. … Assignment of cases transferred from Juvenile District Courts under 54.051 of the Family Code to district courts shall be determined by the published Judge on Duty Schedule. … B. … In all other cases where a felony complaint has been filed and the defendant is not under arrest on the charge, the district clerk shall not issue an arrest warrant prior to grand jury indictment unless same is presented to and signed by the magistrate before whom such complaint is pending, or the criminal law hearing officer. … D. … The criminal law hearing officer shall inform the defendant of the accusation and any affidavits filed therewith, and require the State to establish probable cause for further detention or restraint of the defendant. … If the criminal law hearing officer does not find that probable cause exists, the criminal law hearing officer shall order the defendant discharged. … If the criminal law hearing officer finds that probable cause exists, the criminal law hearing officer shall inform the defendant of the defendant's statutory rights as required by Art. 15.17 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and shall take all actions required under Art. 16.22. … F. …
Reviewer note: Own-site content fetched by us 2026-08-23 (Phase 5 page-denominator close; hashed custody). Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim; the full posted document is the controlling text. Scan (10 pp) read by vision; the provisions quoted are transcribed from the posted order with the original paragraph numbering; elisions are marked … and the posted scan is the controlling text. The mandatory-language extraction below is drawn from that transcription. Distinct from the Family District Courts' Direct Filing Order (2023 amendment) already published.
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.