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Courthouse policy of the four Hunt County trial courts: the 2nd-4th floors are protected areas; binoculars, cameras and recording equipment are prohibited in courtrooms unless the policy allows them; phones and other wireless devices not tied to the proceeding must be off; laptops may be used muted for personal notes, web-cams only with prior authorization; proceedings are open and media may attend, but no filming, photography or recording in a protected area while court is in session; no recording of chambers proceedings, closed proceedings, jury selection or deliberations, of court staff without written permission, or of attorney-client and bench conferences; no broadcasting of recordings made in violation; jurors may not be contacted, photographed or recorded and their personal information may not be released except under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 35.29; waiver requests go in writing to the presiding judge of the court at least three days before the hearing.
Texas > Tenth Administrative Judicial Region > Hunt County > the 196th and 354th District Courts and County Courts at Law No. 1 and No. 2. Applies to attorneys, spectators, interested parties, observers, bystanders and media on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the Hunt County Courthouse and the stairways and elevators serving them.
MEDIA, OBSERVER AND SPECTATOR POLICY The following policy for the conduct and access of attorneys, spectators, interested parties, observers, bystanders and media attending proceedings in the courts. As used herein, "proceedings" shall mean all matters pertaining to the administration, operation and function of the courts, including but not limited to civil and criminal hearings, jury and non-jury trials, and other proceedings or operations within the courtrooms. Requests for waivers to this policy must be submitted in writing to the presiding judge of the appropriate court at least three days prior to the hearing or event for which a waiver is requested. This Policy does not apply to meetings or other administrative functions not made public by rule or by law. The following policy is hereby adopted: 1. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the Hunt County, Texas Courthouse, as well as the stairways and elevators serving those floors, are designated as protected areas subject to this Policy. 2. The use of binoculars, cameras, recording or other electronic equipment used for audio or visual recording is strictly prohibited in any courtroom, unless specifically authorized in this Policy. 3. No cellular phones, pagers or other wireless devices not associated with the conduct of the court proceedings are allowed to be used inside any courtroom during any trial, hearing or proceeding. All cellular phones, pagers or other wireless devices not associated with the conduct of the court proceedings must be turned off in the courtroom. Any device that the court has authorized to be used during any trial, hearing or proceeding must be muted. 4. Laptop computers may be used for the taking of personal notes, but such laptop must be muted. Web-cams are not allowed to be used in the courtrooms, unless used in connection with a trial, hearing or proceeding and then only upon prior authorization of the court. 5. All proceedings are open to the public unless made private by law or otherwise ordered by the court. The media is allowed into any and all public proceedings. However, no filming, photography, or recording of any kind is allowed in any protected area while court is in session. 6. Recording of proceedings held in chambers, proceedings closed to the public, jury selection, or jury deliberations is prohibited. 7. No audio and/or visual recording may be made in court chambers, the anterooms of court chambers or court offices. Audio or visual recordings of court staff are prohibited without express written permission of the presiding judge of the appropriate court. 8. No audio and/or visual interviews shall be conducted in any protected area while court is in session. 9. Recording of conferences between an attorney and client, witness or aide, between attorneys, or between counsel and the court is prohibited. 10. The broadcasting of any audio and/or visual recording made in violation of this Policy is prohibited. 11. All persons in protected areas shall conduct themselves in an orderly, quiet and respectful manner at all times. 12. Jurors, including potential and seated petit and grand jurors, shall not be contacted, approached or otherwise communicated with in any manner other than by court personnel. Under no circumstances shall a juror be photographed, filmed or recorded. No personal information regarding jurors, included but not limited to name, home address, telephone number or any other information acquired during selection shall be released, disseminated, shared or published except as provided by Art. 35.29 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. These prohibitions extend throughout the juror's service and to wherever the juror may be located, and shall continue until the juror is released by the court. Entrances, exits and corridors in the protected areas are to be kept clear at all times. Noise and conversation in the common areas and hallways adjacent to the courtrooms are to remain at a level such that the proceedings of the courts are not disturbed. 13. This Policy shall be posted near the door of each courtroom and copies made available in the office of the District Clerk and County Clerk. APPROVED this the 23 [handwritten] day of June, 2021: [signature] J. ANDREW BENCH 196th Judicial District Court [signature] KELI AIKEN 354th Judicial District [signature] TIMOTHY LINDEN County Court at Law No. 1 [signature] JOEL LITTLEFIELD County Court at Law No. 2 [File stamp: FILED AT ____ M, JUN 30 2021, [signature], CLERK, DISTRICT COURT, HUNT CO., TX]
MEDIA, OBSERVER AND SPECTATOR POLICY The following policy for the conduct and access of attorneys, spectators, interested parties, observers, bystanders and media attending proceedings in the courts. As used herein, "proceedings" shall mean all matters pertaining to the administration, operation and function of the courts, including but not limited to civil and criminal hearings, jury and non-jur
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-19 (AJR-10 Tenth Region build) from BenchPath custody sources/registered/1496.pdf (application/pdf, 76708 bytes, sha256 9a43de862a72169472edee7abee443374ab8914471c1fff770bd218c5a897785; 2 pages) - the TOPICs-registered document: transcribed by eye from the rendered pages of the scanned PDF (no text layer in the file was relied on), machine OCR draft corrected page by page; signature and file-stamp blocks bracketed. Identical bytes posted on the county site: https://www.huntcounty.net/upload/page/0114/docs/2021-06-23-Media Observer and Spectator Policy.pdf; https://www.huntcounty.net/upload/page/0078/docs/2021.06.23-Media Observer and Spectator Policy.pdf. Two-page scan read by eye; typed from the pages. The District Clerk's file stamp lies over the words 'interested parties,' in the first sentence; they were read from the unstamped copy registered as TOPICs 56. The day '23' is handwritten. Second receipt: TOPICs 56 is the same signed instrument without the file stamp - one rule, two receipts.