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Letter to counsel from the judges of the 12th and 278th District Courts: from January 1, 2026 the two courts apply Rule 11 of the Second Administrative Judicial Region on attorney vacations - not more than four weeks a year, lead counsel only unless the court expands coverage; summer weeks (June-August) designated in writing with the district clerk by May 15 are protected even against earlier trial settings; non-summer weeks are designated by February 1, run no more than two consecutive weeks and do not protect against orders signed before the designation; the courts confirm by letter whether the dates are protected from all settings, from future settings, or not protected, with the reason.
Texas > Tenth Administrative Judicial Region > Leon County > 278th District Court. The letter is addressed to counsel in Walker, Madison, Grimes and Leon Counties for the 12th and 278th Judicial District Courts; in Leon County it concerns the 278th District Court.
DAVID MOORMAN, JUDGE, 12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT Walker County Courthouse, 1100 University Avenue, Suite 303, Huntsville, Texas 77340, (936) 436-4915, (936) 435-8025 facsimile TRACY SORENSEN, JUDGE, 278TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT Walker County Courthouse, 1100 University Avenue, Suite 202, Huntsville, Texas 77340, (936) 436-4916, (936) 436-4917 facsimile September 18, 2025 Re: Attorney Vacations in Walker County, Madison County, Grimes County and Leon County in the 12th Judicial District Court and 278th Judicial District Court Dear Counsel: Effective January 1, 2026, the 12th District Court and the 278th District Court are going to start consistently implementing and applying the Second Administrative Judicial Region of Texas’ Rule 11 regarding attorney vacations. Rule 11 states as follows: 11.1 Designation of Vacation. Subject to the provision of 11.2 and 11.3 of this rule, an attorney may designate not more than four weeks of vacation during a calendar year as vacation, during which that attorney will not be assigned to trial or required to engage in any pretrial proceedings. This rule operates only where lead counsel, as defined by TRCP 8, is affected, unless the trial court expands coverage to other counsel. 11.2 Summer Vacations. Written designation for vacation weeks during June, July or August must be filed with the district clerk by May 15. Summer vacation weeks so designated will protect the attorney from trials during those summer weeks, even if an order setting the case for trial was signed before the vacation designation was filed. 11.3 Non-Summer Vacations. Written designation for vacation in months other than June, July or August must be filed with the district clerk by February 1. Non-summer vacation weeks may not run consecutively for more than two weeks at a time. Non-summer vacation weeks so designated will not protect an attorney from a trial by an order signed before the date the designation is filed. When your vacation letters are filed with the district clerk, the courts will confirm by letter that your vacation dates are (1) protected from all settings, (2) protected from future settings or (3) not protected. If your dates are not protected the court will indicate the reason in the confirmation.
DAVID MOORMAN, JUDGE, 12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT Walker County Courthouse, 1100 University Avenue, Suite 303, Huntsville, Texas 77340, (936) 436-4915, (936) 435-8025 facsimile TRACY SORENSEN, JUDGE, 278TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT Walker County Courthouse, 1100 University Avenue, Suite 202, Huntsville, Texas 77340, (936) 436-4916, (936) 436-4917 facsimile September 18, 2025 Re: Attorney Vacatio
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-19 (AJR-10 Tenth Region build) from BenchPath custody sources/registered/2894.pdf (application/pdf, 190790 bytes, sha256 53a4d7964e66e146d447c9d543dd602b0b726defb45cf5c828ffa98178f4a978; 1 pages) - the TOPICs-registered document: digital text layer normalised (whitespace, hyphenation, page furniture) and every page checked against the rendered PDF; signature and file-stamp blocks bracketed. One-page PDF with a digital text layer, compared with the rendered page; the two-column letterhead is set as two blocks. The letter quotes Rule 11 of the Second Administrative Judicial Region; Leon County sits in the Tenth Region and the 278th District Court also serves Second-Region counties. The 12th District Court has no Leon County row on the spine. The instrument names the sitting judge of the 278th (Tracy Sorensen, homed in the Second Region on BenchPath).
1 verbatim requirement on judge preferences.
20 verbatim requirements on judge preferences.