Montgomery County Rules of Administration for Juvenile Cases (adopted Dec. 20, 2022)

High confidence· verified September 22, 2026Local RulesMontgomery County Rules of Administration for Juvenile Cases (adopted Dec. 20, 2022) (TOPICs reg. doc 311)

Summary

The juvenile-docket administration rules: County Court at Law No. 6 is the designated 'Juvenile Trial Court' — assigned ALL cases filed under Title 3 of the Texas Family Code by written Order of Assignment signed by the administrative judges of the district courts and county courts at law. Detention hearings are held per Family Code § 54.01(a); all other juvenile matters at least weekly unless the Juvenile Trial Judge directs otherwise; coordinated absence coverage; bench/case exchange at any time; previous-judgment claims and severed juvenile cases go to the Juvenile Trial Court (severed cases get a new file date and cause number); consolidation motions are heard by the Juvenile Trial Court, which selects the surviving cause number; a judge presiding for another court files a designation of presiding judge and the clerk records the presiding judge in the filing system; the Juvenile Trial Judge is the ON-CALL judge for all juvenile matters (litigants contact the Juvenile Trial Judge first; anticipated absences get an arranged on-call judge; unforeseen unavailability routes to the Administrative Judge for the County Courts at Law); the district clerk automatically transfers misfiled cases before citation issues; guardian ad litem appointments come from the list maintained by the Director of the Office of Court Administration with fee requests by application and proposed order; attorney ad litem appointments follow the Local Rules for the Timely and Fair Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Defendants in Juvenile Proceedings. Adopted by the Juvenile Trial Judge and approved December 20, 2022 (Judge Scharlene W. Valdez, Presiding Judge, County Court at Law No. 6).

Applies to

Texas > Montgomery County > County Court at Law No. 6 (the designated Juvenile Trial Court for all Title 3 Family Code filings under the written case-assignment order). Operates alongside the county-wide Rules of Administration; indigent-defense appointments cross-reference the county's juvenile counsel-appointment rules.

Source of truth

MONTGOMERY COUNTY RULES OF ADMINISTRATION FOR JUVENILE CASES Purpose The primary purpose of the Rules of Administration for Juvenile Cases is the management of the court dockets sensibly, efficiently and fairly. These rules are to be an aid to the just disposition of cases without unnecessary delay or expense. Authority These Rules of Administration for Juvenile Cases are made pursuant to Texas Go

Official source: TOPICs — Texas local rules registry (topics.txcourts.gov)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 24, 2026
Effective date: December 20, 2022
Last verified: September 22, 2026benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p12-2026-09-21

Reviewer note: Image-only registration (four pages) read in full through the vision lane; operative provisions quoted verbatim; signed by Judge Scharlene W. Valdez (CCL6) December 20, 2022. Joins CCL6 and its judge per the instrument's own designation. Composed benchpath-ajr2-p2. [TRANSCRIBED BY EYE 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P12): every page of the registered file (sha256 09b273b05638..., 4 page(s), image-only scan; the OCR layer used as a typing base and corrected word by word from the page) read against the rendered file; verbatim, source typos kept, stamps/signatures bracketed; the earlier abstract replaced by the full instrument; confidence high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p12-2026-09-21]

Related rules

Local RulesDuval County

Duval County Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act) — Order Amending Local Rules of the District/County Court of Duval County, amended July 11, 2022

Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Order Amending Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act, Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 906), District/County Court of Duval County, Texas, Rules 1-9 and the compensation attachment, amended and effective July 11, 2022, approved August 2022 and signed by Baldemar Garza, District Judge, 229th Judicial District Court, and E.B. Garcia, County Judge, Duval County; file-stamped by the Duval County Clerk August 8, 2022; TOPICs registration 2817 (Duval County, registered 02/12/2026).

Local RulesStarr County

Starr County Local Rules for the Judicial District Courts (229th and 381st District Courts, applying in part to the County Court at Law; approved May 31, 2018; approved and recommended to the Supreme Court by the Fifth Region's Presiding Judge August 9, 2018)

The 23 local rules of the Starr County district courts: definitions and the election of the Local Administrative District Judge (last Friday in January of odd years; two-year term from February 1); random, equal assignment of district cases and the County Court at Law's share (family cases, civil cases pleading $100,000 or less, misdemeanors); the case-numbering format effective January 1, 2019 (year, CV/CR/CRS/FM/TAX, five digits; CRS for the 229th, CR for the 381st); notice of visiting-judge assignments; electronically transmitted pleadings (cover sheet, seven-day fee window, returns of service and bonds on paper, one-hour clerk handling of child-protection filings); transfer of related civil cases to the earlier court and SAPCR transfer to the divorce court; pre-trial settings through the Court Coordinator; District Clerk duties and I-Docket access; severance; temporary, emergency and ex parte orders; uncontested matters first; assignment of related prosecutions and superseding-indictment numbering (S1, S2); the protocol for trial priority (jury over non-jury, criminal over civil, jailed defendants first, oldest case first, special settings by written reasons, duties of counsel with conflicting settings); court staff; jury impaneling; the ad litem/guardian ad litem/amicus appointment rotation, duties, vouchers within thirty days and objections within thirty days; and courtroom decorum and attire.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Starr County Local Rules for the Judicial District Courts, Rules 1-23, approved May 31, 2018 by Jose Luis Garza, Presiding Judge, 381st Judicial District, and as Acting and Presiding by Assignment, 229th Judicial District; approved and recommended to the Supreme Court of Texas by Missy Medary, Presiding Judge, Fifth Administrative Judicial Region, Order No. 18-5AJR-314 (August 9, 2018); TOPICs registration 1986 (Starr County, registered 06/14/2024).

Local RulesJim Wells County

Local Rules for the Jim Wells County Court at Law — effective January 1, 2023

The Jim Wells County Court at Law's rules: ad litem, guardian ad litem and amicus appointment lists, qualifications, duties, flat-fee ($275) and hourly ($75–$125) compensation, voucher deadlines and fee objections; rules of administration with the 79th District Court (family-code cases and civil cases between $500 and $250,000 assigned to the County Court at Law); remote non-jury proceedings by Zoom with e-mailed setting requests, Dropbox exhibits and YouTube broadcast; settings, proposed orders, exhibits and courtroom decorum.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Local Rules for the Jim Wells County Court at Law, signed 1/9/2023 by Michael V. Garcia, Judge Presiding, to be effective January 1, 2023 (file-stamped January 9, 2023); TOPICs registration 1101 (Jim Wells County, Local Rules, County; Court at Law, 01/27/2023).

Local RulesJim Wells County

Jim Wells County Court at Law — Local Rules (Standing Order) in Suits for Divorce and Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship — January 9, 2023

The standing order attached to every divorce and SAPCR petition in the Jim Wells County Court at Law: no disruption of children, conduct of the parties, preservation of property and funds, records, insurance, specific authorizations, a sworn inventory exchanged within 60 days of the respondent's appearance and no later than 30 days before final trial (with a certificate of compliance), service with the petition and 14-day TRO/temporary-injunction effect, protective-order precedence, an informal settlement conference at least 7 days before the final hearing, parent education for divorcing parents, and bond waiver.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Local Rules in Suits for Divorce and Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship for the Jim Wells County Court at Law, dated 1/9/2023, Michael V. Garcia, Judge Presiding (file-stamped January 9, 2023); TOPICs registration 1100 (Jim Wells County, Local Rules, County; Court at Law, 01/27/2023).

Members only

1 verified requirement in this section

Verbatim requirement text, cited to source
0 action checklist items

Verified requirements for Judge Scharlene W. Valdez unlocks with a Single Report ($29) or Professional ($99/month) — create a free account to preview the dossier first.

Unlock free →

Members only

0 checklist steps in this section

0 step-by-step filing actions
Drawn from the cited official source

Verified the action checklist unlocks with a Single Report ($29) or Professional ($99/month) — create a free account to preview the dossier first.

Unlock free →