153rd District Court (Tarrant County) — Trial Guidelines (trial… — TX · BenchPath

153rd District Court (Tarrant County) — Trial Guidelines (trial hours, courtroom access, equipment, podium, voir dire, exhibits, depositions, witnesses, charge in Word)

High confidence· verified September 6, 2026Case Management153rd District Court Trial Guidelines, Tarrant County — posted on the court's Guidelines and Policies page (Trial_Guidelines.pdf)

Summary

The 153rd District Court's trial guidelines: trial hours 9:30–4:30 with lunch 11:45–1:00 and a day's notice if trial will run past 5:00; witnesses and parties stay out of restricted areas and in assigned conference rooms; the courtroom's presentation equipment (document camera, touch-screen monitors, HDMI/VGA, Wi-Fi, WebEx with the judge's approval), no office supplies; counsel stand at the podium and ask permission to move, approach a witness or the bench; a voir dire package from the bailiff, group then individual voir dire with no cause challenges before the panel; voir dire reported only on request; exhibits numbered per the exhibit list, displayed digitally, oversized exhibits with letter-size copies retained by the reporter; demonstratives not marked by opponents; deposition excerpts tendered before reading, video depositions with a marked transcript for the reporter; witnesses remain seated unless permitted; interim summations in long trials; each side's proposed charge in Microsoft Word to the reporter and a copy of the charge to each juror.

Applies to

Texas > Tarrant County > 153rd District Court (civil) — trial counsel, parties and witnesses.

Source of truth

"1. Trial Hours: Typical trial hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. … If it is anticipated that the trial will go past 5:00 p.m., counsel should notify the court at least one day in advance to allow for additional resources. 2. Access to Court Facilities: Witnesses and parties are not to enter the restricted areas of the courtroom unless permitted. … Witnes

Official source: Tarrant County Civil District Courts — tarrantcountytx.gov (county site tree)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 6, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 6, 2026benchpath-tx-ajr8-tarrant-ownsite-2026-09-06

Reviewer note: Own-site document (text layer, 3 pp, 3,902 chars) read in full 2026-09-06; quoted verbatim; undated posting joined to Judge Susan H. McCoy (current bench per OCA) as the court's posting. Composed benchpath-ajr8-tarrant (own-site lane).