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An order of the Travis County District Courts and County Courts at Law establishing the handgun policy in the Criminal Justice Center (Blackwell-Thurman CJC), consistent with the prohibition on firearms in government courts.
Applies to the premises of the Travis County Courts at Law in the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center and the offices the order designates. The district courts' parallel order of February 19, 2016 is published separately. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
[Letterhead: County of Travis, State of Texas, with an engraving of the courthouse] ORDER File Number C-1-CV-16-000002 (LOCAL RULES AND GENERAL ORDERS) The Local Administrative Statutory County Court Judge for the County Courts at Law located in Travis County, Texas makes these findings regarding courtrooms and offices that are essential to the operation of the courts, and utilized by the courts as described in Texas Penal Code Section 46.03: WHEREAS, in 2015 the Texas Legislature enacted HB 910, 84th RS, effective January 1, 2016, authorizing handgun license holders to openly carry handguns secured in shoulder or belt holsters in the State of Texas to include in government buildings and on government property with limited exceptions contained in the Texas Penal Code §46.03 and 46.035; and WHEREAS, one of the exceptions in Texas Penal Code §46.03 is the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court; and WHEREAS, the Local Administrative Statutory County Court Judge for the County Courts at Law for Travis County presides over the County Courts at Law in the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center and can thus determine which offices are utilized and essential to the operation of the courts; and WHEREAS, the below signed Judge has established that the entire building of the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center (the "CJC") including all floors, constitute the premises of the criminal courts. These areas in the CJC, including the hallways, common areas, stairwells, elevators and restrooms, are all used by jurors, witnesses, parties, attorneys, officers of the court and judicial personnel. Use of these areas is integral and necessary for the County Courts at Law. WHEREAS, the below signed Judge has considered the offices that the County Courts at Law utilize, and has determined that the below offices are essential to the operation of the Criminal Courts and central to their business: 1. The Travis County Clerk provides the records and clerical support for the County Courts at Law Courts. Some of those Court files are kept in the CJC and Sweatt Courthouses, but some are held at the Clerk's Office, currently located 5501 Airport, Austin, Texas. 2. The Capital Area Private Defender Services (CAPDS) manages all appointed counsel and currently operates out of the Brizendine House, which is located on County Property adjacent to the CJC. CAPDS serves an essential role in criminal cases as indigent defendants are legally entitled to counsel and CAPDS provides oversight that used to be performed by the Judges themselves. 3. The Travis County Attorney represents the State of Texas in each and every misdemeanor criminal case. The County Courts at Law could not proceed on any case without a criminal prosecutor. Several prosecutors are assigned to each court and arrive at the beginning of the courts' sessions and remain until the day's docket has finished. The County Attorney currently operates out of the Granger Building, at 314 West 11 Street, Austin, Texas. 4. The Travis County Mental Health Public Defender, currently located at 2201 Post Road, and will be moving to the Rusk Building at 910 Lavaca in April, 2016, provides necessary legal counsel for all indigent defendants with mental health issues. They are in the District Courts on a daily basis and essential to manage our criminal caseload. 5. The Travis County Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD), currently located at the Executive Office Building, located at 411 West 13th Street, serves as an arm of the court, investigating criminal defendants before punishment by providing presentence reports to the Court, and monitoring defendants after sentence who are placed on probation. There is a CSCD officer placed in each court daily and each officer plays a necessary role in handling the courts' criminal dockets. 6. Pre-trial Services, also currently located at the Executive Office Building, is an office developed specifically to serve the criminal judges in determining both the amount and eligibility for bonds. This office monitors defendants who are released on bond and ensures that they show up for court and comply with the courts' orders regarding their release. NOW, THEREFORE THE BELOW SIGNED JUDGE OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS ORDERS: 1. The Judge believes the findings and recitations set out in the resolution are true and correct, and they are hereby adopted by the below signed Judges. 2. Thus, the below signed Judge by this order, hereby resolves that the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, including hallways, common areas, restrooms, elevators and stairwells and the offices listed in this Order, the County Clerk's offices in the Heman Marion Sweatt and at 5501 Airport Boulevard Building located at 411 W. 13th Street, the Granger Building located at 314 West 11th Street, the Rusk Building located at 910 Lavaca, the Brizendine House, and those floors housing the Mental Health Public Defender in the Building located at 2201 Post Road, and it's succeeding location, are subject to Texas Penal Code §46.03 and §46.035, and request the Travis County Commissioners Court and the Sheriff's Office to take appropriate measures to prohibit licensed handgun holders from entering these locations with handguns. ADOPTED AND APPROVED THIS THE 22 [handwritten] DAY OF February [handwritten], 2016. THE COUNTY OF TRAVIS [signature] Elisabeth Earle, Local Administrative Statutory County Court Judge of the County Courts at Law [Running footer: 1 / 2 / 3]
[Letterhead: County of Travis, State of Texas, with an engraving of the courthouse] ORDER File Number C-1-CV-16-000002 (LOCAL RULES AND GENERAL ORDERS) The Local Administrative Statutory County Court Judge for the County Courts at Law located in Travis County, Texas makes these findings regarding courtrooms and offices that are essential to the operation of the courts, and utilized by the courts a
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-06 from the TOPICs custody scan at a summary level, faithful to the order's title and the companion gun-holster order (doc 2003) read in full. Registered at the county-court (593) and district-court (595) levels; bundled. Bound to Travis County. Unbundled 2026-09-07 (F2): the district courts' parallel order (doc 595, File Number D-1-GN-61-121012, adopted February 19, 2016) had been bundled here as a copy; it is a separate instrument and is now its own rule. This rule carries the County Courts at Law order (doc 593) only. [TRANSCRIBED BY EYE 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P12): every page of the registered file (sha256 ed90bb7c70b7..., 3 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]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.