What is a District Court?
Here you go -- all you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask about "what is a Texas District Court." And the further question, what really does a judge do? The average person has little occasion to know much about the overall
court system in Texas, much less exactly what any one court does.
The short answer is that the District Court is the highest level trial court in Texas. It hears the most serious criminal cases -- felonies, the most serious civil cases in terms of impact on citizens and dollar amounts in dispute, also sits as the Juvenile Court, has jurisdiction over family law (divorce, custody, child protection) cases, and some special jurisdictions such as land title disputes and election contests.
In large counties there are some special versions of district courts such as criminal or family specialty courts but both the 33rd and 424th district courts (which have concurrent jurisdiction
in Burnet, Blanco, Llano and San Saba counties) are "General Jurisdiction" courts -- meaning we hear everything over which a district court in Texas can hear. District Judges must be licensed attorneys and most come from private
practice and initially become judges through the election process.
If you wish more information about the court structure in Texas, there is an excellent chart on the Office of Court Administration site that shows the full structure, top to bottom. As of April 2007 there were 425 district judges having a mean age of 54 and an average tenure on the bench of 8 years, 11 months.
What exactly does the judge do?
The popular view is that the judge simply sits on the bench making rulings, occasionally chews out lawyers back in chambers, and goes home at the end of the hour when the crime has been solved, the defendant convicted, and the TV show is over. It's not quite like that.
You can get a little of the flavor of activity by looking at the court's online calendar. My typical day goes something like this:
- Arrive at court -- in one of the four counties -- by 7-7:30AM. Review the files for the day's docket, maybe read some cases, check email, last-minute check with the Court Coordinator.
- Start proceedings at 9:00AM. Break for lunch for an hour, more or less depending on how the docket is going, hopefully finish the docket before 5PM.
- During the day, work in unscheduled hearings, phone calls, emails, meetings, etc.
- Return to chambers, or back to Burnet if court was in another county and it's early, and work on the crisis of the moment.
- Evenings are typically spent reading the law, working on various court projects, tending to administrative matters and returning emails.
- Other matters other than a day on the bench include (some of which are duties shared with the other district judge)
- Supervising the office staff of three: Two Court Coordinators and one assistant to them.
- Approving fee request vouchers for attorneys appointed in criminal, juvenile and CPS cases.
- Approving various invoices for vendor services to the courts (library, equipment maintenance, etc).
- Coordinating closely with District Clerks, providing advice and support to Justices of the Peace and Municipal Judges.
- Appointing and monitoring the County Auditor in Burnet and Llano counties (smaller counties don't have auditors).
- Appointing and coordinating with the Director of the Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD, also known as "adult probation") which includes the Intermediate Sanction Facility (ISF) in Burnet.
- Appointing and coordinating with the Direction of the Juvenile Probation Department.
- Working up the annual budget request to the four counties for personnel and office expenses.
- Collaborating with both probation chiefs on their periodic budget requests.
- Chairing the Juvenile Board in each county.
- Issuing search or arrest warrants -- usually the the middle of the night!
- (more later ...)