Skip to main content

Justice

Summaries

KP-0007
Ken Paxton

Salary, expenses, allowances, and other benefits provided by the county - Because the initial determination of whether a public expenditure to a justice of the peace who refuses to perform his duties upon resignation is gratuitous belongs to the commissioners court, we cannot conclude as a matter of law that the officer in these circumstances is entitled to salary, expenses, allowances, and other benefits provided by the county.|Because the initial determination of whether a public expenditure to a justice of the peace who refuses to perform his duties upon resignation is gratuitous belongs to the commissioners court, we cannot conclude as a matter of law that the officer in these circumstances is entitled to salary, expenses, allowances, and other benefits provided by the county.|Article III, section 52(a) of the Texas Constitution prohibits the gratuitous payment of public funds for a private purpose.

KP-0073
Ken Paxton

Truancy offenses, expunction orders' applicability to records of juvenile probation department

KP-0201
Ken Paxton

Bailiff - authority of a justice court to employ|Peace Officer - authority of constable to sponsor the peace officer license of a justice court bailiff

KP-0206
Ken Paxton

Contempt action in connection with Health and Safety Code section 573.012 could likely be brought by court with jurisdiction over mental health proceedings|Designation of peace officer or law enforcement agency to execute emergency detention warrant pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 573.012|Peace officer executing emergency detention warrant pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 573.012 has duty to transport person to appropriate facility|Peace officer refusing to transport person to appropriate facility pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 573.012 is liable for contempt|Magistrate may direct detention warrant issued pursuant to Health and Safety code section 573.012 to any on-duty peace officer listed in Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.12 regardless of location of subject within county|The term "peace officer" does not distinguish between county and municipal peace officers for purposes of executing emergency detention warrants pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 573.012

GA-0112
Greg Abbott

Forcible entry and detainer suits, whether private process servers may serve citations

GA-0131
Greg Abbott

Contempt of justice court order, child who commits may be detained prior to adjudication in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Code but juvenile court may not order the child placed after disposition in a secure facility|Contempt of justice court order, child who commits may be detained prior to adjudication in accordance with Juvenile Justice Code

GA-0145
Greg Abbott

Justice of the peace fees for issuing certified birth and death records, constitutionality under article XVI, section 61 of statute authorizing justice to retain fees in addition to salary|Fees for issuing certified birth and death records, constitutionality under article XVI, section 61 of statute authorizing justice of the peace to retain fees in addition to salary

GA-0147
Greg Abbott

Collection contract between county or municipality and private attorney or vendor to collect overdue court costs and fines, allocation of money collected under|Fines and costs, allocation when justice orders a defendant to pay in installments but defendant does not pay total amount due

GA-0157
Greg Abbott

Racing on the highway by a person younger than 17 years of age is a traffic offense rather than delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision and is within the jurisdiction of a justice or municipal court|Violation of section 729.001 of Transportation Code is within jurisdiction of justice and municipal courts

GA-0193
Greg Abbott

Salary, a county may not pay a justice of the peace an amount over and above the justice's to perform an inquest or serve as a magistrate|Justice of the peace, a county may not pay an amount over and above the justice's salary to perform an inquest or serve as a magistrate

GA-0313
Greg Abbott

Fines and costs that are more than 60 days delinquent, a county commissioners court that contracts with a collection agent to does not thereby abrogate the justice court’s authority to collect or otherwise dispose of the fines and costs|Collect justice-court fines and costs that are more than 60 days delinquent, a county commissioners court that contracts with a collection agent to does not thereby abrogate the justice court’s authority to collect or otherwise dispose of the fines and co

GA-0336
Greg Abbott

Jury selection, use of volunteers

GA-0417
Greg Abbott

Failure to attend school, court must dismiss referral filed by school district against a student for failure to attend school if district did not file complaint within seven days of student's tenth unexcused absence within a six-month period in same school year|Failure to attend school, court must dismiss complaint filed by a school district against student for failure to attend school if school district did not file complaint within seven days of student's tenth unexcused absence within a six-month period in same school year|Failure to attend school, court must dismiss complaint filed by a school district against student for failure to attend school if district did not file complaint within seven days of student's tenth unexcused absence within a six-month period in same school year|Failure to attend school, court must dismiss complaint filed by a school district against a student for failure to attend school if school district did not file complaint within seven days of student's tenth unexcused absence within a six-month period in same school year|Student's failure to attend school, requisite time period for school district to file complaint or referral or risk dismissal without recourse to file again (GA-0574 (2007) notes that new legislation supersedes a portion of GA-417's conclusion, see Tex. Educ. Code Ann. § 25.0951(a)).|Student's failure to attend school, requisite time period for school district to file complaint or referral or risk dismissal and authority to file again (GA-0574 (2007) notes that new legislation supersedes a portion of GA-417's conclusion, see Tex. Educ. Code Ann. § 25.0951(a)).

GA-0551
Greg Abbott

Conflict of interest, whether administering polygraph examinations for criminal district attorney's office on criminal defendants is prohibited is matter for State Commission on Judicial Conduct to determine|Justice of the peace, whether administering polygraph examinations for criminal district attorney's office on criminal defendants after "arraignment" and setting bond is prohibited|Arraignment

GA-0560
Greg Abbott

Justice Court Technology Fund may not be used for constable education and training|Purchase of computer from Justice Court Technology Fund, whether purchase for constable serves as technological enhancement for justice court is fact question to be determined by commissioners court

GA-0569
Greg Abbott

Justice of the peace is not a county employee and salary and other compensation is set by the commissioners court|Dual office holding, justice of the peace is not barred by dual office holding provisions from simultaneous service as county emergency medical services employee|Simultaneous service as county emergency medical services employee, justice of the peace is not barred by dual office holding provisions from |Simultaneous service as director of county emergency medical services, sheriff's dispatcher is not barred from

GA-0651
Greg Abbott

Appointment to represent an indigent criminal defendant in appellate proceedings, whether a justice may accept|County official, justice of the peace is for purposes of Code of Criminal Procedure article 26.06\r\n|Appointment to represent an indigent criminal defendant in appellate proceedings, article 26.06 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code section 82.064 appear to recognize the authority of a justice of the peace to accept|Code of Judicial Conduct, whether a justice of the peace violates in particular circumstances is to be determined by the Commission in the first instance\r\n|County official

GA-0713
Greg Abbott

Justice court may use an electronic monitoring device as a condition of deferment of final disposition or probation for an individual found to have committed an offense under section 25.094, Education Code, only if the use of the device in a given proceeding is reasonable|Failure to attend school, for the offense of, a justice court may use an electronic monitoring device as a condition of deferment of final disposition or probation if the use of the device reasonable

GA-0718
Greg Abbott

Death certificates, authority of justice of the peace or county court at law to cause an amendment to

GA-0745
Greg Abbott

Adjudication of a charge of violating the Parks and Wildlife Code and impose a special expense without assessing a fine, justice of the peace may defer|Special expense imposed under article 45.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, is not a fine under section 12.107, Parks and Wildlife Code, to be remitted to the to the Parks and Wildlife Department|Parks and Wildlife Department, special expense imposed under article 45.051 of Code of Criminal Procedure is not a fine under section 12.107 of Parks and Wildlife Code to be remitted to the

GA-0761
Greg Abbott

Jurisdiction under Code of Criminal Procedure articles 47.01a(a) and 47.02 to award title or ownership of a motor vehicle\r\n\r\nJurisdiction to award title or ownership of a vehicle in enforcing a lien under Government Code section 27.031|Jurisdiction under Code of Criminal Procedure articles 47.01a(a) and 47.02 to award title or ownership of a motor vehicle\r\n\r\n|Authority of justice and municipal court to award title or ownership of motor vehicles|Order from a justice or municipal court, under section 501.074(a)(4) of the Transportation Code, the Department may accept and issue a new certificate of title based on an

GA-0912
Greg Abbott

Although no statute prohibits an interlocal agreement between a school district and a county whereby attendance officers employed by the district would simultaneously serve as juvenile court coordinators in the justice of the peace courts, the propriety of such an arrangement should be addressed to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct

GA-1021
Greg Abbott

Code of Criminal Procedure articles 17.16 and 17.19, after a person makes bail but before a formal charging instrument is filed in the county, county court-at-law or district court, prosecution is pending before the magistrate who properly received a complaint against the accused under

GA-1030
Greg Abbott

Government Code chapter 27 and Occupations Code chapter 1702, neither prohibits a justice of the peace from serving as a court-appointed investigator to represent an indigent defendant in a felony case|A court-appointed investigator does not hold a \\"civil office\\" under Texas Constitution article 16, section 40 and is not an \\"officer\\" as that term is defined for purposes of the common-law incompatibility doctrine

GA-1044
Greg Abbott

Filing fee, justice court authority to charge a fee for filing a petition applying for an occupational driver\\'s license

GA-1053
Greg Abbott

Justice of the peace, a court would likely conclude that a J.P. is not a \\"judge of a court with jurisdiction in family law cases\\" for purposes of Family Code subsection 2.204(c) and thus may not grant waiver of the 72-hour waiting period after issuance of a marriage license|Seventy-two hour waiting period after issuance of a marriage license - waiver of. A court would likely conclude that a justice of the peace is not a \\"judge of a court with jurisdiction in family law cases\\" for purposes of Family Code subsection 2.204(c) and thus may not grant waiver.

DM-0051
Dan Morales

Pay scale differential for justices of the peace as violative of Equal Protection Clause

DM-0057
Dan Morales

Bail by telephone, justice of the peace may not set for person who has not yet appeared before a magistrate|Bail, amount must be determined on a case-by-case basis after the person has appeared before a magistrate|Case-by-case basis, after a person has appeared before a magistrate amount of bail must be determined on a|Pre-set bail bond amounts, magistrate may not by posting schedule at county jail|Set bail over the telephone, when person has not yet appeared before magistrate justice of the peace may not

DM-0139
Dan Morales

Criminal docket, justice of the peace may maintain electronically in addition to or in lieu of printed paper media

DM-0200
Dan Morales

Tardiness to class does not constitute unexcused voluntary absence and does not invoke truancy proceedings (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)\r\n\r\n\r\n|Truancy proceeding, child has a right to counsel before justice of the peace (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)|Truancy proceeding, juvenile court not required to hold hearing prior to waiving jurisdiction and transferring to justice of the peace (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)\r\n\r\n|Truancy proceeding, child has right to counsel before justice of the peace (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)|Truancy proceeding, juvenile court not required to hold hearing prior to waiving jurisdiction and transferring to justice of the peace (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)\r\n\r\n\r\n|Tardiness to class does not constitute unexcused voluntary absence and does not invoke truancy proceedings (Overruled by Court Decision, 980 S.W.2d 788)\r\n

DM-0230
Dan Morales

Complaint against defendant who has failed to successfully complete driving safety course, whether justice of the peace may dismiss

DM-0250
Dan Morales

Service of process by registered or certified mail, justice court fees for|Service of process by registered or certified mail, who may perform

DM-0277
Dan Morales

Misdemeanor for unauthorized practice of architecture punishable by fine, complaints may be filed in justice court|Original jurisdiction over fine-only misdemeanors under article V, section 19 of Texas Constitution; statutory limitation in Code of Criminal Procedure unconstitutional|Justice of the peace court original jurisdiction over fine-only misdemeanors under article V, section 19; statutory limitation in Code of Criminal Procedure unconstitutional

DM-0285
Dan Morales

Overtaking and passing a school bus, whether offense of should be prosecuted in justice or county court

DM-0320
Dan Morales

Jurisdiction of Alcoholic Beverage Code prosecutions of minors|Justice court jurisdiction of prosecution for (1) offense with nonfine sanction; (2) offense punishable by maximum fine exceeding $500|Justice court jurisdiction over prosecutions of minors under Alcoholic Beverage Code|Alcoholic beverages, justice court's jurisdiction over minor's possession of

DM-0324
Dan Morales

Deduction from salary or withholding of salary warrants not authorized from justice of the peace's employee for shortage of collections|Employee liability for shortage of collections|Liability of justice of the peace's employee for shortage of collections

DM-0358
Dan Morales

Rent action, citation must be served in compliance with rules for issuance and service of citation in ordinary civil proceedings|Forcible entry and detainer actions, rules for issuance and service of citation do not apply to suits for rent that are joined|Rent action, service of defendant according to rules in forcible entry and detainer suit does not confer personal jurisdiction in|Civil procedure rules with doubtful meaning, construe to avoid mischievous consequences and applications that would violate constitutional rights

DM-0396
Dan Morales

Abuse of official capacity, justice of the peace who does not "immediately" deposit with county treasurer fines collected may be prosecuted|Restitution for dishonored check collected by justice of the peace need not be deposited with treasurer|Misapplication of restitution for dishonored check collected by justice of the peace, justice may be prosecuted|Fines collected by justice of the peace, justice who does not "immediately" deposit with county treasurer may be prosecuted for abuse of official capacity or removed from office|Restitution for dishonored check collected by justice of the peace, justice may be removed from office for official misconduct if misapplies|Restitution for dishonored check, justice of the peace may collect and deposit into account separate from county treasury|Restitution for dishonored check collected by justice of the peace is not county funds|Restitution for dishonored check collected by justice of the peace, auditor in county with fewer than 190,000 people may not regulate the collecting, checking, and accounting of

DM-0427
Dan Morales

Alcoholic beverage offenses involving minors, jurisdiction|Alcoholic beverage offenses involving minors, justice and municipal court jurisdiction|Community service in rural areas as alternative to alcohol awareness course, imposition of criminal punishment in some venues that may not be imposed in others violates due process and equal protection guarantees|Offenses, constitutionality of community service in rural areas as alternative to alcohol awareness course|Possession, consumption, and purchase by minors, justice and municipal court jurisdiction

DM-0449
Dan Morales

Appeal of justice court ruling, appellant who files affidavit of inability to pay costs need not pay the Rule 143a cost to perfect|Appeal bond or affidavit of inability to pay costs, appellant who files need not pay Rule 143a cost to perfect appeal|Affidavit of inability to pay, appellant who files need not pay costs requested under Rule 143a to perfect appeal|Appeal bond or affidavit of inability to pay, whether filing of excuses justice court appellant from requirements of Rule 143a|Appeal bond, appellant who files need not pay costs under Rule 143a to perfect appeal

JC-0083
John Cornyn

Inquest, county judge may not conduct|Inquest, no one but justice of the peace who serves precinct where the body was found (or temporary justice) may conduct

JC-0110
John Cornyn

Truancy complaint indicating need for supervision, court may compel court appearance of alleged truant and custodian by endorsing summons ordering custodian to appear and to bring alleged truant|Jurisdiction, Juvenile Court may waive exclusive jurisdiction of truancy cases on case-by-case basis or as a class|Jurisdiction to hear truancy cases, justice court has jurisdiction if juvenile court has waived its exclusive jurisdiction\r\n|Truancy complaint, court may compel appearance of alleged truant and custodian at hearing by endorsing summons ordering custodian to appear and to bring alleged truant|Truancy complaint, court may compel appearance of alleged truant and custodian at hearing by endorsing summons ordering custodian to appear and to bring alleged truant\r\n|Failure to attend, court may compel appearance of juvenile and custodian at hearing by endorsing summons ordering custodian to appear to bring juvenile

JC-0454
John Cornyn

Immunity, in event suit is brought as a result of a justice court ordering a child detained for contempt without authority to do so, county could invoke immunity with respect to state claims but could be subject to suit under federal claims|Hearing for child referred to juvenile court for contempt, hearing must be conducted as that for a child who has engaged in delinquent conduct|Contempt, justice court may not order child to be confined for a term of detention for|Non-secure detention facilities, neither status offender nor nonoffenders may be detained in

JC-0483
John Cornyn

Abolition of justice precinct by redistricting, article V, section 18(c) of Texas Constitution provides that justice of the peace will serve out full term in precinct where he or she resides|Abolition of justice precinct by redistricting, article V, section 18(c) of Texas Constitution provides that justice of the peace will serve out full term in precinct where he or she resides and justice cannot be required to resign|Justice precinct, if abolished by redistricting, article V, section 18(c) of Texas Constitution provides that justice of the peace will serve out full term in precinct where he or she resides

JC-0496
John Cornyn

Failure to regularly attend meetings of the El Paso County Bail Bond Board, commissioners court nor the bail bond board may remove members for|El Paso County Bail Bond Board, justice of the peace member should be selected by and from among eligible justices of the peace of the county by any reasonable method|Members of El Paso County Bail Bond Board, members appointed or selected by others serve at the pleasure of the appointing or selecting authority|Members of El Paso County Bail Bond Board, members who are members by virtue of their elective office serve on board for duration of their parent office|Justice of the peace appointed to serve as member of El Paso County Bail Bond Board should be selected by and from among eligible justices of the peace of the county by any reasonable method

JC-0542
John Cornyn

Autopsy report in custody of justice of the peace is available for inspection under section 27.004 of the Government Code|Autopsy report in custody of justice of the peace is not excepted from disclosure to the public by section 49.15(a) or (d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure

JM-1202
Jim Mattox

Inquest hearing, necessity for must be determined at time of inquest; if findings are rendered at inquest as to cause of death, justice of peace may not subsequently order inquest hearing

KP-0321
Ken Paxton

Construed within the context of chapter 23, articles 23.01 and 23.04 identify the court that may issue a capias, after commitment or the posting of bail.

KP-0429
Ken Paxton

Authority to determine software systems for county departments.

KP-0445
Ken Paxton

Considering whether a constable’s office is a law enforcement agency subject to application of Local Government Code chapter 120