{"id":80,"date":"2016-11-15T20:30:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T20:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/odessa-texasgovernment\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=80"},"modified":"2018-03-16T18:19:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T18:19:47","slug":"court-organization","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/austincc-texasgovernment\/chapter\/court-organization\/","title":{"raw":"Court Organization","rendered":"Court Organization"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nBy the end of this section, you will be able to:\r\n<ul class=\"im_orderedlist\">\r\n \t<li>Discuss the structure of the Texas Court System<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<section id=\"fs-idp225728592\"><section id=\"fs-idp225728592\">\r\n<h1>Structure of the Texas Court System<\/h1>\r\nThe structure of the Texas court system is set up as a <strong>bifurcated<\/strong> system, meaning there are two highest courts in the state - one for criminal and one for civil cases. The table below depicts the structure of the Texas court system with some additional jurisdiction, and court information. Note that <strong>Juvenile Courts<\/strong> preside in the District Courts- In Texas a juvenile is defined as young as 10 years old, and a juvenile can be convicted as an adult as young as 14 years old. [footnote]http:\/\/www.txcourts.gov\/media\/1436909\/court-structure-chart-jan-2017.pdf[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n<strong>Highest Courts<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTexas Supreme Court is the highest court in the state over civil and juvenile cases while Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has the final appellate authority over criminal cases. Particularly, death penalty cases are directly and automatically appealed from the District Courts to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals bypassing Courts of Appeals. In each court, 9 judges are elected to serve 6-year terms and all 9 judges hear and decide cases in a majority vote.\r\n\r\n<strong>Courts of Appeals<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThere are 14 Courts of Appeals regionally distributed within Texas. These are intermediate appellate courts hearing appeals from District and County Courts.\r\n\r\n<strong>District Courts<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDistrict Courts and major trial courts in Texas. They have exclusive jurisdiction over felony cases and share civil jurisdiction with County Courts. Death penalty cases are automatically appealed to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.\r\n\r\n<strong>County Courts<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThere are three types of county courts in the state. Every county in the state has a constitutional county court and some counties have additional county courts called statutory county courts. Both have jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes and civil cases. In addition, some counties also has statutory probate courts which only hears probate matters. County Courts also hear appeals from Justice and Municipal Courts.\r\n\r\n<strong>Justice and Municipal Courts<\/strong>\r\n\r\nJustice and Municipal Courts are the lowest courts in the state with jurisdiction over minor misdemeanors and small claims. Appeals are heard at County Courts by trial <em>de novo<\/em>, because most Justice and Municipal Courts are not courts of record.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/section><section><\/section><section>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_172\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"687\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-172\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/690\/2017\/01\/19182047\/TXCourtStructure.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"687\" height=\"922\" \/> Structure of the Texas Court System[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/section><\/section>","rendered":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"im_orderedlist\">\n<li>Discuss the structure of the Texas Court System<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"fs-idp225728592\">\n<section id=\"fs-idp225728592\">\n<h1>Structure of the Texas Court System<\/h1>\n<p>The structure of the Texas court system is set up as a <strong>bifurcated<\/strong> system, meaning there are two highest courts in the state &#8211; one for criminal and one for civil cases. The table below depicts the structure of the Texas court system with some additional jurisdiction, and court information. Note that <strong>Juvenile Courts<\/strong> preside in the District Courts- In Texas a juvenile is defined as young as 10 years old, and a juvenile can be convicted as an adult as young as 14 years old. <a class=\"footnote\" title=\"http:\/\/www.txcourts.gov\/media\/1436909\/court-structure-chart-jan-2017.pdf\" id=\"return-footnote-80-1\" href=\"#footnote-80-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Highest Courts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Texas Supreme Court is the highest court in the state over civil and juvenile cases while Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has the final appellate authority over criminal cases. Particularly, death penalty cases are directly and automatically appealed from the District Courts to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals bypassing Courts of Appeals. In each court, 9 judges are elected to serve 6-year terms and all 9 judges hear and decide cases in a majority vote.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Courts of Appeals<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are 14 Courts of Appeals regionally distributed within Texas. These are intermediate appellate courts hearing appeals from District and County Courts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>District Courts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>District Courts and major trial courts in Texas. They have exclusive jurisdiction over felony cases and share civil jurisdiction with County Courts. Death penalty cases are automatically appealed to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>County Courts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are three types of county courts in the state. Every county in the state has a constitutional county court and some counties have additional county courts called statutory county courts. Both have jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes and civil cases. In addition, some counties also has statutory probate courts which only hears probate matters. County Courts also hear appeals from Justice and Municipal Courts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Justice and Municipal Courts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Justice and Municipal Courts are the lowest courts in the state with jurisdiction over minor misdemeanors and small claims. Appeals are heard at County Courts by trial <em>de novo<\/em>, because most Justice and Municipal Courts are not courts of record.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section><\/section>\n<section>\n<div id=\"attachment_172\" style=\"width: 697px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-172\" class=\"size-full wp-image-172\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/690\/2017\/01\/19182047\/TXCourtStructure.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"687\" height=\"922\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Structure of the Texas Court System<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-80\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Court Organization. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Daniel M. Regalado. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-80-1\">http:\/\/www.txcourts.gov\/media\/1436909\/court-structure-chart-jan-2017.pdf <a href=\"#return-footnote-80-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2564,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Court Organization\",\"author\":\"Daniel M. 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