Texas Courts include ? Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas Courts of Appeals, Texas District Courts, Texas County Courts, Texas Court of Justice and Texas Municipal Courts. Apart from these courts there are four Federal Courts located in Texas that are United States Courts for the Eastern District of Texas, United States Courts for the Western District of Texas, United States Courts for the Northern District of Texas and United States Courts for the Southern District of Texas.
Supreme Court of Texas is the highest non-criminal court of the state. It is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Judges who are appointed for a term of six years by the Governor of Texas in confirmation by the Senate.
Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court of the state of Texas and is composed of a presiding Judge and eight other Judges. Texas and Oklahoma are the only two states that have two courts of last resort. It has the last jurisdiction over all criminal matters in the state of Texas. The Court Of Criminal Appeals has the right to choose whether to review a certain case or not and the only cases that It must hear are the ones involving denial of bail cases or ones that involve sentencing for capital punishment.
Texas Court of Appeals hears and passes judgment on all cases whether criminal or civil that is appealed from the district level except those involving the sentencing of capital punishment. There are fourteen Courts of Appeals in Texas. A statute governs the number of justices that can sit in each court. There are eighty appellate justices in Texas at present. But the numbers of appellate justices range between three and thirteen in each court in Texas.Texas District courts are trial courts of general jurisdiction. Each of the two hundred and fifty four counties in Texas is served by at least one district court while the more populated urban counties have multiple district courts. District courts enjoy original jurisdiction in divorce cases, all felony cases, and civil matters where the amount of money or damages involved is $200 or more, cases pertaining to ownership of land and any other cases whose jurisdiction is not tried at any other trial courts.
Texas County courts share concurrent jurisdiction with district courts and justice of peace courts in cases where the amount in damages is petty. County courts hear probate cases filed in the county and have original jurisdiction over Class A and Class B misdemeanors cases and appellate jurisdiction in cases that arise from the justice of peace courts or municipal courts.
Texas Justice Courts have jurisdiction over civil matters involving amounts that are not more than $10,000 and eviction cases.
Texas Municipal Courts have original jurisdiction over city ordinances and their violations within the city limits.
< Strong> Texas Court records and court cases are maintained by the Texas courts in which the petitions were documented. You can access Texas court records and Texas court cases, review them or verify the records by either visiting the court house or you can also retrieve Texas court records and Texas court cases online through an internet service called PACER which stands for Public access to Court Electronic Records. Accessing court records online through PACER is secure and involves a nominal charge.
