County Courts at Law, also called Statutory County Courts, are a type of trial court presided over by an elected judge, which hear both civil and criminal cases.
As a trial court, a County Court at Law can hear witnesses, receive testimony, and render a verdict. These courts are one of several kinds of county-level trial court in the Texas judiciary. The County Courts at Law are established by acts of the Texas Legislature. By comparison, Constitutional County Courts are established by the Texas Constitution.
Originally, the constitution envisioned only one court per county, headed by a county judge. However, because county judges also fulfill executive functions, running the county government in each of the state’s 254 counties, the legislature created statutory county courts to relieve constitutional county judges of some or all of their judicial duties in the more populous counties.
The first of these courts was created in 1907. Today there are more than 250. Many counties continue to have only a constitutional county court, whereas others have several courts at law (see map).
The legal jurisdiction of the county-level trial courts varies considerably and is established by the statute which created the particular court. The jurisdiction of a county court at law may overlap with that of the constitutional county court or district court in the county.
County courts may handle civil litigation, child protective services cases, mental health cases, adoptions, and probate matters. County courts usually have appellate jurisdiction in cases appealed from justice of the peace courts and municipal courts.
County courts at law may handle some felony matters, though in general the district courts handle trials for more serious felony crimes. County courts are said to have “limited jurisdiction,” because they can hear only certain kinds of cases, in contrast to district courts, which have “general jurisdiction.”
FAQ
There are 256 statutory county courts (county courts at law) in Texas plus one multi-county court, according to the Annual Statistical Report for the Texas Judiciary for FY 2021.
Cases appealed from Texas county courts go to the Texas Courts of Appeal.
In general, Texas county courts at law have civil jurisdiction concurrent with district courts in cases in which the matter in controversy exceeds $500 but does not exceed $200,000. However, the actual jurisdiction of each statutory county court varies considerably according to the statute under which it was created.
In criminal matters, county courts generally have original jurisdiction over all cases involving Class A and Class B misdemeanors and appellate jurisdiction in cases appealed from justice of the peace courts and municipal courts. A few county courts at law have jurisdiction in felony cases.
The Texas Constitution established one county court in each county, headed by the county executive, also known as the county judge. However, these courts are mostly active only in the smaller, rural counties, whereas county judges in urban areas focus on their political duties. The statutory county courts fill in for the constitutional courts in the larger counties.
