Each District Judge, County Court-at-Law Judge and Justice of the Peace in Smith County are in charge of their own dockets and attorneys and litigants should contact their specific court with any questions regarding non-jury court activities.

Specific questions about judicial proceedings should be directed to each Court where a case is pending.

If you have questions about your court case setting, please call the specific court.

As provided in the Texas Constitution, each of the 254 counties of the state has a single county court presided over by a county judge.

These courts have concurrent jurisdiction with justice of the peace and district courts in civil cases in which the amount in controversy is small. Jurisdiction is said to be concurrent when two levels of courts have authority to try the same type of case.

Important Links

• Judicial Search
• Local Rules of Civil Trial for District and County Courts
• County Court Misdemeanor Arraignment Calendar

Because the Texas constitution limits each county to only one county court, county courts-at-law are created by statute in larger counties, primarily to aid the single county court in its judicial functions. The legal jurisdiction of these special county-level trial courts can vary considerably and is established by the specific statute that created each court.

Smith County has three Courts-at-Law, each separately created by the Texas Legislature as the need has been shown. Our County Courts-at-Law handle the following types of cases:

• Criminal misdemeanor Class A and B cases.
• Civil cases. Civil jurisdiction of the Smith County Courts at Law is “concurrent” with that of the District
• Courts, meaning that the dollar-amount limitation that exists in some other counties does not apply here.
• Domestic (family law) cases.
• Cases appealed from justice of the peace and municipal courts.
• Contested probate matters (County Court at Law #3).

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