Jefferson County District Court Guide

Texas District Courts and Jefferson County

Texas district courts are the primary trial courts in the state. They hear felony criminal cases, civil suits over a set dollar threshold, divorce, family law, and matters set by local court designation. Appeals from district court go to a Texas intermediate court of appeals, then on to the Supreme Court of Texas for civil cases or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases. Jefferson County's district bench is large and mixes civil, family, and criminal specialization.

The Texas Judicial Branch lists the seven trial-court categories that work side by side: district courts, the Business Court, constitutional county courts, statutory county courts at law, statutory probate courts, justice courts, and municipal courts. Jefferson County uses most of these. Probate is handled by the County Court rather than a separate statutory probate court.

Jefferson County District Court List

Jefferson County has eight district courts. Civil district courts handle civil and some family work. Two courts split heavy family-law dockets. The 252nd District Court and the Criminal District Court anchor felony criminal work. The table below comes from the official court pages and the county budget, with judges by current designation.

Civil District Courts

The civil district courts in Jefferson County run trial dockets, daily hearing dockets, and DWOP dockets. They publish local rules for the 58th, 60th, 136th, and 172nd, plus a tax-suit standing order and discovery-control plans. The 58th District Court page is shown below and linked from the 58th District Court page.

The 60th, 136th, and 172nd Civil District Courts handle large civil suits, with each court posting trial and hearing dockets. The 172nd published an e-file order effective August 15, 2008, an early local milestone in the move to electronic filing.

Criminal District Courts

Felony criminal work in Jefferson County runs through the 252nd District Court and the Criminal District Court. Both publish criminal docket material on their official pages, including a trial docket, a web bond docket, an initial designation docket, and a jail docket. The 252nd District Court page is shown below and linked from the 252nd District Court page.

The Criminal District Court, led by Judge John Stevens, also posts jail web and trial docket PDFs and a set of bond-condition orders. Specialty programming under the Drug Impact Court connects criminal cases with treatment-based supervision, with the Jefferson County Community Supervision and Corrections Department running the local probation side.

Family District Courts

The 279th and 317th Civil District Courts handle heavy family-law dockets. The 279th lists a Tuesday CPS and juvenile schedule and posts agreed divorce affidavit, agreed and waiver divorce instructions, affidavit of indigence, and prove-up by submission rules. The 317th posts pro se guidelines, clinic intake, clinic acknowledgment, divorce with children, divorce without children, and adult and child name-change affidavits.

The 317th Civil District Court page is shown below and linked from the 317th Civil District Court page.

For divorce filings and certified copies, the District Clerk family law line is 409-835-8654, and the District Clerk family index is the public source for filings by year.

Docket Pages and Local Rules

Each Jefferson County district court runs its own docket page. The 58th publishes DWOP, trial, weekly trial, and daily hearing dockets. The 60th posts monthly trial dockets and an e-file order. The 136th and 172nd publish trial and hearing dockets, civil local rules, technology standards, discovery rules, and the SB 30 notice. The 252nd publishes trial, web bond, initial designation, jail, and hearing PDFs. The 279th and 317th publish family-law settings and CPS or juvenile day notes.

For a full docket explainer, see Jefferson County court dockets. For full case access, see court records and the Tyler Enterprise Justice portal.

District Court vs. County Court vs. Justice Court

The right court depends on the kind of case and the dollar amount. The comparison block below sets the trial-court levels side by side using the role each plays in Jefferson County.

How a Jefferson County Case Moves Through the System

A Jefferson County case follows a clear track from filing through possible appeal. The arrows below trace the path.

Trial path: Filing › Pleadings › Hearings › Trial › Judgment › Court of Appeals › Supreme Court of Texas or Court of Criminal Appeals

1. A case is filed with the District Clerk for district court or with the County Clerk for county court.
2. Pleadings, motions, and discovery follow under the local rules and the Texas Rules of Civil or Criminal Procedure.
3. The court sets hearings, then a trial date for cases that do not settle or plead.
4. After judgment or sentence, the losing party may file an appeal within the statutory deadline.
5. The intermediate court of appeals reviews and rules on the appeal.
6. From there, civil cases may go to the Supreme Court of Texas and criminal cases may go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Courthouse Contact

The Jefferson County Courthouse complex on Pearl Street is the home of the district courts. The District Clerk is in Room 203 at 1085 Pearl Street. Some civil and family courts list 1149 Pearl Street as their address, while several criminal and civil courts list 1085 Pearl Street. Confirm the entrance with your court notice or a phone call before you arrive.

The District Attorney and the District Courts

The Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney, Keith Giblin, represents the State in district court criminal cases and on appeal. The office sits at 1085 Pearl Street, 3rd Floor, in the same complex as the district courts. The DA's office is split into a Trial Section, an Intake Division and Grand Jury group, an Investigation Division, an Appellate Division, and a Civil Division. The Trial Section lists chiefs for the Criminal District Court, the 252nd District Court, the Drug Impact Court, and the Misdemeanor Courts, which mirrors the assignment of cases to specific Jefferson County district and county courts.

The DA's Intake Division reviews cases submitted by local, state, and federal agencies operating in the county. An intake attorney makes a legal-sufficiency determination on whether probable cause exists to pursue formal criminal charges before a case lands on a Jefferson County district court docket. The Victims' Assistance Center, also part of the DA's office, supports crime victims through the process at 215 Franklin St., 2nd Floor, Beaumont, with hotline 409-833-3377 and office line 409-839-2318.

Related Pages

For court files, see Jefferson County court records. For settings and schedules, see court dockets. For the clerks that file and store records, see the District Clerk and County Clerk. For family records, see marriage and divorce.