Texas Justice of the Peace Courts

The Justice of Peace Courts are lower courts in Texas that have jurisdiction over minor criminal offenses and minor civil cases.

The Texas Constitution requires each county to establish at least one and a maximum of eight justice precincts depending on the population. Within each justice precinct, one or more justices of the peace are elected, also depending on population. There were 822 justice of the peace courts in Texas as of September 1, 2010.[1]

## Justice of the peace courts[edit]

Ballotpedia covers the following justice of the peace courts in Texas:

* Bexar County Justice of the Peace Court
* Collin County Justice of the Peace Court
* Dallas County Justice of the Peace Court
* Denton County Justice of the Peace Court
* El Paso County Justice of the Peace Court
* Fort Bend County Justice of the Peace Court
* Harris County Justice of the Peace Court
* Lubbock County Justice of the Peace Court
* Nueces County Justice of the Peace Court
* Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Court
* Travis County Justice of the Peace Court
* Webb County Justice of the Peace Court
* Williamson County Justice of the Peace Court

## Jurisdiction[edit]

"Justice courts have original jurisdiction in misdemeanor criminal cases where punishment upon conviction may be by ﬁne only. These courts generally have exclusive jurisdiction of civil matters when the amount in controversy does not exceed $200, and concurrent jurisdiction with the county courts when the amount in controversy exceeds $200 but does not exceed $10,000."[1]

## Selection[edit]

Justices of the peace are selected in partisan elections across each of the justice precincts.[1]

## Qualifications[edit]

There are "no specific statutory or constitutional provisions" that set qualifications for justices of the peace.[1]

## See also[edit]

* Courts in Texas

## External links[edit]

* Texas Justice Courts

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Texas Office of Court Administration, "FY 2010 Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary," December 2010

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