Texas counties play a critical role in supporting the state’s judicial system. In fact, support for the judicial system is one of the most significant components of county budgets.
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Key Points
- County governments fund and support much of the judicial system statewide, including district courts, county-level courts, and justice courts. They also provide funding for court staff, prosecutors, and court-appointed attorneys.
- In FY 2018, counties spent an estimated $1.787 billion statewide to support the judicial system.
- State law stipulates the jurisdiction of the district, county and justice courts, which can include felonies, misdemeanors, civil cases and juvenile cases, among many other matters.
- Statewide, civil caseloads are growing across all trial court levels. In 2019, new civil cases filed in district courts increased by 12%, and increased by 14% in county courts, and increased by 18% in justice courts.
Related Articles
Community Impact Newspaper, Jan. 27, 2021
THarris County officials said the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has led to staffing challenges for both the sheriff's and district attorney's offices, creating a perfect storm of more than 90,000 backlogged cases and subsequent overcrowding in the Harris County Jail—already the second largest county jail population in the U.S.
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