Harris County Criminal Court at Law, Texas
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The Harris County Criminal Court at Law resides in Texas. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...
Jurisdiction
The Harris County Criminal Court at Law "has the criminal jurisdiction provided by law for county courts, concurrent jurisdiction with civil statutory county courts for Harris County to hear appeals of the suspension of a driver’s license and original proceedings regarding occupational driver’s licenses, and appellate jurisdiction in appeals of criminal cases from justice courts and municipal courts in the county."[1]
Judges
Elections
Texas is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in Texas, click here.
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2025
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2024
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2023
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2022
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2021
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2020
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2019
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2018
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2017
- Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2016
- Texas judicial elections, 2014
- Texas judicial elections, 2012
- Texas judicial elections, 2010
Selection method
- See also: Judicial selection in the states
- See also: Partisan election of judges
Judges on the Statutory County Courts, also known as the County Courts at Law, are elected in partisan elections at a county level. They serve four-year terms, with vacancies filled by a vote of the county commissioners.[2] The statutory county courts (county courts at law) were established by the Texas Legislature.[2]
To serve on this court, a judge must:
- be at least 25 years old;
- be a resident of his or her respective county for at least two years; and
- have practiced law or served as a judge for at least four years preceding the election.[2]
Judicial elections in Texas
- See also: Texas judicial elections
Texas is one of 11 states that uses partisan elections to select judges and does not use retention elections for subsequent terms. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
Primary election
Partisan primaries are held if even one candidate has filed for a position. To advance to the general election, a candidate must win a majority (over 50 percent) of the vote. If no candidate in a race wins the majority—as in cases where more than two candidates are competing for a seat—a runoff election is held between the top two candidates.[3][4]
Though Texas officially has closed primaries (requiring that voters declare party affiliation in advance in order to participate), the state's primaries are functionally open: registered voters may vote in any single party's primary if they have not voted in the primary of another party. The elections are closed, however, in that voters may not participate in the proceedings (a runoff primary or a convention) of another party thereafter.[3]
General election
The winning candidates from each major party's primary, as well as any additional minor party candidates, compete in a general election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. If a candidate was unopposed in the general election, his or her name will still appear on the general election ballot.[3][5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Statutes, "Gov't Code Section 25.1033: Harris County Criminal Court at Law Provisions," accessed June 17, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtexcourt - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Politics, "Winning Public Office: General Elections and Special Elections," January 29, 2014
- ↑ Texas Election Code, "Title 10, Sec. 172.003 and 172.004," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Office of the Secretary of State, 1992-Current Election History (Select "2012 General" & "County Race"; then click "Anderson" to view sample results)
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
