Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 4.01 – What Courts Have Criminal Jurisdiction
Terms Used In Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 4.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
The following courts have jurisdiction in criminal actions:
1. The Court of Criminal Appeals;
2. Courts of appeals, other than the Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals District;
3. The district courts;
4. The criminal district courts;
5. The magistrates appointed by the judges of the district courts of Bexar County, Dallas County, Tarrant County, or Travis County that give preference to criminal cases and the magistrates appointed by the judges of the criminal district courts of Dallas County or Tarrant County;
6. The county courts;
7. All county courts at law with criminal jurisdiction;
8. County criminal courts;
9. Justice courts;
10. Municipal courts;
11. The magistrates appointed by the judges of the district courts of Lubbock County;
12. The magistrates appointed by the El Paso Council of Judges;
13. The magistrates appointed by the Collin County Commissioners Court;
14. The magistrates appointed by the Brazoria County Commissioners Court or the local administrative judge for Brazoria County;
15. The magistrates appointed by the judges of the district courts of Tom Green County;
16. The magistrates appointed by the judges of the district and statutory county courts of Denton County; and
17. The magistrates appointed by the judges of the district and statutory county courts of Grayson County.