Tex. 1st. Admin. Jud. Reg. L. R. 11

As amended through August 27, 2024

Rule 11 - CONFLICT IN TRIAL SETTINGS AND PRIORITY OF CASES

11.1 An attorney who is in trial in one court may not be ordered to trial in another court. When informed that an attorney is presently in trial in another court, the court will verify the information and place the case on "hold" or reset the case, depending on the circumstances.

11.2 Judges confronted with conflicting settings that cannot be resolved by the parties, only after those parties have had a reasonable opportunity to resolve the conflict themselves, should confer and determine which case has priority. The following priorities and considerations should aid judges in determining priority:

a. Criminal cases have priority over civil cases pursuant to Article 32A.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

b. Other statutorily preferenced cases have priority over non-preferential cases.

c. Court-ordered preferential settings have priority over non-preferential settings.

d. Otherwise, factors such as the age of the case, whether a jury has been requested, and whether the case is in a multi-judge or single-judge county, should be weighed.

11.3 Relevant circumstances to consider in resolving a conflict between criminal cases include the following: defendant's confinement pending trial (including other detainers such a "blue warrants"), the age of the case, the number of resets, a defendant's right to a speedy trial and related circumstances, the availability of new trial dates, witness availability, and any other requirement for a prompt trial of either case under applicable law.

11.4 When the affected judges cannot resolve a conflict in settings, the trial judges shall request the LAJ (if the cases are pending in the same county) or the Presiding Judge to do so. If two or more administrative judicial regions are involved and the regional presiding judges cannot resolve the conflict, the regional presiding judges shall request the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas or the Chief Justice's designee to resolve the conflict.

Tex. 1st. Admin. Jud. Reg. L. R. 11