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Texas Justice Court Training Center

Texas Justice Court Training Center

Ensuring Justice and Fairness Through Education 

Announcements

New Statute Numbers Effective January 1, 2025

HB 4504 from the 2023 Legislative Session renumbered many sections of Chapters 2, 13, 45, and 55 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, effective January 1, 2025. TJCTC has updated its Deskbooks to contain the new references. Books marked as “Updated January 2025” contain updated references. No other substantive changes were made to the Deskbooks in this update. 

New Provider For Email Campaigns

The Training Center has a new provider for newsletters and weekly email campaigns. The sender will be NoReply@messaging.tjctc.txstate.edu. Should you have trouble receiving the newsletters and weekly updates you might try whitelisting the sender. 

Juvenile Diversion Plan Module is Live!

Juvenile Diverison Plans must be in place by January 1st. Have questions on how to create one? TJCTC has created a module to help! Visit our Self-Paced Module Page.

Mandated EPO Forms are Live

SB 48 required OCA to create and release protective order forms, including EPO forms. These forms are live and available at https://www.txcourts.gov/rules-forms/standardized-protective-order-forms/. The EPO form itself must be used by courts, while other forms, such as applications, are optional for courts. 

No changes may be made to the EPO (MOEP) form except the following:

  • If the extra lines for protected persons at the top of p. 2 are not needed, they can be deleted.
  • Section XI. Admonition on Ineligibility to Possess Firearm or Ammunition on p. 6-7 will only apply if you’ve prohibited possession of a firearm on p. 2. The form should be updated at some point to add a check box for whether this admonition applies. In the meantime, if possession of a firearm has not been prohibited, Section XI will need to be crossed out or deleted.

The Instructions for Completing the Orders – currently under the Temporary Ex Parte Order form – apply to all orders, including the MOEP.

“Other Forms (Discretionary)”:

The following are relevant for JPs and may be modified as desired:

  • Motion to Modify MOEP
  • Order on Motion to Modify MOEP
  • Request for MOEP

The TCIC Protective Order Data Entry Form is also on this list but should not be modified.

Confidentiality Policy Requirement Goes Into Effect May 1; TJCTC Creates Sample Policy

In February, as required by the Texas Legislature during the 2023 session, the Texas Supreme Court modified Rule of Judicial Administration 7.1 to require all courts, including justice courts, to implement a confidentiality policy. The policy must be provided to existing employees at least biannually, and all new employees must be trained on the policy before performing any substantive work. 

Courts must implement this policy no later than May 1, 2024. Download TJCTC's sample policy.

Read the Rules of Judicial Administration.

Injunction Blocking SB 4 Continues; Updated Magistration Deskbook Posted

In the 4th Special Session of the 88th Texas Legislature, the Legislature passed SB 4, a bill which created several new immigration-related criminal offenses, as well as a procedure for magistrates and courts in certain situations to issue orders for defendants to return to a foreign country. The law was originally scheduled to go into effect March 5, 2024. The United States filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction and was joined by several other plaintiffs, including El Paso County. A district judge issued an injunction preventing the law from going into effect, which was originally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and a stay is currently in place from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

The 5th Circuit heard oral arguments March 20, 2024. Please monitor further email updates, as well as this space, for updates and guidance as more information becomes available.

The 2024 Magistration Deskbook, including information about SB 4, is now available on the Deskbooks page. 

Post-Judgment Interest Rate

Remember to check the OCCC site every month for the current post-judgment interest rates! Click here to see the current rates and click on "Future Rate" at that link after the 15th of the month to see the next month's rate.