A long and winding road

July 2, 2019

The Texas court system has more supreme courts than the United States (2 for Texas, 1 for the USA), and more intermediate courts of appeal as well (14 for Texas, 13 for the USA). The true complexity of the Texas courts, however, lies in the sometimes-Byzantine interplay between district courts (the standard, county-wide trial court) and county courts (depending on the county, potentially “constitutional county courts,” “statutory county courts,” or “county courts at law”). An excellent example appears in Wood v. Lassiter, a dozen-page opinion about county-court jurisdiction over a dispute involving the boundary for Kaufman County road maintenance obligations. No. 05-18-01059-CV (June 28, 2019) (mem. op.)