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Criminal District Court No. 1, Dallas County

Flowchart illustrating the Texas Judicial System hierarchy, showing the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals at the top, followed by the Court of Appeals, district courts including district court and criminal district court, county-level courts such as constitutional county court, probate court, county court at law, municipal court, and justice courts.

In Texas, at the state level, there is a state supreme court, which hears civil matters, a court of criminal appeals, which hears criminal matters,  state courts of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction.

District courts in Texas are trial courts where a judge or jury decides a criminal or civil matter. The district courts are part of the judiciary of Texas, responsible for administering justice throughout the state.

Texas belongs to a minority of U.S. states that selects most of its judges in partisan elections, meaning candidates run with political party affiliations indicated on the ballot.

Most district courts exercise criminal and civil jurisdiction, but in larger metropolitan areas such as Dallas, there is a tendency for the courts to specialize in civil, criminal, juvenile or family law matters.

The Texas Constitution provides for the creation of district courts. Currently, there are 504 district courts in Texas. Of these 504 district courts, 13 are specifically “Criminal District Courts” and were created by statute, rather than under authority of the constitution.

A presentation slide titled "District Courts (504 Courts – 504 Judges)" with bullet points describing the jurisdiction and organization of district courts, including civil and felony criminal cases, juvenile matters, criminal district courts, number of districts and counties.
Frank Crowley Courts Building

There are 13 criminal district courts in the state of Texas - seven of them are located in Dallas County. These courts, including Criminal District Court No. 1, were created by the legislature and only hear criminal matters.

In addition to the seven criminal district courts, there are ten constitutionally created district courts in Dallas county that hear only criminal matters.