The district clerk is responsible for filing all felony criminal cases following indictment by the Grand Jury.
All civil law suits in the 21st and 335th Judicial District Courts are filed with the district clerk. This office also files all divorces, parent-child relationships, adoptions, name changes, and any other family matters for the County Court at Law including all Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Enforcement Division cases. Fees are collected for the filing of new cases and motions and for the issuance of all subpoenas, notices, citations, writs, temporary restraining orders, executions, abstracts of judgment, orders of sale, protective orders, etc. These fees are then distributed to the proper state and local agencies on a monthly basis.
The district clerk is the officer of the Court in charge of the jury selection process and acts as a liaison between the jurors, courts, and employers. Petit jurors are randomly selected by computer from a list compiled by the State which is updated annually. The list of names is generated from both voter registration and driver’s license.
Naturalization records dating back to the mid 1800’s may be found in this office.
One of the main purposes of the district clerk’s office is to work with the judges and staffs of the District Court and County Court at Law to keep the court system flowing smoothly. The other is to keep accurate records and, since most of the records maintained in this office are public information, to see that those records remain available for the future.