Clay County District Court, Texas Adjournment & Extension Requirements

A not-ready announcement must state specific reasons and be accompanied by a detailed and proper motion for continuance.

All announcements of "not ready" must state specific reasons therefore and shall be accompanied by a detailed and proper motion for continuance.

Civil continuances or passes cannot be agreed, first, or automatic; a specific motion must be presented at least ten days before the hearing or trial and include specified details when based on a scheduling conflict.

There shall be no "agreed," "first" or "automatic" continuances or passes of cases set for hearing. All motions for continuance must be specific and presented at least ten (10) days before the scheduled hearing or trial. If the basis for a continuance is a conflict in settings, the specific style, docket number, court, date of case filing, date of case setting, and the judge scheduled to hear the case will be included in the motion, together with the name, address and telephone number of the person with the other court to be contacted for information regarding the case.

A criminal pretrial hearing may be continued only on a written motion filed before the hearing; first-setting or agreed continuances are barred except as permitted by Chapter 29.

No pretrial hearings will be continued except upon written motion filed prior to the hearing. No Afirst setting@ or Aagreed@ continuances will be permitted by the Court, except when permitted by Chapter 29 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

A continuance to a subsequent plea setting on the jury docket is considered only if authorized by Chapter 29 or supported by a qualifying joint resetting order with a specific setting date and the required approvals and appearances.

Continuances of cases on jury docket to a subsequent plea setting will be considered by the Court only if Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 29 authorizes the continuance OR: (I) A joint resetting order approved by the State and the defense is presented to the Court; (ii) The order provides for a specific date on a summary docket date for the setting; (iii) The order provides that all counsel and the defendant will be present on the specified date; and (iv) The order is signed for approval by all counsel and the defendant and complies with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 29.

A not-ready announcement must be made in a properly formatted, detailed motion for continuance explaining why the case is not ready for trial.

Announcements of "not ready" shall be made in a detailed Motion for Continuance in proper form, containing a detailed explanation of why the case is not ready for trial.