Fort Bend County District Courts Filing Rules

The probable cause affidavit must include any additional information necessary for the magistrate to make the appropriate judgment.

Agreed motions and orders should include signature blocks for all parties agreeing to the requested relief and the specified statement above the signature block.

Motions and proposed orders must be filed before a hearing is set.

Agreed orders disposing of all issues must contain distinctive written or DocuSign-style signatures of all parties or attorneys; typed “/s/” signatures and signatures by permission are not acceptable.

The applicable divorce-with-children or SAPCR/modification checklist documents must be provided, including required orders, schedules, and forms.

The arresting officer must file a concise probable cause affidavit at booking, and no arrestee may be booked without one.

An approved electronic reset must be emailed to the Court before the defendant’s court setting to avoid bond forfeiture.

Unless the matter is a contempt proceeding or governed by a Scheduling Order, exhibits must be pre-marked and exchanged by noon on the business day before the hearing.

THE ABOVE MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE COURT DURING THE TRIAL.

Responses to a motion heard by submission must be filed at least 3 days before the submission date, or earlier if required by statute or rule, to be considered.

Communications with the Court must be by email; the Court will not set hearings or provide hearing dates by telephone.

A party may email the Court Coordinator about an expected ruling or hearing consideration, providing the case number and style, the relief sought, and the filing date.

Appointed counsel must maintain an active email account to receive court appointments and procedural-change notices.

The court can be reached at 281-238-3244, but staff will not provide legal advice or participate in ex parte communications except as allowed by law.

A hearing-date request must be emailed to the court coordinator before filing a motion and should include the estimated hearing time.

The parties must exchange the listed final-trial financial disclosures and proposed materials no later than ten days before trial begins.

For every Temporary Orders hearing, the parties must exchange Proposed Requested Relief by noon on the preceding business day.

At least annually, notice of intended dismissal for want of prosecution must be given under Rule 165a to attorneys of record and to pro se parties whose addresses appear on the docket or in the file.

The movant is responsible for timely advising opposing counsel when passing a hearing.

Give legal notice to the other party or parties, including the OAG if applicable, by service of citation or process, waiver of service, or service by publication, which requires court approval.

Text-document exhibit files must be searchable PDFs compatible with the latest Adobe Reader, unprotected, and converted directly when possible; scanning should be avoided when possible and scanned materials must be made searchable by OCR.

Before deposition testimony is offered, provide the Court Reporter its page-and-line designations and a non-condensed transcript copy.

Exhibits must be delivered on a USB flash drive when color is important.

The statement of facts must use a clearly labeled standard digital recording, numbered when more than one recording is required.

Flash drives must be clearly labeled with the cause number, party name, and hearing date.

Late filing of a motion will rarely, by itself, justify a continuance.

When county buildings close, the District Courts remain closed until reopening is announced, and essential matters are rescheduled or held at approved alternate locations.

Continuance motions should be filed as early as possible; in cases over two years old, the movant must show a significant reason or proper basis and why it could not have been addressed earlier, subject to the Court’s stated flexibility for unforeseen discovery needs, recent developments, witness conflicts, and similar reasons.

When County buildings close, District Courts remain closed until reopening is announced, and essential matters are rescheduled or held at approved alternate locations.

For cases pending less than one year, the first continuance will be granted with or without cause if the parties agree, and they must file an Agreed Motion/Order or announce their agreement at the trial setting.

Exhibits must be delivered to the court by email or USB flash drive; paper copies require court approval.

Documents must be filed with the District Clerk’s Office, not sent or faxed to the Court unless the Court instructs otherwise; this also applies to notices when e-filing.

Pleadings and documents must be filed with the District Clerk’s Office, either in person or online; online filing information is available from the Clerk’s website.

Counsel in misdemeanor cases must be proficient with the County’s e-Discovery portal and able to e-file documents with the County Clerk.

After obtaining a hearing date and time, a notice of hearing must be e-filed with the District Clerk for every civil case.

Mediation is required before a temporary-orders hearing unless the court waives it.

Before filing a discovery-related motion, counsel should consult opposing counsel, preferably the lead attorney.

Before filing a discovery-related motion, consult opposing counsel, preferably the lead attorney.

For proposed findings and conclusions in a non-jury trial, courtesy copies should be emailed to the Court coordinator in Microsoft Word format.

Courtesy copies are not accepted outside the courtroom.

Courtesy copies should be filed via email to the Court Coordinator in Microsoft Word format.

A courtesy copy of your vacation letter shall be provided to all opposing counsel and self-represented litigants in your case.

When multiple open cases for a defendant are disposed of at the same time, all cases must be reported on one attorney voucher, and the same event may not be billed twice.

Multiple charges for the same defendant may be bundled on one claim form.

A person with a disability cannot be charged for auxiliary aids or services needed for effective communication, and those costs cannot be assessed as court costs.

A fee must be paid to the District Clerk to issue the wage withholding order.

Sensitive data must be removed or redacted from exhibits before filing.

Confidential information in the required CPS appeals writing sample must be redacted as required by law.

Files involving the listed child-related matters are confidential and not open to public viewing.

A second chair must be a licensed attorney practicing criminal law for less than 10 years and meet the requirements referenced in the text.