McLennan County District Courts Adjournment & Extension Requirements

A motion for continuance must be filed and set by 9:00 a.m. Friday before the jury trial if counsel will announce that the case is not ready, unless opposing counsel does not contest the motion or all parties agree and the court consents to passing the case.

If an announcement of not ready is to be made, a motion for continuance must be filed and set no later than that Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. , unless opposing counsel advises the court that no contest will be made to the motion, or unless the case is passed by agreement of all parties and consent of the court.

Except in unusual circumstances, a continuance motion or request must be written and filed at least 48 hours before the affected court event.

Except in unusual circumstances, any continuance motion or request must be in writing and filed not later than 48 hours before the court event for which rescheduling is requested.

A continuance will be granted only when the requesting party shows good cause.

The Court will grant a continuance only for good cause shown.

Counsel announcing that a jury matter is not ready must file and set a continuance motion by 9:00 a.m. on the Friday before trial, unless opposing counsel withdraws opposition or all parties agree and the court consents to a pass.

No later than 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning before the jury trial setting for the following week, it shall be the duty of each counsel to communicate with the court, in person or by telephone, and announce ready or not ready. If an announcement of not ready is to be made, a motion for continuance must be filed and set no later than that Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. , unless opposing counsel advises the court that no contest will be made to the motion, or unless the case is passed by agreement of all parties and consent of the court.

Without a Pass or submitted plea paperwork, attorneys must appear at pretrial to announce for the in-jail defendant.

If the attorneys have not received a pass or turned in plea paperwork, they must be present to announce for the in-jail defendant.

To avoid appearing at the status docket, attorneys must secure an official Pass or continuance order by noon two days before the status call.

the attorneys must have secured an official “Pass” or an Order granting a Continuance.

The parties may pass a trial setting once by agreement without filing a motion for continuance, but they must provide verification of their agreement.

Trial settings can be passed by agreement of the parties ONCE without a Motion for Continuance. The parties must provide verification that they have agreed to the pass.

The Court strongly disfavors continuance motions and requests, especially requests to continue trial dates.

For all of its case types and dockets, the Court looks with strong disfavor on motions or requests to continue court events. To protect the credibility of scheduled trial dates, trial-date continuances are especially disfavored.

A party seeking a hearing on a continuance motion must request it immediately upon filing or receiving the motion and, except in unusual circumstances, should direct the written request to the Court Administrator.

Any party requesting a hearing on a motion for continuance must do so immediately upon filing or receiving the motion. Except in unusual circumstances, the hearing request should be directed to the Court Administrator in writing.

The listed circumstances generally will not constitute sufficient cause to grant a continuance.

As a guide to practitioners, the following will generally not be considered sufficient cause to grant a continuance: The case probably will settle if a continuance is granted; Discovery has not been completed; New counsel has entered an appearance in the case or a party wants to retain new counsel; Unavailability of a witness who has not been subpoenaed; Plaintiff has not yet fully recovered from injuries when there is no competent evidence available as to when plaintiff will be fully recovered; A party or counsel is unprepared to try the case for reasons including, but not limited to, the party's failure to maintain necessary contact with counsel; Page 1 of 2 ===== PAGE 2 ===== The failure to schedule the hearing on a suppression motion on a timely basis unless the prosecution failed to comply with a discovery order; A police officer or other witness is either in training or is scheduled to be on vacation, unless the Court is advised of the conflict soon after the case is scheduled and sufficiently in advance of the trial date; Any continuance of trial beyond a second trial date setting.

When possible, the rescheduled court event must occur no later than 30 days after the original continued date unless the motion states a different specific period.

Whenever possible, the Court shall hold the rescheduled court event not later than 30 days after the date from which it was continued, unless a specific amount of time is stated in the motion.

The listed circumstances generally constitute sufficient cause to grant a continuance.

The following will generally be considered sufficient cause to grant a continuance: Sudden medical emergency (not elective medical care) or death of a party, counsel, or material witness who has been subpoenaed; A party did not receive notice of the setting of the trial date through no fault of that party or that party's counsel; Facts or circumstances arising or becoming apparent too late in the proceedings to be fully corrected and which, in the view of the Court, would likely cause undue hardship or possibly miscarriage of justice if the trial is required to proceed as scheduled; Unanticipated absence of a material witness for either party; Illness or family emergency of counsel.