The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 151
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Development of the Texas Judicial System. 151
all criminal cases tried in the district and the county courts, but
having no civil jurisdiction whatever; courts -of civil appeals,
having appellate jurisdiction of all cases tried in the district and
county courts, and whose decisions in many classes of cases, are
final, and in others are subject to review and correction by the
supreme court; district courts, having jurisdiction over the larger
share of civil litigation of importance, and of criminal cases of the
grade of felony, and of all suits and complaints, jurisdiction over
which is not expressly conferred on some other tribunal; county
courts, having jurisdiction 'of civil matters -of less importance than
those committed to the district court, 'and of all matters of probate,
and of misdemeanor cases; justices' courts, having jurisdiction over
all civil litigation involving less than 'two hundred dollars and not
committed to some other court, and criminal jurisdiction of misde-
imeanors where the penalty does not exceed ,a fine of two hundred
dollars; and a county commissioners' court, having jurisdiction over
all county business matters.
'The most material of these -changes are: to 'deprive the supreme
court of immediate jurisdiction in cases appealed from courts of
original jurisdiction, 'and confine it to the hearing of designated
kinds of cases coming from the courts of civil appeals, and to give
to it original jurisdiction in certain kinds .of cases against heads of
departments of the State government, when the legislature should so
provide; to create a court of last resort in criminal cases without any
civil jurisdiction; to create courts 'of civil appeals, to which all appeals
from district and county courts in civil eases lie; and to give to the
district court 'original jurisdiction 'of fall 'suits that are not within
the expressed jurisdiction of some other court. Some of these
changes, particularly the creation 'of the courts of civil appeals with
final jurisdiction over so many cases, have been somewhat severely
criticised, but in actual experience the plan seems to be working
well. The courts have been enabled to decide cases submitted
within ,a reasonable time thereafter, so, that now it is practicable to
bring suit and have it finally determined in time to insure beneficial
results from the litigation for the party who shall prove successful.
Whatever may be its defects, its practical working is better than
any plan heretofore adopted, 'and he who desires to change it, must
come prepared with a substitute which gives promise of better
results.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/155/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.