Lily Craymer
November 8, 2017
Texas Politics
County Court Judges vs Supreme Court Judges
In Texas, County Court judges and Supreme Court judges both have the title of “judge” in their names, but what does that really mean? If someone introduces themselves with the title of a judge, it doesn’t give any specifics on what their public responsibilities are. Both positions have different levels of power, but are equally important. In order to reform Texas laws, one must know how it functions. I chose these topics to compare and contrast to further understand the positions of Texas judges.
County Court judges have a county wide role in government, whereas the Supreme Court judges’ jurisdiction runs statewide. Most county courts handle criminal
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A County Court judge doesn’t require a law degree because they are an administrator. The County Court judge serves as the chief executive officer for the county, meaning they have executive power over county departments. The County Court judge also controls the Commissioners Court and proposes their county’s budget (Role of the County Judge).
This is different than the Supreme Court judges, who serve specifically as a judicial branch and don’t serve as an executive function. The only administrative function the Supreme Court has relates to the judicial system. For example, the Supreme Court makes the rules for civil cases, and the laws of practice for trials of the entire Texas Judicial system. They set the rules for “the state Office of Court Administration, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the State Bar of Texas, and other state agencies in the judicial branch of government” (The Justice
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County Court judges serve for 4 years, where Supreme Court judges serve for 6 years in staggered terms, to ensure tasks get done even when new officials are elected.
The difference in salary is notable. High court judges make $168,000 each year, whereas county court judges make about $125,000 a year (Salaries of Elected State Judges).
The expectations for Supreme Court judges surpasses expectations of County Court judges. Supreme Court judges are expected to be students of the law, competent legal practitioners. They are expected to be open minded, yet just and fair. Supreme Court judges are expected to be politically and socially intelligent.
Though each county has only 1 county court judge, there are 254 counties in the state of Texas (About Texas Courts). There are a significant fewer number of judges compared to the amount of county court judges that exist in Texas. There are 9 Supreme Court justices, which one of whom is the chief justice.
A County Court judge serves as an official, acting for the benefit of the county he or she resides in. This is a great responsibility for said official, as they have the power to make changes at a grassroots level. A Supreme Court judge does not have the same authority to control a local area, however a Supreme Court judge has an equal responsibility to represent the best interest of the state by serving as a fair evaluator of the
In Texas the local government, county governments, are extensions of the state government acting as the administrative arm of the state. At the local level, municipalities, school districts, special districts, water conservation districts, and a myriad of boards and commissions allow citizens to participate in many elected and appointed capacities. Counties are constitutionally limited in their authority. The 254 counties in the state vary in geographical size, population, natural resources, and property values. This is controversial in that counties rely primarily on property taxes to provide basic services including law enforcement, courts and jails, building and maintaining roads and bridges, and record keeping for the state.
The second portion of this chapter 11 present and discusses the courts in Texas. The area gives the constitution utilized as a part of Texas. It shouts that Texas utilizes the 1876 law. This chapter also talks about many executives and also the Texas representative. It quickly examines ladies governors that have been in office and their modes and method for operation.
Valerie Jimenez Professor Gilligan Government – 2306 25 September 2017 Texas and U.S Constitution There is no doubt that the Texas and United States Constitutions are important to keep democracy. Both constitutions contain similarities as well as some major differences. The first similarity would be the process of separation of powers. Separation of Powers was created by the “framers of the Constitution [who] feared too much centralized power” (PBS) and who knew that “the accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny” (PBS).
Texas constitution is almost very similar to the US Constitution in the sense of the Bill of Rights. Both the US constitution and the Texas constitution are separated into the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The legislative branch is the brand of the Senate and House of representative, the judicial branch is the branch where there are district courts appeals courts in the US Supreme Court, and the executive branch is where the executive president elected official the Vice President are in. Also they are both considered a separation of powers. This phrase refers to assigning specific powers to the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government; system which means they both have separate institutions that share
The supreme court is in charge of defending the Constitution and will take court cases that are important to U.S. laws. The court cases have to have great importance. Supreme Court members are chosen by the President, and approved by the Senate. There is no yearly term limit for judges on the Supreme Court. There are 9 Supreme Court Judges
In addition, the administration of justice in countries by law was assigned to magistrates, the sheriff, the coroner, and constables. Judicial and administrative division of Texas provided for the existence of three to eight judicial districts (Section 2, Article 4) (Constitution of the State of Texas (adopted February 15, 1876), 1986). The election of judges of all courts of the Republic was established. The term of office of judges of the Supreme and District Courts was set at 4 years with the right to re-election and for judges of the county and police two years (Section 1, 12, Article 4) (Monroe, n.d.). Judges of the supreme and district courts were elected by members of the Congress and by the rest of the voters of (Constitution of the State of Texas (adopted February 15, 1876), 1986)the corresponding county.
The 2nd level is the County Level Courts. County Courts have jurisdiction over juvenile matters, misdemeanors with fines greater than 500$ or jail sentence, and probate matters. District Courts are the 3rd level. They have jurisdiction over felonious matters, divorce cases, land titles, and contested elections. The 4th level is the Courts of Appeals, which is the final step before the
Going up from there are the circuit courts, the district courts of appeal, and the supreme court. There are 67 county courts, one in each county. These courts are of limited jurisdiction and deal with only minor offenses. The circuit courts are the states courts of original jurisdiction and are courts of record. They also hear appeals from the county courts.
In the state of Texas there are two courts of final appeal. The highest court for civil matters is the nine member Texas Supreme Court. The nine member Texas Court Criminal Appeals is for criminal matters. The number and variety of courts are confusing to the average citizen. The judges in these courts have only general qualifications who need not be lawyers and these judges are selected in a partisan election, which is a general election where the candidates are nominated by the political parties and their respective party labels appear on the ballot.
The court 's jurisdiction is its authority to hear cases of a particular type. The original jurisdiction is the authority to be the first court to hear a case. The supreme court 's most important work is the Appellate jurisdiction, which is the authority to review cases that have already been heard in lower courts and are appealed to a higher court by a losing party. Nearly all cases that reach the Supreme Court do so after the losing party in lower court asks the court to hear its case. The court issues a Writ of certiorari.
To win any kind of election/re-election candidates must work to please voters. Here in Texas where a majority of people have a strong pro-death penalty stance, judges must also have a strong stance regarding the death penalty if they would like to remain in office. This is concerning because judges will be more likely to seek he death penalty for the convicted so they can create a record of toughness to win over voters. Some elected judges are sometimes of lesser quality than appointed judges in other states, but since they have a record of toughness everything else is thrown out the window. District attorneys also try to maintain a tough reputation as well.
The people who serve are called associate justices. There are 8 of them ,and one leader a total of 9! The leader is called the chief justices are approved by the president and the senate they serve for life .They can only lose their job by impeachment .There are 12 court of appeals , There are 2 important legal concepts. Amendments
Judicial selection is an intriguing topic as there are multiple ways that judges take their seat on the bench. The United States Constitution spells out how federal judges are selected and leaves it up to the individual states to establish their means for selecting judges. In federal courts, judges are appointed and it varies between appointment and election for state courts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between appointments and elections (as well as the multiple types of elections) and to give an opinion as to which is the better alternative. Federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States and are confirmed on the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
Furthermore, the commissioner of Federal Judicial Affairs administers the advisory committees and they represent each province and territory, which examines the qualifications of the lawyers who apply for federal judicial positions. The law states that a candidate for a federal judiciary must have been a lawyer for a minimum of ten years and must be qualified and eligible to practice law in the respective jurisdiction the person has applied for. Judges to the provincial and territorial courts are appointed by the provincial and territorial governments respectively. The eligibility criteria for selection of judges to the judiciary panel are similar for the both provincial and territorial governments. All federally appointed judges are appointed by the Governor in Council.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to judge someone’s fate? This is what a federal judge does almost every day. A federal judge is a person who decides cases in court. While some believe that judges’ have an easy job, it is very stressful. Even though it is a hard job it is a very important role in society and a highly respected occupation.