Criminal eFile Mandate
By Sheri Woodfin, Tom Green County District Clerk
The Supreme Court of Texas, acting concurrently with the Court of Criminal Appeals, amended the Statewide Rules Governing Electronic Filing in Criminal Cases on Feb. 13 and 14, 2017. The Supreme Court of Texas (Misc. Docket No. 17-9017) and the Court of Criminal Appeals (Misc. Docket No. 17-002) adopted amendments to the criminal statewide eFile rules that incorporated the revisions and set out the final version of the rules, which went into effect May 1, 2017.
The original mandate (Misc. Docket No. 16-003) provides the following mandate dates for counties.
- Courts in counties with a population of 500, 000 or more – July 1, 2017
- Courts in counties with a population of 200,000 to 499,999 – Jan. 1, 2018
- Courts in counties with a population 100,000 to 199,999 – July 1, 2018
- Courts in counties with a population 50,000 to 99,999 – Jan. 1, 2019
- Courts in counties with a population 20,000 to 49,999 – July 1, 2019
- Courts in counties with a population of less than 20,000 – Jan. 1, 2020
Efforts to bring counties live with Criminal eFile are well ahead of schedule, with 148 counties currently accepting Criminal eFile as of press time; this includes many counties who have not reached their mandatory date.
Criminal eFile is mandatory for attorneys, which includes county and district attorneys. The mandate does not include adult probation or any other agency that may file documents with the court. However, these types of agencies are permissive eFilers and are encouraged to submit their documents to the court through the eFiletexas.gov system.
Criminal eFile standards have been included in the technology standards formulated by the Judicial Committee on Information Technology (JCIT) and approved by the Supreme Court. This provides a platform of case types and documents types to assist the filer.
4.6 Criminal Cases – District and County Courts
4.6.1.1 Case Categories/Types
| Case Category Code | Case Type Codes | |
| Criminal – Misdemeanor | Appeal from a Lower Court | |
| Misdemeanor | ||
| Misdemeanor A | ||
| Misdemeanor B | ||
| Misdemeanor C | ||
| Magistrate Case | ||
| Occupational Driver’s License | ||
| Writ – Other | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – Other | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – 11.07 | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – 11.072 | ||
| Criminal – Felony | Appeal from a Lower Court | |
| Acquittal Expunction | ||
| Capital Felony | ||
| Felony | ||
| Felony 1 | ||
| Felony 2 | ||
| Felony 3 | ||
| Felony – State Jail | ||
| Magistrate Case | ||
| Occupational Driver’s License | ||
| Sexual Predator (Health & Safety Code 841) | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – Other | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – 11.07 and 11.071 | ||
| Writ – Habeas Corpus – 11.072 |
4.6.2 Filing Types
| New Case | Subsequent Filings |
| Complaint
Indictment Information Petition Transfer Case (County Use Only) |
Amended Filing
Amended Filing for Occupational Driver’s License Affidavit     Answer/Response Application Bill of Review Bond Election as to Punishment Letters Motion Motion for New Trial Motion to Revoke Probation/Adjudicate Guilt No Fee Documents Notice Notice of Non-Disclosure Pleas Proposed Order Reinstatement with Cost Request Report/Return Sanctions Toward Effective Probation (STEP) Statement of Facts Form Subpoena/Summons Warrants Writs |
4.7 Criminal Cases – Justice of the Peace
4.7.1 Case Categories/Types
| Case Category Code | Case Type Codes |
| Criminal | Complaint |
| Citation |
4.7.2 Filing Types
| New Case | Subsequent Filings |
| Petition
Transfer Case (County Use Only) |
Affidavit
Application Bond Motion Notice Other Documents Not Listed Pleas Proposed Order Request Subpoena/Summons Warrants Writs |
Although Criminal eFile brings its unique challenges, the most difficult challenges for counties relate to creating and adopting processes to become as paperless as possible. There are many documents within criminal cases that are generated and required at the time of a hearing. Court efficiencies are definitely a priority and may still require paper being generated in court vs. being eFiled to accommodate the judge, attorneys, and court proceedings.
Counties continue to work on innovative ideas and develop procedures to be as effective and efficient as possible. For more information on Criminal eFile go to: eFiletexas.gov.
| Group 1 – Jul. 2017
8 of 8 Live (100 percent) 500,000 or more |
| Group 2 – Jan. 2018
15 of 15 Live (100 percent) 200,000 or 499,999 |
| Group 3 – Jul. 2018
16 of 16 Live (100 percent) 100,000 or 199,999 |
| Group 4 – Jan. 2019
22 of 24 (92 percent) 50,000 or 99,999 |
| Group 5 – Jul. 2019
49 of 56 Live (88 percent) 20,000 or 49,999 |
| Group 6 – Jan. 2020
38 of 136 Live (28 percent) 20,000 or less
|