EXECUTIVE ORDERS

On June 29, the Texas Supreme Court extended its previous order which now requires courts to extend all deadlines for filing cases (such as statute of limitations) or deadlines for serving citations in civil cases that fell between March 13 and August 1 until September 15. This order does not prohibit filing cases or service of citations and does not affect filing deadlines within cases, such as answer deadlines.

The order signed on June 29 also extended all jury proceedings until September 1, unless all of the following requirements are met:

• The judge must request the jury proceeding.
• Adequate social distancing and other precautions must be taken to ensure the health and safety of court staff, parties, attorneys, jurors, and the public.
• All parties must consent to the proceeding, and all reasonable steps must be taken to protect their statutory and constitutional rights.
• All jurors must be admonished to ensure no outside influence is present, and proper attention by jurors is given (especially appropriate in remote proceeings).
• Jurors may not be permitted or required to appear remotely unless the court ensures that all potential and selected jurors have access to technology to participate remotely. This can be accomplished either at home or by having the jurors appear at a court-controlled remote location instead of the courtroom or at home.
  
• OCA must be permitted to observe the processes to help develop best practice reports.