Judicial Council Monthly
Court Activity Reports
Sandra Mabbett
Judicial Information Analyst
Office of Court Administration
Texas Judicial Council
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Texas Judicial Council: policymaking body for the
judicial branch, consists of 22 judicial, legislative, and
citizen members
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Since 1929, one its primary duties has been to gather
judicial statistics from judges and other court officials
(Government Code section 71.035(a))
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Judicial Council, assisted by OCA, is the only entity that
collects comprehensive statistics on the operation of the
Texas courts
Legal Requirements
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Texas Government Code, Chapter 71,
Section 71.035(b): Judge/Clerk must submit
monthly report as duty of office
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Texas Administrative Code, Sections 171.1 &
171.2: Report is due no later than the 20th of
each month (e.g., report for July is due August
20)
Publications
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Court Activity Reporting and Directory
System http://card.txcourts.gov
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Texas Judicial System Annual Report
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/annualreports.asp
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Published Texas Judicial System Directory
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/JudDir.asp
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Searchable Texas Judicial System Directory
http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx
Resources
OCA Website
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/ocahome.asp
Required Reporting Website
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp
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Forms
Instructions
Frequently Asked Questions
XML Specifications and XML Tester
Spreadsheet with DPS codes classified by OCA
case category
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp
Judicial Directory
http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx
Statistical Reports
http://www.txcourts.gov/pubs/annual-reports.asp
Clerk Manuals and Handbooks
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/pubs-home.asp#FilingFees
Report Submission
Monthly Court Activity Report
Report must be submitted online, unless you have a
waiver from OCA.
Contact OCA’s Service Desk:
(512) 463-1642
Or
service.desk@txcourts.gov
to obtain a User ID and password or for password resets
On-Line Submission of the Monthly
Report is Required
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The reporting rules in the Administrative
Code only allow for a waiver of ONLINE
reporting.
The waiver provision applies only to courts
who wish to continue mailing or faxing their
reports to our office.
Everyone is still required to submit a
report.
Requesting a Waiver from reporting
on-line
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Will be for valid through the end of the
current state fiscal year (August 31st)
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Must be submitted in writing by fax, email or
mail
CARD – Court Activity and
Reporting Directory System
http://card.txcourts.gov
CARD – Court Activity and
Reporting Directory System
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Anyone (no login required) can access reports
containing the most up to date data and also
search the directory
Courts login and submit the monthly reports
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Electronically via XML report, or
Data Entry
Run Reports without a login ID
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Reports are separated by revision date
Formatted reports or ad hoc searches available
A Login ID is not needed to access public
information.
Public Court Activity Data:
New Data (District/County Courts for 9/1/10 and later &
Justice/Municipal Courts for 9/1/11 and later):
Old Data (District/County Courts Prior to 9/1/10 &
Justice/Municipal Courts Prior to 9/1/11):
Run Reports
Ad Hoc Search
Directory Search
http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx
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Click on Public Judicial Directory
CARD – Court Activity and
Reporting Directory System
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For additional information on
running reports or searching the
directory, refer to the separate
handouts provided
Report Submission Reminders
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A report must be submitted for EACH month,
even if court had no activity
If a section of a report was submitted for one
month, it must be submitted for every month,
even if there is no activity to report
Report Submission Reminders
Document DOCUMENT DOCUMENT!!!!
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Use the Notes Section at the bottom of each section to
account for unusual or inconsistent reporting figures such as
 Large docket adjustments after validation of pending
case numbers
 Large number of dismissals when prosecutor clears old
cases from docket
 Higher or lower number of cases reported in a category
due to unusual circumstance
Report Submission Reminders
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Accuracy of report should be verified - don’t
assume your software gets it right!
We recommend that you review and compare
the submitted report to a printed copy of the
report from your software both when
originally submitting a report or when
submitting corrected reports
Instances where the two reports do not match
have surfaced with no known cause as of yet
Report Submission Reminders
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Reports that are out of balance should be
corrected before submitting any
subsequent months
Report Submission Reminders
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Keep copies of any reports run from
your system for a minimum of 2 years
Reviewing the Monthly Report for
the Most Common Errors
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Look for filings, docket adjustments,
dispositions, or pending case numbers that are
too low, too high, or that do not make any
sense. A typo may have been entered, or a set
of figures may have been entered into the
wrong line. Errors are especially common in
the Revenue line.
Reviewing the Monthly Report for
the Most Common Errors
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Docket Adjustments – is an explanation
needed?
Uncontested Dispositions vs. Trials
Compliance Dismissals – missing or
obviously too low or too high
All Other Dispositions – only used for
judgments not clearly identified in another
category
Reviewing the Monthly Report for
the Most Common Errors
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Ratio of filings to dispositions
If judge does magistrate warnings or arrest
warrants, are they present?
Community Service and Jail Credit – are you
reporting only when case is satisfied in full?
Reviewing the Monthly Report for
the Most Common Errors
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Refer to the report instructions at
www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp
Contact your software vendor if obvious
programming issues are found
Contact OCA if you have questions or need
our assistance
Making Corrections to Reports
After Your Review
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Corrections may be made to any report
beginning with the month of September 2011
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Corrections must be made to individual
months – one correction to a month to add,
subtract or correct data may not be made
Making Corrections to Reports
After Your Review
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Corrections must be made sequentially,
starting with the oldest month first
Corrections may be made by uploading a new
XML file or by manually changing the
number(s) regardless of how the report was
initially submitted
OCA can delete reports or sections
Upcoming Changes to
the Civil Section
Changes to Civil Section
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House Bill 79 abolishes the small claims court
effective August 31, 2013
House Bill 79 does not abolish small claims
cases
The current small claims case docket and all
other justice court case docket will be
consolidated into one civil justice court
docket
Changes to Civil Section
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Cases in the categories of Small Claims Suits
and Other civil Suits filed prior to September
1, 2013 will all be placed in the Small Claims
Suits category on the new form and must be
disposed of in that category
Cases filed after September 1, 2013 must be
separated by the new categories
Changes to Civil Section
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New form effective September 1, 2013
Form, Instructions and Civil Case Information
Sheet found on the Required Reporting
Website
Changes to Civil Section
Current
New effective 9/1/2013
Civil Case Information Sheet
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New and effective with the revision to the
report on 9/1/2013
Assists the court in identifying the proper case
category in which to place cases
Is required to be completed by the plaintiff or
the plaintiff’s attorney at the time of filing of
a petition
Questions
Sandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analyst
sandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov
(512)463-1640 phone
(512) 936-2423 fax
Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Manager
angela.garcia@txcourts.gov
(512) 936-1358 phone
Questions
Sandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analyst
sandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov
(512)463-1640 phone
(512) 936-2423 fax
Katherine Martinez, Judicial Information Specialist
katherine.martinez@txcourts.gov
(512)463-3789
Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Manager
angela.garcia@txcourts.gov
(512) 936-1358 phone