Studies & Special Reports

As part of Rider 15 of the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) appropriation pattern (2024-2025 General Appropriations Act (HB 1, 88th Legislature, Regular Session)), the Office of Court Administration (OCA) was charged with assessing the staffing levels and salaries of court personnel across Texas.

As part of Senate Bill 48 passed during the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature (2023), the Office of Court Administration (OCA) was charged with evaluating the efficacy of protective orders in Texas.

The last time a judicial workload assessment was completed for Texas was in 2007 with a focus on District Courts only. Senate Bill 891 passed during the 86th regular legislative session and directed OCA to contract with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to conduct a study of the caseload of district and county courts in Texas.

Since November 1, 2015, the Office of Court Administration (OCA) began managing the Guardianship Compliance Project to provide additional resources to courts handling guardianship cases.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court of Texas' Twenty-Second Emergency Order Relating to the COVID-19 State of Disaster, the Office of Court Administration details its observations on the limited number of jury trials held under the Court's Emergency Orders and recommendations for resuming jury trial proceedings during the pandemic.

The 85th Legislature's Senate Bill 1326 directed OCA to collect and report on information “regarding outcomes of participants in specialty courts who are persons with mental illness, including recidivism rates of those participants, and other relevant information as determined by the office.”

The 85th Legislature’s Senate Bill 47 directed OCA to study the ways non-traffic fine-only (Class C) misdemeanor records are held in Texas.

A person who is placed under guardianship loses civil rights, personal decision-making power, and the authority to control their own money and assets.

The 85th Legislature’s House Bill 1204 directed the Office of Court Administration to conduct a study on the use of the terms “juvenile,” “child,” and “minor” throughout the criminal justice and juvenile justice statutes of Texas and the varying definitions assigned to those terms.

In October 2016, the Texas Judicial Council’s Criminal Justice Committee reviewed the evidence and produced a report advocating expansion of risk-informed release and personal bond. The report includes the eight recommendations.