County Court at Law

• Accepting pleas in absentia by submission in criminal misdemeanor cases as provided by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42.14
• Conducting proceedings remotely as requested by the parties
• In-person proceedings

The Guadalupe County Court at Law will strictly comply with The Texas Supreme Court’s 18th Emergency Order Regarding the COVID-19 State of Disaster which can be found in its entirety at https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1448109/209080.pdf.

This Court will not be scheduling “in person” hearings until further notice, unless good cause is shown.

Remote Hearing Information (pdf)

This is the link to YouTube for anyone to be able to watch live hearings that are held in this court: YouTube

It is the Order of this court that telephonic hearings will be used to minimize social contact, oaths will be administered telephonically as if in person, documents normally requiring the Clerk to administer an oath will be suspended in favor of private notaries, but only if such document is notarized after testimony is given to the Court in the proceeding, and then e-filed.

Further, in compliance with the Open Courts Doctrine, the Court will institute a live stream hearing so that the proceedings are open to the public. The Court orders that all live stream video hearings shall not be recorded and SHALL be DELETED FOLLOWING the HEARING, leaving the Court Reporter’s record as the official record of the proceeding.

Evidence may be submitted using email for use in hearings.

The Court, in order to safeguard certain persons under guardianship, who are residents of nursing homes, group homes, and assisted living facilities, finds that visits by the Guardian, may occur by alternative means, such as Zoom, Skype, Face Time or by telephone. If the person under guardianship is unable to participate, the Guardian should obtain a status report from staff that has regular contact with the resident. The guardian shall document the no contact order from the facility when filing the annual report. The Court will acknowledge good faith efforts by guardians to stay informed about the health and well-being of persons under guardianship as acceptable during this time.

Finally, all Motions for consideration by this court shall be accompanied by a proposed Order and be submitted no later than three business days prior to the hearing, unless good cause is shown.