TEE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

March 8, 1988 

Honorable Fred G. Rodriguez Opinion No. JM-870 

Criminal District Attorney 

Bexar County Courthouse Re:. Jurisdiction of the 

San Antonio, Texas 78205 statutory probate courts of 

Bexar County to adjudicate 

cases under the Mental 

Health Code, in light of 

recent amendments to former 

article 1970-301e.2, V.T.C.S. 

(RQ-1248) 

Dear Mr. Rodriguez: 

You ask: 

1. Whether amendments to Title 41 of the 

Texas Civil Statutes, relating to County 

courts, the Texas Government Code and the 

Texas Mental Health Code, effective 

September 1, 1987, have divested the 

statutory probate courts of Bexar county, 

Texas of jurisdicti,on to hear and adjudicate 

proceedings brought pursuant to the Texas 

Mental Health Code. 

2. If the statutory probate courts of 

Bexar County, Texas, do have jurisdiction 

over mental health proceedings, whether such 

courts have been divested of statutory 

authority to docket such proceedings. 

You give as the reason for concern about the courts' 

jurisdiction the repeal of article 1970-301e.2, V.T.C.S., 

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, 54.02(a), at 1389, 

effective September 1, 1987. 

Section 18(a) of the repealed statute provided in 

pertinent part: 

The Probate Court No. 1 of Bexar County and 

the Probate Court No. 2 of Bexar County have 

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Honorable Fred G. Rodriguez - Page 2 (JM-870) 

general jurisdiction, concurrent with the 

jurisdiction of the county court, to hear 

and determine all actions, cases, matters, 

or proceedings instituted under: 

(1) The Texas Mental Health Code 

(Article 5547-1, et seq., Vernon's Texas 

Civil Statutes)[.] 

Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 355, 918(a), at 1922. 

You state that a question has arisen as to whether 

Probate Court No. 1 of Bexar County and Probate Court No. 

2 of Bexar County have jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate 

proceedings brought pursuant to article 5547, V.T.C.S. 

The Texas Legislative Council's Revisor's Note on 

chapter 25, subchapter B of the Government Code, at page 

68, makes the following comment relative to the repeal of 

section 18(a) by the 70th Legislature: 

The revised law omits Section 18(a) of 

Article 1970-3Ole.2 relating to additional 

jurisdiction of a statutory probate court 

because the provisions are unnecessary. 

Article 5547-10, Texas Mental Health Code, 

provides that a court having probate jurisdiction has jurisdiction over matters 

contained in .. the Texas Mental Health 

Code. . . . 

Article 5547-10, V.T.C.S. provides: 

The term 'county court' is.used in this 

code [mental health] to mean the 'probate 

court' or the court having probate jurisdiction, and the term 'county judge' means 

the judge of such court. The county court 

shall be open at all times for proceedings 

under this code. 

Article 5547-40, V.T.C.S. states: 

A proceeding pursuant to this subchapter 

[Proceedings for court-ordered mental health 

services] shall be held in the statutory or 

constitutional court of the county exercising the jurisdiction of a probate court in 

mental illness matters. 

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Honorable Fred G. Rodriguez - Page 3 (~~-870) 

In Parsons v. State, 677 S.W.2d 786, 789 (Tex. App. - 

San Antonio 1984, no writ) the court rejected appellant's 

point of error that the probate court was without jurisdiction to hear a case in which appellant was adjudged to 

be mentally ill. The court held: "Jurisdiction is 

expressly conferred by article 5547-40." 

Section 25.0171 of the Government Code, effective 

September 1, 1987, provides in relevant part: 

(b) Bexar County has the following 

statutory probate courts: 

(1) Probate Court No. 1 of Bexar County, 

Texas; and 

(2) Probate Court No. 2 of Bexar County, 

Texas. 

Section 25.0021 of the Government Code, effective 

September 1, 1987, addresses the matter of the 

jurisdiction of a statutory probate court as follows: 

A statutory probate court as that term is 

defined in. Section 3(ii), Texas Probate 

Code, has the general jurisdiction of a probate court as provided by the Texas Probate 

Code. . 

Section 5(c) of the Probate Code provides in 

pertinent part, as follows: 

(c) In those counties where there is a 

statutory probate court, county court at 

law, or other statutory court exercising the 

jurisdiction of a probate court, all applications, petitions and motions regarding 

probate, administrations, guardianships, 

limited guardianships, and mental illness 

matters shall be filed and heard in such 

courts and the constitutional county court, 

rather than in the district courts, unless 

otherwise provided by the legislature, and 

the judges of such courts may hear any of 

such matters sitting for the judge of any 

such courts. (Emphasis added.) 

Statutory Probate Courts of Bexar County have jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate proceedings brought 

pursuant to the Mental Health Code. 

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Honorable Fred G. Rodriguez - Page 4 (JR-870) , 

In your second question you state that a question has 

been raised as to the authority of the statutory probate 

courts of Bexar County to docket mental health proceedings. As was the case in the first question, the basis 

for such position appears to be the repeal of article 

1970-301e.2 by the 70th Legislature. Section 18(b) of the 

statute before the effective date of its repeal provided 

as follows: 

(b) All matters for which the courts have 

jurisdiction under Subsection (a) of this 

section filed with the county clerk, regardless of the court or judge to which the 

matter or proceeding is addressed, shall be 

filed by the clerk alternately in Probate 

Court No. 1 of Bexar County and Probate 

Court No. 2 of Bexar County. Every oddnumbered case shall be filed with Probate 

Court No. 1 of Bexar County and every evennumbered case shall be filed with Probate 

Court No. 2 of Bexar County, but the judges 

of the statutory probate courts and the 

county judge may determine another manner 

for filing cases. The clerk shall keep a 

separate docket for each court. 

&g Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 355, 518(b), at 1922. 

The Texas Legislative Council's Revisor's Note on 

chapter 25, subchapter B of the Government Code, at page 

67, states: 

The revised law omits language in Sections 17(b), 18 (b) , and 19(b) of Article 

1970-301e.2 because specific filing and 

docketing requirements were impliedly 

repealed by the Court Administration Act 

(Article 200a-1, Vernon's Texas Civil 

Statutes). Section 5.003(b)(l) of that Act 

requires the district and county court 

judges in each county to adopt rules 

providing for the assignment, docketing, 

transfer, and hearing of cases. 

The Court Administration Act is now recodified in the 

Government Code and the above provision relating to 

docketing of cases is found in section 74.093 of that 

code. It provides in pertinent part: 

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Honorable Fred G. Rodriguez - Page 5 (JM-870) 

(a) The district and statutory county 

court judges in each county shall, by 

majority votes, adopt local rules of administration. 

(b) The rules must provide for: 

(1) assignment, docketing, transfer, 

and hearing of all cases, subject to jurisdictional limitations of the district 

courts and statutory county courts. 

Gov't Code 974.093. Thus, the district and statutory 

county court judges *lshallll adopt rules providing for the 

docketing of mental health proceedings in the statutory 

probate courts. 

The statutory probate courts of Bexar County have 

jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate proceedings brought 

pursuant to the Texas Mental Health Code. 

SUMMARY 

The statutory probate courts of Bexar 

County have jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate proceedings brought pursuant to the 

Texas Mental Health Code. The statutory 

probate courts of Bexar County have not been 

divested of statutory authority to docket 

cases. 

Very truly yo , J A A& 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARY KELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

LOU MCCREARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Tom G. Davis 

Assistant Attorney General 

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