§ 15.099.More Than One Justice

A provision about which judge, not which place.

If there is more than one justice of the peace in a precinct or in an incorporated city or town, suit may be brought before any justice of the peace in that precinct, city, or town.

Texas justice precincts can hold more than one justice court, distinguished by place number, and the more populous precincts usually do. Venue identifies the precinct; this section answers what happens once the plaintiff arrives and finds two courts.

The answer is that the plaintiff chooses. There is no rotation, no assignment, and no requirement to justify the selection — any of them will do.

Note the second unit: an incorporated city or town. That is not a precinct, and the section treats it as an alternative basis, which matters where a city's boundaries do not line up with the precinct lines around it.

The section is a convenience rather than a right. Once filed, the case can be moved between precincts under the local rules of administration the justices of the county are required to adopt, and if the chosen justice is disqualified the case goes to the nearest qualified justice in the county.

For a plaintiff the practical value is small but real — courts differ in setting practices and distance, and the section removes any argument that one of them was the wrong door.