§ 151.010.Restrictions

The restriction that keeps private trials out of public facilities.

The trial may not be held in a public courtroom. Parties who arranged a private trial hold it in private space.

A public employee may not be involved during regular working hours. Court staff time is public time.

Both restrictions follow from Section 151.009(c), which forbids any public money being spent on the trial. A courtroom and a clerk are public money in another form.

The referring judge can lift the restrictions. The section opens with "unless otherwise ordered by the referring judge," leaving room for a court that sees a reason.

The provision also answers a fairness objection. Public courtrooms should not have a queue that can be skipped by paying a private judge.

What remains public is the outcome. The verdict stands as the referring court’s verdict under Section 151.011, and the case returns to a public docket.

The default is a private setting — a law office, a conference room, or wherever the parties arranged under Section 151.002.

The judge’s power to order otherwise handles the odd case. A courtroom sitting empty during a designated week is not always a misuse of public resources, and the referring judge decides.