§ 155.006.Funding; Cooperation with Other Organizations

The funding and coordination provision, and the funding half is modest by design.

No new money is appropriated. The administrative judge may use available funding from funds regularly used for court administration.

Settlement weeks are cheap because the mediators are unpaid. Section 155.003 draws them from the licensed bar, and what remains is space, scheduling and notice.

Cooperation is a duty, not an option. The administrative judge shall cooperate with the director of any established mediation or dispute resolution center, the local bar, and other organizations.

Two purposes are named: encouraging participation, and developing public awareness of settlement weeks.

Public awareness is what fills the week. Parties with pending cases have to know the opportunity exists before they can use it.

The organizations named are the ones with capacity. A county dispute resolution center under Chapter 152 and the local bar between them can reach most of the lawyers and litigants in the county.

The funding provision is permissive and modest. An administrative judge may draw on court administration money, and the chapter creates no new source.

Awareness is the recurring problem these weeks face. A settlement week works only if the lawyers with pending cases plan for it, which is why the cooperation duty names the local bar first among the partners.