§ 61.021.Who May Issue

Who may issue the writ, and the list is wider than the significance of the remedy suggests.

The judge or clerk of a district court, a county court, or the business court or a justice of the peace may issue a writ of original attachment returnable to the court of issuance.

A clerk may issue it. That is the striking feature — a writ authorising seizure of property before any adjudication can be issued by a court officer rather than a judge.

The protections lie elsewhere in the chapter. The affidavit must state the general and specific grounds, and a bond with two sureties must be executed and approved before the writ issues.

A justice of the peace may also issue one, which places the remedy in the courts handling the smallest civil claims.

The business court appears because the list was updated when that court was created, and the same addition was made to the garnishment chapter.

"Returnable to the court of issuance" fixes where the writ answers. The officer executing it returns it to the court that issued it, which is the court in which the suit is pending.

That follows from the pending-suit requirement. Attachment is ancillary, so the issuing court is the one with the case.

The word "original" distinguishes this writ from others — an original attachment is the writ that begins the seizure, as opposed to process that follows a judgment.