Arraignment

Friday morning Criminal Arraignment Dockets are IN-PERSON. All Defendants and Attorneys are expected to appear in-person at 8:30 a.m., as per the Defendant’s bonding paperwork. Electronic Reset will no longer be accepted.

At the Criminal Arraignment Docket, the Court will implement a Criminal Docket Control Order (“DCO”) in all criminal cases scheduled for arraignment. All dockets applicable to the Defendant’s case will be entered on the DCO. Access to the virtual status conference hearing can be obtained through the QR Code located on the DCO. The Defendant’s failure to appear at a DCO scheduled hearing may result in the issuing of a capias and/or forfeiting of the Defendant’s bond.

Plea Dockets

If an attorney wishes to plea a Defendant on a date not listed on the DCO, please contact the Court Coordinator, Sarah Toler, for available dates. Defense Counsel is expected to have all paperwork completed prior to the plea date. The plea paperwork may be turned in prior to the plea date or at the time of the hearing. Failure to complete the paperwork prior to the plea docket shall result in the case being removed from the plea docket. If the Defendant fails to finally dispose of the matter at a plea docket, the DCO shall remain in place and the Defendant is expected to appear at all DCO scheduled hearings. The Defendant’s failure to appear at a DCO scheduled hearing may result in the issuing of a capias and/or forfeiting of the Defendant’s bond.

Jury Trial Dockets

Jury trials are scheduled on designated days.  Pre-trial conferences will be held on all cases set for trial.  All parties will appear for the Pre-Trial Conference in-person.  All motions filed in the cause will be heard at the Pre-Trial Conference.  The Court will accept pleas at the Pre-Trial Conference, but plea paperwork must be completed in accordance with the procedure stated in the above Pleas/Non-Issue Dockets section.

MAG and MRP Dockets

MAG and MRP dockets are scheduled by Judge Christopher G. Morales on Friday mornings.  MAG and MRP dockets will be held in-person, unless otherwise noted by the Court. 

Jail Docket

The Jail Arraignment Docket is heard by Judge Christopher G. Morales on Friday mornings at 9:00 A.M. The deadline for attorneys to schedule an inmate on the docket is 12:00 PM on the Wednesday preceding Friday’s docket. To schedule a hearing, please contact the Court Coordinator, Sarah Toler.  

Court Appointed Attorneys

In accordance with the County Courts at Law’s recent policy changes regarding attorney fee vouchers, all attorneys will electronically submit their fee vouchers.