- Home
- Government
- Departments
- Municipal Court
Municipal Court
Business Hours : Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Excluding Holidays
NOTICE REGARDING MUNICIPAL COURT HEARINGS AND OTHER COURT APPEARANCES
(EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2020)
In compliance with the local, state, and federal response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and in consideration of protecting the health of all members of our community, the City of Southside Place Municipal Court will operate under the following procedures.
Until further notice, many court hearings and other court appearances will be made via Zoom video conferencing platform.
NOTICE: If you have received a citation or other notice to appear in court, it is your responsibility to contact court staff and provide your contact information including email address and telephone number.
Contact with court staff may be made by telephone call to 713-668-2341 or email to court@southsideplacetx.gov
Procedure to Attend Court Hearings via Zoom:
No later than the Thursday prior to your scheduled Zoom court appearance, provide the court staff your contact information, including your email address and telephone number. You may contact the court staff by calling 713-668-2341 or emailing court@southsideplacetx.gov.
Court staff will then send to you, via email, a Zoom video conference link.
At the time of your scheduled court appearance, click on the video conference link emailed to you by court staff.
Once you click on the link, you will be placed into a virtual waiting room. Please be patient, you will likely have to wait for several minutes for admission into the virtual courtroom.
Once your court docket begins, you, along with a number of other people, will be admitted into the virtual courtroom by the court administrator.
(Please note: When admitted into the virtual courtroom, every person’s microphone will be automatically set on Mute. Each person’s microphone will be activated when they are individually addressed by the judge.)
Notice to Attorneys: If you represent a defendant in the City of Southside Municipal Court, you are encouraged to contact the court administrator, Olga Garza prior to your client’s scheduled court appearance and reset your client’s case for an attorney docket.
Goals
The primary goal of the Municipal Court Department is to provide each defendant with a speedy and impartial trial when requested. This task can be accomplished by having a well trained, knowledgeable, and dedicated municipal judge.
Description of Responsibilities
The Municipal Court is the judicial branch of the city government. The Municipal Court helps defendants understand court proceedings and informs defendants of their rights in court. The court includes one municipal judge, one associate judge, and two prosecutors.
The Municipal Court is the legal forum for a person accused of violating the Texas Motor Vehicle Laws, Class C Misdemeanors under the Texas Penal Code and City Ordinances. The court maintains legal documents regarding violations committed in the City of Southside Place jurisdiction, schedules court dates, records court proceedings, collects fines levied by the Municipal Court Judge, issues warrants ordered by the Judge, and handles the proper disposition of each case filed in the court.