District Clerk Civil Filing Fees & District Court Civil Suits

The list of District Clerk Civil Filing Fees [pdf] details the 32 separate filing fees that may possibly be assessed by district clerks in civil suits. The list details the following seven characteristics of each of the 32 fees:

1. name
2. source
   (i.e.,statutory authority)
3. amount
4. statewide
   (i.e., is the fee applicable statewide or only in certain counties)
5. applicability
   (i.e., is the fee applicable in all civil suits or only in certain suits)
6. local option
   (i.e., is the assessment of the fee and/or the amount of the fee dictated by a county commissioners court or other local actor)
7. destination
   (i.e., the entity that receives the fee and/or the purpose for which the fee money may be spent)

Not all of the 32 fees will be assessed in any given case. Some of the fees are applicable only in certain types of suits and in certain counties. For example, Fee 24 (the Wichita County Adoption Suit Fee) is a $100 fee that must be assessed upon the filing of any new adoption suit in Wichita County. The fee may not be assessed in any other county. Nor may the fee be assessed in Wichita County upon the filing of any suit other than an adoption suit.

The schedule of District Court Civil Suits and Actions [pdf] has been prepared as an aid in determining the filing fees that must or may be assessed in a particular type of civil suit or action. The schedule sets forth each type of civil suit or action that has a unique set of filing fees. The schedule is divided among (1) Independent Civil Suits (e.g., delinquent tax suits); (2) Actions Within Independent Civil Suits (e.g., counterclaims); and (3) Independent Civil Actions with no Filing Fees (e.g., minor’s applications for an order authorizing an abortion without parental notice). Each of the three foregoing categories is then further divided between family-law suits/actions and non-family-law suits/actions.

Please note that most civil suits will be classified as "Civil Suits (General)." In other words, there will be no listing for tort suits, contract suits, injunction suits, etc. The filing fees will be the same in all of these suits. Therefore, there is no need to list these suits separately. Suits are listed separately if the fees for filing the suits differ from the filing fees for civil suits generally. Accordingly, delinquent tax suits (for example) are listed separately because the filing fees differ from the filing fees in general civil suits.

The schedule shows a fee range for every type of suit. For example, the fee range for an annulment suit in a case involving children (Suit I.B.3.) is from $167.02 to $318.00. The actual total filing fee for a certain type of civil suit in a particular county depends on decisions that are made by local government actors such as the county commissioners court or the district clerk.

The Office of Court Administration welcomes your questions on civil filing fees. Please feel free to contact:

Ted Wood
Assistant General Counsel
Office of Court Administration
(512) 936-1183
ted.wood@courts.state.tx.us