At an Oct. 6 jury-docket call, Judge Amy Clark Meacham of Travis County Civil District Court told litigators that recent legislative and administrative reporting requirements have made it “very, very difficult” for judges in urban counties to grant continuances.
Meacham said the legislature has increased the frequency and detail of reports judges must file about continuances, creating an administrative burden that reduces judicial flexibility. “When I started this job 15 years ago, there was one monthly report. Now there’s something like 17 reports we have to do,” she said during the docket call.
The judge described practical consequences: courts must log each continuance and produce monthly reports that she said shape how judges respond to requests. She warned attorneys that the era of informal or “pocket” continuances has largely ended in major urban counties and said that courts now must follow rules of judicial administration when a case is also set in another county.
Meacham also reminded parties of a Travis County local rule requiring parties to attempt alternative dispute resolution (ADR) once a case reaches the jury-trial stage unless a judge relieves them of that obligation. “If you have not complied with your local rule, the court reserves the right to sua sponte reset you,” she said.
Court administration staffer Jacob Stokes, director of court management, was identified as the point of contact for docket scheduling and reassignment questions; Meacham urged attorneys to email him if they wanted alternative settings off an active October docket.
The judge said she will consider continuance motions individually and contact other judges’ administrators where conflicts arise, and she warned parties that widespread continuance filings at the start of the docket can delay the entire call because courts must take a record when ruling on each request.