Duties & Responsibilities
A Justice of the Peace has the authority to:
- Administer oaths
- Conduct preliminary hearings
- Issue warrants for search and arrest
- Death inquest
- Conduct administrative hearings and various other court procedures
- Serve as a trial court judge for Class C misdemeanors and Civil Suits and Small Claims
- Perform marriages
Civil Suits
The Justice Court also functions as a small claims court in which the jurisdiction is $20,000 or less, monetary only, in civil matters in which exclusive jurisdiction is not in district or county court and the amount in controversy does not exceed $20,000 monetary and/or property, with the exclusion of real estate. This also includes eviction suits.
Precincts
There are five Justice of the Peace precincts: