TJCTC Updates 10.28.2025

Educational Opportunities and Legislative Updates

This edition of Updates includes a special Constable’s Corner and training opportunities, including registration information for TJCTC’s upcoming Justice of the Peace Evictions Workshop this fall and the final webinar in a series of webinars from the Texas State Bar about legislative updates.

We also included some information about an exciting NCSC project that could be really helpful for rural courts.

NCSC Legal Deserts Problem-Solving Project

Is your county a legal desert (a rural area where there isn’t enough legal help for those who need it)? Your court may be the perfect candidate for this new NCSC project providing support and resources to partner courts to help solve problems related to the lack of legal resources.

Don’t wait, look at the website now, because the priority application deadline is November 3, 2025!

Learn More and Apply

Constable’s Corner

TCOLE Training Requirement Reminder

In addition to the continuing basic requirements for a licensed peace officer, constables and their deputies require additional training each 4-year TCOLE cycle including training from LEMIT and TJCTC.

Constable-Specific

Newly Elected Constables:
Must complete Newly Elected Constable training (#3742 – does not include any
ALERRT training hours) thru LEMIT within 2 years of first appointment as Constable.

Constable Continuing Education:
Must complete Continuing Education for Constables (#3743) thru LEMIT each 4-
year training cycle thereafter. The course includes 8 hours of ALERRT training. You
will be required to complete an additional 8 hours of ALERRT training to meet the
16-hour legislative requirement.

Civil Process:
Must complete Civil Process (#1415) through the Justices of the Peace and
Constables of Texas (JPCA) from the Texas Justice Court Training Center (TJCTC)
at Texas State University each 4-year training cycle.

To see the full list of training required for peace officers, including constables and deputies, review THE BRIEFING from TCOLE that came out this October.

HB 5081 Confidential Information for Judges & Court Staff Online

HB 5081 amended the Government Code Chapter 92 to protect the information of “At-Risk Individuals” (which includes judges, clerks, and employees of courts) on public websites. The legislature passed this bill to help protect the privacy and safety of those that run our courts.

To learn more, read the bill online or review the slides on the TJCTC Legislative Updates Page.

Judges, Don’t Miss the Evictions Workshop this Fall!

This judge’s-only workshop will cover all of the new changes to the evictions laws as well as include interactive scenarios about how they will be implemented when they go into effect January 1, 2026.

November 12-14, 2025 via Zoom

Don’t worry, there will be additional workshops and classes for court personnel and constables next spring and summer.

Register Here: Justice of the Peace Virtual Evictions Workshop

State Bar Justice Court Section Webinar

Justice Court Section Legislative Update Part III: All Other Topics

Friday, November 7, 2025, Noon – 1:00 pm CDT

1 Hour MCLE Credit

This final webinar in the series will cover a variety of bills from the most recent legislative session, excluding SB 38 and SB 1333, which were covered in earlier sessions.

Presenter: Rebecca Glisan, TJCTC Director of Curriculum & Staff Attorney

This webinar is welcome to anyone who wants to join!

Note, this webinar is sponsored by the Texas State Bar Justice Court Section and is not an official TJCTC webinar.

January 22, 2025

Law & Literature

Are you interested in combining your love of reading and learning about your job?

If this sounds like fun to you, join our new book club!

This spring, we will host the first Law & Literature Webinar to discuss the book Maid that intersects the art of storytelling and the legal field.

Judge Brad Cummings from Hopkins County and TJCTC Attorney John Lackey will lead the discussion regarding the book.

We didn’t forget the TV and movie lovers out there, there is also Netflix series based on the book.

Read, watch, and come for a lively discussion about Maid.

Webinar Details:

Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 2:00 pm

More about Maid

from Goodreads:

At 28, Stephanie Land’s plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. “I’d become a nameless ghost,” Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients’ lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her writing as a journalist gives voice to the “servant” worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie’s story, but it’s not her alone.

This is a New York Times bestselling book available in most public libraries as well as most online book retailers. We have provided a few links to purchase the book below, but don’t want to discourage you from finding it at your local libraries or bookstores!

Link to the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Maid-Hard-Work-Mothers-Survive/dp/0316505110/ref=asc_df_0316505110?mcid=4ecc3ebbe4bd3262b6a96a90ad77eb14&hvocijid=16818213392936180214-0316505110-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16818213392936180214&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9193624&hvtargid=pla-2281435178298&psc=1

Link to the book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maid-stephanie-land/1128617437

Link to the book on Half Price Books: https://www.hpb.com/maid-hard-work-low-pay-and-a-mothers-will-to-survive/P-15470508-USED.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=HPB_PMAX_ECOM&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAnKi8BhB0EiwA58DA4QR2ID7B9zpBolJmrQs2XiycyzQZpoDq3mw4r0-CSwUVJ0ZE7y7XTBoCRXsQAvD_BwE

Link to the TV series on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81166770

August 22, 2024August 22, 2024

Online Education Update

Hot Off the Press!

The new Truant Conduct Self-Paced Module went live last night. You can find this module and several other new ones on TJCTC’s Self Paced Module Page.

Did you miss other online learning opportunities released this academic year?

Modules:

Unidentified Bodies Toolkit

Deferred Disposition and DSC Dismissals

Interpreters and Spanish Legal Terminology

Occupational Driver License (ODL)

Find these on TJCTC’s Self-Paced Module Page.

Recordings for Credit:

Juvenile Criminal Diversions *hot topic*

Texas Demographic Trends and Characteristics

Cannabis Legalization and the Impacts on Impaired Driving

2024 Family Violence Update

Have you Heard of TMORT

Mental Health Resources for Judges

Find these on TJCTC’s Recordings for Credit Page.

Happy Learning!

-The TJCTC Team