Angelina County, Texas (159th and 217th Judicial District Courts): Amended Standing Order…
Judges Todd L. Kassaw (159th) and Kristi C. Skillern (217th) · 159th and 217th Judicial District Courts of Angelina County, Texas
Verified October 1, 2026
- Citation
- Amended Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (159th and 217th Judicial District Courts, Angelina County, Texas)
- Order date
- September 3, 2026
Summary
The amended order 'applies to every pending or hereafter filed case in the District Courts of Angelina County.'
What does the order require?
- The amended order 'applies to every pending or hereafter filed case in the District Courts of Angelina County.'
- 'All self-represented litigants and attorneys who utilize any form of artificial intelligence for legal research, drafting, or analysis in connection with a case before this Court shall, before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the attached certification form, stating that:'
- 'All language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative artificial intelligence were, before submission, verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources by a human being'; and that the filer 'understands and acknowledges that they are and will be held responsible and potentially sanctioned for their own, their staff's, or their co-counsel's failure to comply with this Order.'
- The Exhibit A form acknowledges possible sanctions 'under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 10, the inherent power of the Court, or for contempt of court.'
- The original order of September 3, 2026 instead required a sworn 'Verification Regarding Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence', in bold, in any pleading prepared with generative AI, and barred AI-altered evidence and entering confidential information into AI.
Practice areas: state civil, state criminal, state family
What the amended order requires
On September 25, 2026, Judges Todd L. Kassaw (159th District Court) and Kristi C. Skillern (217th District Court) signed an Amended Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (Angelina Cnty. Dist. Cts. Sept. 25, 2026). It “applies to every pending or hereafter filed case in the District Courts of Angelina County.”
Its operative paragraph: “All self-represented litigants and attorneys who utilize any form of artificial intelligence for legal research, drafting, or analysis in connection with a case before this Court shall, before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the attached certification form, stating that:
- All language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative artificial intelligence were, before submission, verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources by a human being; and
- The attorney or self-represented litigant submitting such information understands and acknowledges that they are and will be held responsible and potentially sanctioned for their own, their staff’s, or their co-counsel’s failure to comply with this Order.”
The Exhibit A certification form acknowledges possible sanctions “under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 10, the inherent power of the Court, or for contempt of court.”
The September 3 order
The courts’ first order, the Standing Order for 159th and 217th District Courts on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Sept. 3, 2026), substantially followed the 457th District Court’s order. It ordered “any attorney or self-represented litigant who chooses to use Generative AI in their work product, research, or drafting must include the following verification in bold in their pleadings”: a sworn Verification Regarding Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence that lists the AI programs used. A pleading without it “will not be considered by the Court.” It also prohibited entering confidential information into generative AI and using AI to create or alter evidence. The amended order, signed three weeks later, does not carry those provisions.
Posting
Under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 3a(c), “To be effective, local rules, forms, and standing orders must be published on the Office of Court Administration’s website.” The OCA local-rules portal lists the original order as posted September 4, 2026, and the amended order as posted September 28, 2026.
Related orders
The original order substantially follows the 457th District Court’s order. The amended order’s text follows the order of the district courts of Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Refugio and Victoria Counties.
Primary sources
How this order changed
Dated record of this order's own lifecycle. Where it was amended or withdrawn, the badge shows its standing after that step.
- activeJudges Todd L. Kassaw and Kristi C. Skillern sign the Standing Order for 159th and 217th District Courts on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, substantially the text of the 457th District Court's April 1, 2026 order. source
- amendedThe same judges sign an Amended Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence, which replaces the sworn in-pleading verification with a signed certification form verifying AI content against traditional (non-AI) legal sources. source