Texas (21st and 335th Judicial Districts: Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties): Standi…
Judge Carson Campbell (21st District) and Judge John D. Winkelmann (335th District) · 21st and 335th Judicial District Courts of Burleson, Lee, and Washington County, Texas
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (21st and 335th Judicial District Courts of Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties)
- Order date
- March 19, 2025
Summary
'All attorneys and self-represented litigants who utilize any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in connection with a case shall before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding sign and submit the attached form.'
What does the order require?
- 'All attorneys and self-represented litigants who utilize any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in connection with a case shall before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding sign and submit the attached form.'
- The certification covers all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI; these must be verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources by an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas before submission.
- The certification states that the signer understands they are and will be held responsible and potentially sanctioned for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply.
- The order states no sanctions provision of its own; its recitals invoke the court's inherent power to sanction violations of rules, orders, standing orders, and statutory obligations.
- Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 3a(c) provides: 'To be effective, local rules, forms, and standing orders must be published on the Office of Court Administration's website.' As of 2026-09-30 this order was posted on the OCA local-rules site for Burleson and Lee Counties but not for Washington County, which it also covers.
Practice areas: state civil
What the order requires
The 21st and 335th Judicial District Courts of Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties signed this joint standing order on March 19, 2025 (filed March 26, 2025). It applies to all causes filed in the District Clerk’s Office in Burleson County, Lee County, or Washington County, Texas.
Before using any AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, attorneys and self-represented litigants must sign and submit the attached certification form. The certification confirms two things:
- All language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources by a Texas-licensed attorney before submission.
- The signer understands they are and will be held responsible, and potentially sanctioned, for their or their co-counsel’s failure to comply.
The order recites that courts have inherent power to sanction parties for violations and may direct a court participant to show cause why their conduct has not violated a rule or order.
Scope
The order binds attorneys and self-represented litigants in cases filed in three Texas counties: Burleson, Lee, and Washington. The 21st and 335th Judicial District Courts share these counties, so a single joint order covers both courts.
Practitioner workflow
Firms with matters in any of these three counties may wish to keep the certification with brief templates for filings that used AI in legal research or drafting. The order requires the certification before AI-generated information is used in a court submission or proceeding; it does not say whether one certification per case suffices. Read literally, the certification requires verification by an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, which a self-represented litigant cannot supply personally. All posted copies omit the certification form itself.
Posting on the OCA local-rules site
Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 3a(c) provides: “To be effective, local rules, forms, and standing orders must be published on the Office of Court Administration’s website.” As of September 30, 2026, this order was posted on the Office of Court Administration’s local-rules site (TOPICs) for Burleson and Lee Counties (both 03/26/2025) but not for Washington County, which it also covers. This page reports these facts without drawing a conclusion about the order’s effectiveness.
Primary source
Standing order PDF: https://www.co.burleson.tx.us/page/open/1460/0/Order%20on%20AI.pdf