Texas (394th Judicial District: Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio C…
Judge Monty Kimball · 394th Judicial District Court of Texas (Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio Counties)
Verified October 1, 2026
- Citation
- Updated Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (394th Judicial District, Judge Monty Kimball)
- Order date
- July 22, 2026
Summary
'All self-represented litigants and attorneys 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 self-represented litigants and attorneys 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: 'all language drafted, quotations, sources, citations, arguments, and legal analysis created or supplied by generative artificial intelligence were before submission verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources', 'by a human being or attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.'
- The certification: 'that the self-represented litigant or attorney submitting such information understands and acknowledges that they are and will be held responsible and potentially sanctioned for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply with this Order.'
- The attached form cites possible sanctions under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 10, the inherent power of the Court, and contempt.
- 'This Order is effective immediately for all pending and future cases filed in the 394th District Court.'
- 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 Brewster, Hudspeth and Jeff Davis Counties but not for Culberson or Presidio County, which the 394th District also serves.
Practice areas: state civil
What the order requires
Judge Monty Kimball of the 394th Judicial District Court signed an Updated Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence on July 22, 2026. It “applies to every pending or hereafter filed case in the 394th Judicial District Court of Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio Counties” and is “effective immediately for all pending and future cases filed in the 394th District Court.” It does not name the order entered by his predecessor, Judge Roy B. Ferguson, in 2023 and amended in 2024 (earlier entry), but it is titled an “Updated” standing order, and the court’s standing-orders page now lists only the 2026 order.
Attorneys and self-represented litigants who use “any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in connection with a case” must, “before using any AI-generated information in a Court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the attached form.” The certification states that content “created or supplied by generative artificial intelligence” was “verified as accurate through traditional (non-AI) legal sources” by “a human being or attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas,” and that the filer “will be held responsible and potentially sanctioned” for noncompliance.
What changed from 2024
The structure is the same as the 2024 order: a certification before AI-generated information is used, verification through traditional legal sources, and sanctions exposure under the Texas Disciplinary Rules, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 10, and the court’s inherent power. Two things changed. The 2024 order required verification “by a human being”; the 2026 order allows verification by “a human being or attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.” And the list of named AI systems is shorter: the 2026 order names ChatGPT, Claude, OpenAI and Bing, where the 2024 order also named Harvey.AI, Google Copilot, TensorFlow, Lexis+AI, Westlaw AI-Assisted Research and Ask Practical Law AI. The operative duty still reaches “any form of artificial intelligence.”
Practitioner workflow
Firms with matters in any of the five counties may wish to keep the certification form with brief templates and file it before AI-generated research or drafting is used in a submission.
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 Brewster, Hudspeth and Jeff Davis Counties but not for Culberson or Presidio County, which the 394th District also serves. This page reports these facts without drawing a conclusion about the order’s effectiveness.
Primary source
Updated standing order (Texas Local Rules portal, Brewster County posting): https://topics.txcourts.gov/LocalRulesPublic/PreviewAttachment/3058
Same order, Jeff Davis County posting and Hudspeth County posting
Court website, standing orders: https://www.texas394th.com/standing-orders
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.
- activeJudge Monty Kimball signs the Updated Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (filed July 27, 2026 in Brewster County); it is posted on the Texas Local Rules portal for Brewster, Hudspeth and Jeff Davis Counties. source