Texas (78th Judicial District: Wichita County): Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificia…
Judge Meredith Kennedy · 78th District Court of Wichita County, Texas
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence (78th District)
- Order date
- March 26, 2024
Status and former requirement
No longer in force (superseded); this order does not state current filing practice. While it was operative it required: As issued: '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 form hereinbelow as an attachment to each pleading generated utilizing artificial intelligence.'
What the order required while in force
- As issued: '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 form hereinbelow as an attachment to each pleading generated utilizing artificial intelligence.'
- The certification: '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.'
- The certification: 'That the person 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.'
- 'All individuals entering the Courtroom, or court offices, are prohibited from recording any of the activities, conversations, or other events occurring in the courtroom, or court offices.'
- 'The use of artificial intelligence is prohibited in the courtroom, or in court offices.' 'The use of artificial intelligence to record, listen to, or transcribe any activity in the courtroom, or court office, is strictly prohibited.'
- The certification form states the signer is 'subject to possible sanctions under Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 10, and the inherent power of the Court, or for contempt of court, for failing to comply with the Court's Standing Order or this certification.'
- 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; the July 2026 joint order that superseded this order was not posted there for the 78th District Court.
Practice areas: state civil
No longer in force
This order has been superseded. On July 8, 2026, the 30th, 78th and 89th District Courts signed a joint Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence that applies to “every pending, or hereafter filed, case in the District Courts of Wichita County, Texas.” The joint order keeps the same structure: a per-pleading certification that AI-contributed content was verified through traditional legal sources, and a ban on AI use and recording in the courtroom and court offices. What follows describes the 2024 order as issued.
What the order required
Judge Meredith Kennedy of the 78th District Court of Wichita County signed this standing order on March 26, 2024 (filed for record March 27, 2024). It applied to every pending or hereafter filed case in the 78th District Court of Wichita County, Texas.
The order had two operative parts. First, attorneys and self-represented litigants who used “any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in connection with a case” had to sign and submit a certification form “as an attachment to each pleading generated utilizing artificial intelligence,” certifying that content created or contributed to by generative AI was verified “through traditional (non-AI) legal sources” before submission.
Second, the order barred AI use in the courtroom and court offices. AI could not be used “to record, listen to, or transcribe any activity in the courtroom, or court office,” and anyone entering the courtroom or court offices was prohibited from recording activities, conversations, or other events occurring there. That courtroom ban is not a restriction on using AI to prepare filings, so this entry does not flag the order as prohibiting AI use.
Scope
The order bound attorneys and self-represented litigants in matters before the 78th District Court of Wichita County, Texas. It was one of three substantively identical Wichita County standing orders signed within days of each other (with the 30th District (McKnight) and 89th District (Barnard)), collected as a single PDF on the Texas Local Rules portal (file 1866).
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.” This order is posted on the Office of Court Administration’s local-rules site (TOPICs). As of September 30, 2026, the July 2026 joint order that superseded this order was not posted there for the 78th District Court. This page reports these facts without drawing a conclusion about the order’s effectiveness.
Primary source
2024 standing order PDF (multi-judge document covering the 30th, 78th, and 89th Districts): https://topics.txcourts.gov/LocalRulesPublic/PreviewAttachment/1866
Joint order that superseded it (Wichita County download page): https://wichitacountytx.com/download/standing-order-regarding-use-of-artificial-intelligence-3/
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.
- activeThe 78th District Court's standing order on artificial intelligence is signed; it is posted on the Texas Local Rules portal with the 30th, 78th and 89th District orders as one file. source
- supersededThe 30th, 78th and 89th District Courts sign a joint Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence covering every case in the District Courts of Wichita County (file-stamped July 21, 2026). It does not name this order, but each Wichita County district court's page now links only the joint order. source