Panola County, Texas (County Court at Law and County Court): Standing Order Regarding Use…
Judges Rick McPherson (County Court at Law) and Rodger G. McLane (County Judge) · County Court at Law and County Court of Panola County, Texas
Verified October 1, 2026
- Citation
- Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence in the County Court at Law and County Court of Panola County, Texas
- Order date
- August 20, 2026
Summary
'ATTORNEYS AND SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS MAY NOT RELY ON THE PRODUCT OF LEGAL RESEARCH PERFORMED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED AND CONFIRMED TO BE ACCURATE BY A HUMAN BEING'.
What does the order require?
- 'ATTORNEYS AND SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS MAY NOT RELY ON THE PRODUCT OF LEGAL RESEARCH PERFORMED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED AND CONFIRMED TO BE ACCURATE BY A HUMAN BEING'.
- 'It shall be the duty of each attorney or self-represented litigant filing any pleading, motion or other document into a case filed in this court to personally read and review all citations of authority contained therein and confirm none of them misstates the law, misrepresents case law holdings, and is in fact an existent case or statute.'
- Attorneys and self-represented litigants are prohibited from entering 'any sensitive or confidential information relating to any person involved in the case into an Al program or app', from using AI to create, edit, enhance, or alter evidence for a contested hearing or trial, and from using an expert who relies on AI in forming opinions offered as evidence.
- Every attorney or self-represented litigant, before or with the first pleading or other appearance, must 'read and familiarize himself or herself with the terms and provisions of this standing order, shall sign the certification below and file it into the case', a sworn Verification Regarding Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agreeing to comply with the order.
- Violators are 'subject to any and all possible sanctions available under the law after a duly noticed show cause hearing', which can include fines and striking pleadings, and may be referred to law enforcement or the State Bar of Texas.
Practice areas: state civil, state criminal, state family, state probate
What the order requires
Judge Rick McPherson of the County Court at Law and County Judge Rodger G. McLane signed a Standing Order Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence in the County Court at Law and County Court of Panola County (Aug. 20, 2026). It applies to every case pending or later filed in those courts and “is binding on every attorney and self-represented litigant appearing in those courts.”
Its headline notice: “ATTORNEYS AND SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS MAY NOT RELY ON THE PRODUCT OF LEGAL RESEARCH PERFORMED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED AND CONFIRMED TO BE ACCURATE BY A HUMAN BEING.” The order prohibits filing pleadings with misstatements of law, misrepresented holdings, or citations to non-existent authority, and makes it “the duty of each attorney or self-represented litigant filing any pleading, motion or other document into a case filed in this court to personally read and review all citations of authority contained therein.”
It also prohibits entering sensitive or confidential information about anyone involved in the case into an AI program or app, filing pleadings containing such information, using AI to create, edit, enhance, or alter evidence for a contested hearing or trial, and offering opinions from an expert who relied on AI.
Every attorney or self-represented litigant must, before or with the first pleading or appearance, read the order and “sign the certification below and file it into the case”: a Verification Regarding Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, sworn under penalty of perjury, agreeing to comply with the order. Violators face “any and all possible sanctions available under the law after a duly noticed show cause hearing,” including fines and striking pleadings, and possible referral to law enforcement or the State Bar of Texas.
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 order as posted August 21, 2026, and a file-stamped copy as posted August 25, 2026.