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Trial Information![]() Information on Your Rights
A trial in municipal court is a fair, impartial and public trial as in any other court. Under Texas law, you may be brought to trial only after a sworn complaint is filed against you. A complaint is a document that charges you with the offense that you are alleged to have committed. You may be tried only for what is alleged in the complaint. You have the following rights in court:
Jury Trial
If you choose to have the case tried before a jury, you have the right to question jurors about their qualifications to hear your case. If you think that a juror will not be fair, impartial or unbiased, you may ask the judge for a challenge for cause to excuse the juror. The judge will decide whether to grant your request. In each jury trial, you are also permitted to strike three members of the jury panel for any reason you choose, except an illegal reason (such as based solely upon a person’s race or gender). This is referred to as a peremptory strike and each side has three peremptory strikes. Most jurors are selected from the first twelve members of the jury panel, as a municipal court jury is composed of six jurors. |