organized in 1974 by a group of municipal court judges and prosecutors in the
Harris County (Houston) area for the sole purpose of forming a viable support
organization dedicated exclusively to serving Municipal Courts. The original
charter filed in 1975 was for the "Gulf Coast Association of Municipal Judges and
Prosecutors, Inc." but was amended in 1977 to be the "Texas Municipal Courts
Association". The 1977 amendment also changed the purpose of the Association
from "To organize an Association of Texas Municipal Judges and Prosecutors..."
to "To organize an Association of Texas Municipal Courts personnel...".
One of the most notable single acts of TMCA was to establish an organization for
providing both educational and practical information and support to the judges,
clerks, court administrators, and prosecutors who work in the municipal courts. In
1983, TMCA was selected by the Texas Supreme Court to receive and
administer a grant to provide continuing legal education to Municipal Court
personnel. In 1994, the authority to award the legal educational funds was
transferred from the Texas Supreme Court to the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals selected TMCA to continue to
receive and administer the grant funds.
To provide the continuing legal education, TMCA created the Texas Municipal
Courts Training Center in 1983; in 1994 the name was changed to the Texas
Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC). TMCA is the sponsor of the
Texas Municipal Courts Education Center and via the Education Committee
provides oversight to assure that quality educational seminars meeting state
mandatory education requirements are presented at various regional sites
each year. The free legal seminars, the "800 helpline", the free books and
manuals, etc., are the result of activities initiated by TMCA.
Because TMCEC is funded by a state grant as an educational entity, TMCEC is
prohibited by law from any form of activity to proactively influence either state or
local government. Therefore, an independent TMCEC Board of Directors is
necessary to segregate TMCEC and TMCA functions. Even though the Boards of
Directors for both TMCA and TMCEC are comprised of the same people and
both organizations share some common purposes, it is important that each officer
and Board member be mindful where each Board’s responsibility needs to be
independent from the other to comply with the TMCEC grant conditions.
Membership in TMCA is open to all Municipal Judges, Court Clerks, Deputy
Clerks, Prosecutors, and all other Court Staff. TMCA believes that a strong
membership is essential to continue to provide at no cost the quality programs,
support, and materials provided in prior years.
(Note: Two of the original TMCA "founding pioneers", the Honorable Joe Pirtle
and the Honorable Robert C. Richter, are currently serving as officers of TMCA;
Judge Pirtle, with Judge Richter’s assistance, have been requested to begin to
oversee and direct the development of a written history of TMCA for its 25th year
anniversary.)
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