Court System:

The court system in Texas consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Court of Appeals and Trial Courts.   Credit and collection cases are generally determined by the Trial Courts which include the District Court, Constitutional County Court, Statutory County Court, and  Justice Court.

District Court:   Under Article V, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution and Sections 24.007 and 24.008 of the Government Code, the District Court jurisdiction consists of exclusive, appellate, and original jurisdiction of all actions that is cognizable by courts of law or equity.

Constitutional County Court:  Article V, Section 15 of the Texas Constitution establishes that there shall be a county court in each county.  This constitutional county court has concurrent jurisdiction with the justice courts in civil cases in which the matter in controversy exceeds $200 in value but does not exceed $5,000, exclusive of interest. (Gov. C. 26.042.)

Statutory County Court:    Because the Texas Constitution limits only one county court in each county, the Legislature created the Statutory County Courts to aid the judicial functions in larger counties.  In civil matters involving money claims, the Statutory County Courts have jurisdiction over matters in which the amount in controversy exceeds $500 but does not exceed $100,000, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney's fees and costs.  (Gov. C.  25.0003.)

Justice Court:  The Justice Court has jurisdiction over civil matters in which the amount in controversy is not more than $5,000, exclusive of interest  (Gov. C. 27.031.)
 

 Small Claims Court:  The small claims court has concurrent jurisdiction with the justice court in actions by any person for the recovery of money in which the amount involved, exclusive of costs, does not exceed $5,000. Assignees of claims, persons primarily engaged in the business of lending money at interest, or collection agencies are not permitted to utilize the Small Claims procedure in any actions. (Gov. C. Sec. 28.003.)