Houston Eviction Solidarity Network

Facing evictions together.

What is the Eviction Solidarity Network?

The Houston Eviction Solidarity Network is a project of the Texas Housers Houston office. It’s inspired by the Eviction Solidarity Network created by our partners BASTA! in Austin. Eviction Solidarity Network aims to do a few things:

  • Reduce the shame and stigma associated with evictions by being a visible and supportive presence in virtual and in-person courtrooms.
  • Conduct a lay courtwatch to ensure that judges are treating those facing eviction fairly and checking all their boxes.
  • Humanize a complex, systemic problem and uplift tenant stories (anonymously or with permission).
team

Who can become a court observer?

Join the Houston ESN by attending a training!

After attending a training session anyone can join the Houston ESN. People can join as representatives of a group or individuals. As long as hearings are streamed, participants in the Houston ESN don’t even have to live in Harris County.

Members of the Houston ESN must agree to certain basic norms covered in the training. You’ll need a decent internet connection and device that connects to the internet to join.

How does it work?

Attend a training.

Sign up here.

First, let us know you’re interested and we’ll get you set up with a training session over video chat.

As a member of the ESN you’ll receive occasional calls to action when there are opportunities for public comment.

Observe a case.

Sign up here.

After your training, decide how you want to participate in the ESN.

  • You can act as a presence in the courtroom (we prefer people don’t risk exposure by attending in-person hearings, but everyone is free to make their own choices).
  • You can pay a little bit more attention and enter notes in a handy form we have that will help us spot any issues.
  • And, if you don’t have time to court watch you can always share stats that we share on social media to keep the conversation going around evictions.

Share your observations.

You'll receive a link in your email where you can submit your observations.

Dockets by day for each court

Learn about the courts that hear eviction cases in Harris County.

There are 16 Justice of the Peace Courts that hear eviction cases across Harris County. Every precinct has a different volume of renters and judges have been interpreting orders and guidance differently throughout the pandemic.

Dockets are the time slots during which judges hear cases. The is no maximum or minimum amount of cases per docket.

Below is a chart that shows how frequently different courts hear eviction cases.

  • Each box represents a day in the year
  • The darkness of the color of each box represents how many cases are or were scheduled for the day
  • Each row represents Sunday through Saturday of a week
  • Each column represents a week in the year

The differences in number of cases and frequency of dockets throughout the courts is just the tip of the iceberg on the role of the courts in the outcomes of eviction hearings on our fellow Neighbors.

Train to be an Observer to help us uncover more ways to make the system more equitable.

Precinct 1 Place 1

Judge Carter

Precinct 1 Place 2

Judge Patronella

Precinct 2 Place 1

Judge Delgado

Precinct 2 Place 2

Judge Risner

Precinct 3 Place 1

Judge Stephens

Precinct 3 Place 2

Judge Bates

Precinct 4 Place 1

Judge Goodwin

Precinct 4 Place 2

Judge Korduba

Precinct 5 Place 1

Judge Garcia

Precinct 5 Place 2

Judge Williams

Precinct 6 Place 1

Judge Trevino

Precinct 6 Place 2

Judge Rodriguez

Precinct 7 Place 1

Judge Adams

Precinct 7 Place 2

Judge Burney

Precinct 8 Place 1

Judge Williamson

Precinct 8 Place 2

Judge Ditta