The Dallas County Probate Courts, located in downtown Dallas, are a statutorily created probate court system headed by elected judges. In general, the court probates the wills of deceased persons, establishes guardianships for incapacitated persons and minors and supervises court-ordered involuntary mental health commitments in Dallas County.
When the COVID pandemic hit, under the Open Courts Provision of the Texas Constitution, Texas courts were required to maintain public access. In order to facilitate court activities, the Office of Court Administration provided judges the ability to stream and host court proceedings via video conferencing platforms. The Dallas County Probate Court was able to utilize these platforms, however they did not have the audio and video setup to foster the in-person interactions that the judge, attorneys, litigants and the public viewers were used to.
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