Judge Naomi Doyle
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Place 1
Judge Naomi Doyle
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Place 1
Judge Naomi Doyle was elected Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Place 1, in 2020. She ushered in a historical change to the Justice of the Peace Courts as the first African American female elected Judge in Jefferson County.
Judge Naomi Doyle is a longtime resident of Jefferson County. After graduating from Ozen High School, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and furthered her education by earning a Master of Public Administration from Lamar University. During her graduate internship, she gained valuable legislative experience as a Legislative Assistant in the Texas House of Representatives.
Before being elected as Justice of the Peace, Naomi Doyle served as the Elections Manager for Jefferson County. She dedicated herself to optimizing the elections process and making elections safer, more efficient, and more accessible to all Jefferson County voters.
Since taking office, Judge Naomi Doyle has implemented The Precinct One Day of Service, serving as a community-wide day of giving back through actions for her constituents. Judge Doyle started the Judicial Academy: Internship and Mentorship Program for high school students, providing valuable knowledge and experience in the Judicial and Criminal systems. In addition to these annual projects, she hosts an annual Resilience Summit, which focuses on connecting her constituents with their needed resources.
Judge Doyle is a proven transformative and analytical leader; she absorbs knowledge quickly, identifies inefficiencies, and enacts the necessary changes to ensure that the Justice of the Peace Court serves the COMMUNITY with excellence.
Judge Naomi Doyle presides over the highest-producing Civil Justice Court in Jefferson County, and she prides herself on being a resource-driven Court for all people. The true embodiment of “The People’s Court.”
Court Staff
Justice Court Information
Justice Court is a judicial forum to hear and decide civil cases involving claims in the amounts of $20,000.00 or less. The person filing the suit is known as the Plaintiff . The person being sued is called the Defendant . The Plaintiff will fill out a sworn petition and pay a filing fee and service fee called the "court costs" when filing the case. The Plaintiff will need to provide the correct name of the Defendant, he/she is filing against, a physical address where the Defendant can be served their petition and citation, the amount of money filed for, and the reason for the suit. The Plaintiff will also have to determine which case type to file.
The filing fee in a Civil suit is $54.00 and for Evictions, filing fee is $54.00 The service fee is $75.00 in a Civil suit for serving one defendant in Jefferson County, each additional Defendant will be $75.00 more to serve.(If they live in another county, the service fee could be different.) In an Eviction suit, the service fee is $75.00 for each defendant.
The clerk prepares a Citation and sends it to the proper Constable for service. It takes about 6-8 weeks to serve the defendant, (sometimes a little longer, if it is going to an out of county constable). As soon as the Constable returns the citation to the court, the clerk will call the Plaintiff and inform them of the court date. Prior to the Court notifying you, it is your responsibility to keep in touch with the court regarding your case (you should provide a case number or the names of the parties as filed-called the "Style" of the Case.
Answer dates and Trial dates are generally on Mondays and Thursday beginning at 10:00 A.M. The defendant’s citation has the information to let him/her know when and where he/she is to appear in Court or where to file an answer in the suit.
If the Defendant chooses not to appear, a Default Judgment may be granted against them. If Judgment is found for the Plaintiff, the Judgment will include the Court Costs paid to file the case. Please do not include the amount of costs in the amount you are filing for.
In the State of Texas, there is no guarantee that you will collect the Judgment from your Defendant.
If the Defendant has not satisfied the Judgment with the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff may file for an 'Abstract of Judgment' 21 days after Judgment, at the cost of $5.00 payable to the court, which puts a lien against any real property (such as their house or any land the Defendant may own) for 10 years and is renewable every 10 years. The Plaintiff will file the Abstract of Judgment with the County Clerk's office. You should call the County Clerk's office for the filing fee. This abstract may be filed in as many counties as the Defendant owns property in. Once the Judgment has been satisfied, the Plaintiff should remove the Abstract by filing a 'Release of Judgment' with the County Clerk’s office.