Explain how the jurisdiction of justice courts is different from municipal courts.

• A. Justice courts do not have jurisdiction over city ordinances, except ETJ sign cases; they have greater civil jurisdiction than municipal courts.
• B. Justice courts have jurisdiction over all city ordinances.
• C. Municipal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all city ordinances.
• D. Both courts have identical jurisdiction.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how each court’s powers are shaped around civil claims and city rules. Justice courts don’t generally handle city ordinances; they’re focused on civil disputes and certain misdemeanors outside strict city-ordered enforcement, and they may hear some limited matters within a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), such as sign violations, where the city asserts authority beyond its borders. Because of that broader scope for civil cases, justice courts often have higher civil limits than municipal courts. Municipal courts, on the other hand, are the venue for enforcing city ordinances and related traffic offenses within the city, handling those local rules and the smaller civil matters tied to them. So the difference is that city ordinances fall under municipal court jurisdiction, except for that ETJ niche, while justice courts handle larger civil disputes and certain non-ordinance matters.