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Rule 293. When the Jury Agree (1973)

TEXT

When the jury agree upon a verdict, they shall be brought into Court by the proper officer, and they shall deliver their verdict to the clerk; and if they state that they have agreed, the verdict shall be read aloud by the clerk. If the verdict is in proper form, no juror objects to its accuracy, no juror represented as agreeing thereto dissents therefrom, and neither party requests a poll of the jury, the verdict shall be entered upon the minutes of the court.

Amended by order of Oct. 3, 1972, eff. Feb. 1, 1973: The words "objects to its accuracy, no juror represented as agreeing thereto" have been inserted, and other minor textual changes have been made, in the second sentence.

ADVISORY OPINIONS

Question: Does Rule 306 require that all special issues and the answers of the jury thereto be included in the judgment?

Answer: Rule 306 embodies, without substantial change, old Rules 63 and 64 for the District Courts which were in effect for many years (142 S.W.; 145 S.W.; and 159 S.W.). It was not essential under the old rules and statutes that the verdict be copied in the judgment, but it was commended as the better practice. Weathered v. Meek, 258 S. W. 516 (Tex. Civ. App.-Waco, 1923); 25 Texas Jurisprudence, pp. 448 and 449. See also Kinney v. Tri-State Tel. Co., 222 S. W. 227, 230 (Tex. 1920), as to the essential requirements of a final judgment. The policy of the law is now, and has been for many years, that the verdict be preserved in a permanent record (old statute 2205; Rule 293). While it is not essential to the validity of the judgment, the better practice is to incorporate the special issues and answers in the judgment, which if done, will comply with Rule 293 and dispense with the necessity of again copying the issues and answers in the minutes.

5 Tex. B.J. 96 (1942) reprinted in 8 Tex. B.J. 8 (1945).