Because the Constitution limits each county to a single county court, the Legislature has created statutory county courts at law in the larger counties to aid the single county court in its judicial functions.

The legal jurisdiction of the special county-level trial courts varies considerably and is established by the statute which creates the particular court. The jurisdiction of statutorily-created county courts at law is usually concurrent with the jurisdiction of the county and district courts in the county.

The civil jurisdiction of most county courts at law varies, but is usually more than that of the justice of the peace courts and less than that of the district courts. County courts at law usually have appellate jurisdiction in cases appealed from justice of the peace and municipal courts.

Erleigh Norville Wiley was born to Fern and Homer L. Norville. She was raised in Kaufman County, attending Kaufman schools and graduating from Kaufman High School. After graduation from high school, she attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas with a B.B.A. degree from the University Of Texas School Of Law in Austin, Texas.

Her legal emphasis has been in the area of criminal law with particular interest in juveniles and cases involving children who have been abused and neglected. She served for fourteen years in the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. While working in the Dallas office, she rose to the position of Supervising attorney within the Juvenile Division assisting family courts in child protective services cases.

With the desire to return home to raise her own family and to make a positive contribution to the community that she was raised in, she sought to run for Judge of County Court-at-Law. After being elected, she was continued to serve her community since 2003 in that position.

The Judge of County Court at Law has general jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction with the District courts. The Judge brought her criminal experience to the bench, but also has presided over complex litigation cases in oil and gas, probate and personal injury matters.

Her greatest assets are her two sons and her husband.