http://www.dallastxdivorce.com/2015/08/articles/children-and-parenting/custody-by-jury-only-in-texas/
Many things make Texas unique. But one thing stands out for family law attorneys and litigants – the right to have a jury decide custody of your children. Texas is the ONLY state in the US to allow custody jury trials. Eleven states allow juries in for some aspect of divorce litigation (Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin), mostly on the grounds or entitlement for divorce only. See Case Law Development: Jury Trial in Divorce Actions.
That being said, very few parents ask for a jury trial, making them a very rare occurrence in Texas. Reasons for this may be the stress of laying your life – both good decisions and not-so-good ones – out for 12 peers to judge; or, the added legal cost of a jury trial; or the unpredictability of the outcome. Most custody cases in Texas settle by agreement because most parents would rather participate in making decisions about their children rather than allow strangers to make those decisions for you. Also, jury trials in custody cases are rare because temporary orders are generally entered at the beginning of a case and neither judges nor juries are likely to do something against the temporary orders.
The right to a jury trial regarding children is limited to issues of joint or sole conservatorship, which parent has the primary to establish the child’s residence, and whether there will be any restriction on the child’s residence. All other issues, such as possession periods with each parent, decision-making rights and duties, and child support, are decided by the Judge.
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When closing arguments are finished, the jurors go to the jury room with the evidence and jury charge to make a decision. In custody cases, like civil cases generally, it is not necessary to have unanimity. A vote of 10 out of 12 jurors is sufficient to reach a verdict, as long as the same 10 agree on everything.
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