Taylor County Texas Landlord-Tenant Law: Abilene’s Military Market, Five JP Courts, and Why Precinct 1 Place 2 Is Basically Never Open
Abilene sits near the geographic center of Texas, 150 miles from Fort Worth and 150 miles from Midland, and it operates with the self-sufficiency of a city that has never needed to define itself in relation to a larger metro. Taylor County’s economy runs on three pillars — military, medicine, and education — that together produce one of the most stable and diverse rental markets in West Texas. Dyess Air Force Base provides steady military tenant demand. Hendrick Health System and the broader healthcare sector provide professional tenants with reliable incomes. Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and Hardin-Simmons University feed a consistent student and faculty market. And Buildium Research named Abilene one of the five best rental markets in Texas in 2025, citing strong 7.2% rent growth at a time when larger Texas metros were seeing flat or negative rent trends. For landlords who understand how the court system works — including one very unusual access restriction at one of Abilene’s two JP courts — Taylor County is a market worth taking seriously.
Five Courts, Four Precincts — and One That’s Barely Open
Taylor County operates five JP courts across four precincts. The Abilene-based Precinct 1 has two courts — Place 1 and Place 2 — both located at 450 Pecan Street in Abilene, just in different suites. Place 1 (Judge Mike McAuliffe, Suite 110) operates standard hours, Monday through Friday 8 AM to 5 PM with a noon lunch closure, and handles a regular civil caseload including evictions. Place 2 (Judge Shawna Joiner, Suite 120) operates the same listed hours on paper — but is normally closed to the public. The only visits the office accepts are for filing Writs of Possession or Execution, and for scheduled weddings. If you arrive without one of those specific purposes, contact the Bailiff’s Office on arrival for assistance. For standard eviction filings in Abilene Precinct 1 territory, Precinct 1 Place 1 (Suite 110) is your court. Confirm your assigned court location before filing.
The rural precincts each have their own quirks. JP Precinct 2, serving the Merkel area under Judge Bob Jones at 301 Kent Street in Merkel, closes at noon on Fridays. JP Precinct 3, with Judge Earl Donnell at 442 Graham Street in Tuscola, opens early at 7 AM Monday through Thursday (an unusual feature) but also closes at noon on Fridays. JP Precinct 4, under Judge David Doherty at 155 Main Street in the tiny community of Lawn (24 miles south of Abilene via US-84), operates a compressed schedule — 8:30 AM to 4 PM, closed from noon to 12:30 PM for a 30-minute lunch break. If you need to reach the Lawn courthouse, arrive before noon or after 12:30 PM, and plan to arrive well before the 4 PM close. All five courts accept e-filing through the Texas e-filing portal and online payments through Certified Payments by Deluxe.
The wrong-precinct rule applies uniformly: file in the precinct where the property sits. The Taylor County precinct map at taylorcounty.texas.gov establishes which properties fall under which court. Rural Taylor County is large — 916 square miles — and the boundaries between Precincts 2, 3, and 4 can be non-intuitive. When in doubt, contact the county directly before filing.
Dyess AFB and SCRA: The Most Important Legal Obligation for Abilene Landlords
Dyess Air Force Base supports over 13,500 military personnel, civilian employees, retirees, and family members — making it one of the most significant military employer concentrations in Texas and one of the defining economic forces in Abilene. The city has won the Abilene Trophy (awarded by the Air Force Air Mobility Command to the community with the strongest base support) so many times it’s no longer eligible to receive it. For landlords, this military presence creates tremendous opportunity in the form of reliable, well-vetted tenants with steady paychecks. But it also creates a legal obligation that must be understood before signing any lease with an active-duty servicemember.
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) gives active-duty military tenants the right to terminate any residential lease early, without penalty, upon providing 30 days’ written notice and a copy of deployment orders or permanent change of station (PCS) orders. The landlord may not charge an early termination fee, may not withhold the security deposit on account of the early exit, and cannot attempt to hold the servicemember liable for remaining rent on the broken lease. Understanding this before you rent to military is far better than discovering it mid-eviction or mid-dispute. Lease addendums that acknowledge SCRA rights, request a copy of military ID at signing, and establish a clear notice-of-departure protocol protect both parties and reduce conflict when military life requires a quick move.
Military tenants, on balance, are among the most desirable residential tenants in any market: credit-checked, income-verified by the government, accustomed to following rules, and subject to unit inspections. The SCRA risk is real but manageable. Landlords who specialize in military-adjacent properties near Dyess — within 5–10 miles in the southwest Abilene corridor — generally report low eviction rates and strong occupancy.
The University Market: Opportunity and Discipline Required
Three private universities operate in Abilene: Abilene Christian University on the north side, McMurry University near downtown, and Hardin-Simmons University on the northeast. Together they represent thousands of students, faculty, and staff who need housing. The university rental market operates on its own cycle — demand peaks in August at the start of the fall semester, drops sharply in May when the school year ends, and requires strategic lease management to avoid summer vacancy. Landlords with properties near any of the three campuses should structure leases to expire in May or June and plan for re-leasing to new students each August. Summer vacancy is a known risk; factor it into your pricing model rather than being surprised by it. For undergraduate students, require a parental or adult co-signer — student incomes are typically insufficient on their own and the co-signer is where your financial recourse lies in a non-payment situation.
Rent Growth and Market Fundamentals
Abilene’s rental market posted 7.2% year-over-year rent growth as of mid-2025, significantly outpacing most major Texas metros that were experiencing flat or declining rents during the same period. Average one-bedroom rents run approximately $905–$953/month, well below the national average and substantially below DFW rents — which means the market still has room to run before affordability becomes a constraint. The overall cost of living in Abilene is 9.7% below the national average, with housing costs 27% below average. For investors analyzing cap rates and cash-on-cash returns, the combination of low acquisition costs, strong rent growth, and stable occupancy driven by military and institutional employment makes Taylor County one of the more compelling buy-and-hold markets in the state.
Security deposits must be returned within 30 days of the tenant surrendering the property, with an itemized written accounting. Bad-faith retention under Texas Property Code § 92.109 — $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus attorney’s fees — applies with the same force in Taylor County as anywhere in the state. Texas eviction law was updated January 1, 2026; verify all current forms and procedures with the appropriate Taylor County JP court before initiating any action.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Verify current eviction procedures with the appropriate Taylor County JP court before filing. Precinct 1 Place 2 is closed to the public except for Writ filings and scheduled weddings. Evictions filed in the wrong precinct will be dismissed. The SCRA imposes additional obligations for military tenants — consult a Texas attorney before evicting any active-duty servicemember. Last updated: March 2026.
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