Mediation Costs and Fees in North Texas

Fact-checked against primary sources October 3, 2026

The price of a mediation in North Texas depends on who runs it. A county program charges what its own fee schedule says, and some charge nothing. A private mediator sets a fee with the parties. When a judge appoints the mediator, Texas law lets the judge set a reasonable fee; unless the parties agree how to pay it, the court must tax it as costs of suit. This guide covers all three, using only what the statutes and the county programs' own pages state.

Tarrant County Dispute Resolution is a program run by Tarrant County government, and its Request a Mediation page publishes its fees and request forms.

When a court appoints the mediator

The general rule is in section 154.054 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. A court "may set a reasonable fee" for a mediator or other impartial third party it appoints. Unless the parties agree to a method of payment, the court "shall tax the fee for the services of an impartial third party as other costs of suit."

Two statutes set a specific split for particular cases:

Expedited foreclosure. When a court orders mediation after an application for expedited foreclosure under Rule 736, "a mediator's fee shall be divided equally between the parties" (section 154.028(h)).
Deceptive trade practices claims. In a suit under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a party may move to compel mediation within 90 days after service of the pleading. Each party who has appeared shares the mediation fee unless all of them agree otherwise. If the claimed economic damages fall below $15,000, a party can force mediation only by agreeing to pay its costs (Business and Commerce Code section 17.5051(a), (e), (f)).

How the referral process works, including the 10-day objection window, is covered in how mediation works in Texas.

How private mediator fees are structured

No statute sets a private mediator's rate, and this guide quotes no market rates. Chapter 154 leaves the parties free to agree on a method of payment, and it gives a court the power to set a fee only for a mediator the court appoints. What can be described is how fees are built. The county programs' published rules use three pricing units, and any mediator's quote can be read against the same units:

Per party. Each side pays its own share. Every Tarrant County fee that is charged is stated per party.
A session block. A fixed charge covers a set length of time. Tarrant County's court-case fee covers "four hours (half day)," and the Dallas County center schedules sessions as a half day (up to four hours) or a full day (up to eight hours).
Hourly after the block. Time past the block is charged by the hour. Tarrant County charges "$30 per party per hour thereafter," up to four more hours.

Read against those units, a quote answers a few plain questions: whether the price is per party or for the whole session, how many hours the block includes, and what extra time costs. An agreement between the parties on payment also matters because of the rule above: without one, a court-appointed mediator's fee is taxed as costs.

County dispute resolution programs

Four of the North Texas counties this site covers have a county dispute resolution program, and in Denton County DCAP is also listed in the state's directory of dispute resolution centers. Their costs differ, and in two cases the cost could not be confirmed from an official page.

County	Program	Who can use it	Cost, from the program's own page
Tarrant	Tarrant County Dispute Resolution (a county department)	Residents, businesses and courts; court-ordered cases and voluntary requests	Fees vary by case type; see the Tarrant table below
Dallas	Dallas County Dispute Resolution Center	Court referrals only. The county says only cases where the parties "truly cannot afford mediation services" are referred	No fee so far, the county's FAQ says; its volunteer mediators work pro bono
Denton	Denton County Online Resolution Center	Justice of the peace civil cases the judge assigns to mediation	Paid for through court costs, with no additional charge to the parties, according to the county
Denton	DCAP (Denton County ADR Program), listed in the state directory together with the Denton County Bar Association	Not verified	Not verified. No program page with fees was found
Collin	Collin County Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (CCAP)	Court-ordered cases only, in family, civil and probate matters	"Mediation fees will be determined by the levels indicated on the order." Sliding-scale options for income-qualified people. Dollar amounts not verified

Sources for each row: Tarrant County's Dispute Resolution page; the Dallas County ADR FAQ and ADR home page; Denton County's Online Dispute Resolution page; the Texas Judicial Branch 2025 dispute resolution centers directory for DCAP; and Collin County's ADR program page, which points to the program at contact@collinadr.com, with CCAP's FAQ. CCAP says it is partly funded by the Collin County Commissioners Court and by fees the county collects under the Texas ADR Act.

No county dispute resolution program was found for Parker County, so it does not appear in the table. This site could not reach Johnson County's website when this page was checked.

The Tarrant County fee schedule

Tarrant County publishes a fee schedule on its Request a Mediation page. The page, last modified August 28, 2026, lists these fees:

Program	Fee	Eligibility
Justice Court cases	$60 per party	No eligibility restrictions
Community and non-court mediations	$30 per party	No eligibility restrictions
District Court cases; County Court at Law civil cases; family cases; probate cases	$120 per party covers a half day of four hours; each later hour is $30 per party, with at most four extra hours	Household (family) income up to $110,000, individual income up to $60,000, or financial hardship
Juvenile Services mediation	No fee	Only cases referred by Juvenile Services

The county's rules say fees are paid directly to the mediator, in cash or by a cash app, before the mediation starts. Mediators are volunteers, not county employees. For District Court family or civil cases, participants found indigent or in financial hardship have their fees paid to the mediator by the Dispute Resolution department. The page says a person who cannot pay may apply for help by filing an Inability to Pay with the District Clerk, and that the Dell Dehay Law Library can provide the form.

Where a program's cost could not be verified

Two gaps are worth stating plainly. DCAP in Denton County appears in the state's directory of dispute resolution centers, but no DCAP page describing its services or fees was found, so this guide does not state what it charges. CCAP in Collin County ties its fees to levels set in the court's referral order and publishes no dollar amounts on the pages checked, so its actual charges are not stated here either. The contact details each program publishes are on the pages linked above.

Related guides

Family cases have their own rules on when a mediated agreement binds the parties; see mediating a divorce or custody case. Justice court filing is covered in the small claims guide, and every dispute topic is on the disputes hub. For guides on settlements, tenant rights and local courts, the North Texas disputes and settlements guides start at the home page.