Cases Heard by the Texas Court of Appeals

There are a total of fourteen appellate courts in the state of Texas. Each of them has jurisdiction over a specific geographical location of the state. All Texas Courts of Appeal are empowered to hear both criminal as well as civil cases after initial hearings at the district and county courts of the state. The number of justices in each of the intermediate appellate courts range from 3 to 13 and they are appointed according to the statutes of the state of Texas.

Justices on the Texas Court of Appeals

There are a total of eighty justices serving the courts of appeals at present. A panel of three justices normally hears the appeals with the only exception being the hearing of an en banc case where all the justices of that particular court are required to hear and consider the outcome of the case.

Council of Justices

The council of justices is a body consisting of the chief justices belonging to every appellate court of Texas. The council meets a few times each year to discuss common problems plaguing the appellate courts of the region. Discussions often include issues related to the budget as well as matters pertaining to judicial administration of the courts of appeal. Employment practices and technological requirements also form a part of the discussion periodically.

Appellate Court Procedures

Any trial court decision can be appealed in a Texas court of appeal. Since the court of appeals holds the intermediate position within the court structure of the state, an aggrieved party has the right to appeal yet again at the Texas Supreme Court.

An appeal is set in motion with the party submitting a notice of appeal in the trial court itself.  The party also needs to identify the lower court material that he intends to use in the appeal. These materials are designated as an Appellate record.

The process of hearing an appeal at the Texas courts of appeal is initiated by filing a briefing. The aggrieved party needs to explain the procedure of the trial as well as substantiate the reasons for requesting a reversal of the decision made by the trial court. The next brief to be filed is that of the non-appealing party who needs to counter argue the case opposing the viewpoint of the appellant. A third and final brief is then filed by the appealing party again explaining why the respondent’s views are invalid. The appealing party or the appellate cannot introduce any new argument at this stage and is only required to respond to the non-appealing party. All the briefings must contain relevant citations including those made to the appellate records.

The Texas court of appeals hears an oral argument after the initial briefing is completed. Most courts of appeal in Texas hear the oral argument within a few months of the closure of briefing.  There is no fixed time as such and the time for oral argument may vary significantly from one court of appeal to another. The oral argument, however, lasts for only about 5 to 15 minutes. The justices of the Texas courts of appeal may often ask questions during the argument in order to understand the most important aspects of the case. The case is submitted to the appellate court for a decision as soon as the arguments are concluded.

The intermediate appellate court of Texas then issues a written opinion based on the briefings as well as the arguments of the attorneys contesting the case. The time for issuing the opinions is 90 days for the Texas court of appeals. However, the parties may extend the time by an additional 90 days by submitting the case once again. The Texas court of appeals has the right to publish an opinion as an official record. Such published opinions are usually considered to be legally binding for all appellants in future.

A party can also request for rehearing of the same case by the courts of appeal in Texas. However, there is a short time period applicable for entertaining such requests. Rehearing of appeals is considered only in rare cases particularly when the appellate panel feels that it has misunderstood the case.

Contact Information for the Texas Courts of Appeals

The 1st court of appeals is based in Houston and serves 10 counties. The court is located at 1307 San Jacinto St., Floor 10, and Houston, TX 77002-7018 and can be contacted over the telephone at (713) 655-2700.

The Fort Worth court of appeals is located at Tarrant County Justice Center, 401 W. Belknap, Suite 9000, Fort Worth, TX 76196. Phone (817) 884-1900. This court does not have jurisdiction over death penalty appeals which are referred directly to the Criminal Court of Appeals at Austin.

The third court of appeals serves Austin and the adjoining area and is located at Price Daniel Sr. Bldg, 209 W. 14th St., Rm. 101, Austin, TX 78701. Phone (512) 463-1733. Electronic filing is now available at http://www.3rdcoa.courts.state.tx.us/rules/efiling.asp.

The 4th court of appeal was created from both the 1st and the 3rd courts of appeal. It is located at Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, 300 Dolorosa, Ste. 3200, San Antonio, TX 78205-3037. Phone (210) 335-2635.

The locations of a few other Texas courts of appeal are given below:

Fifth Court of Appeals
George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Bldg.
600 Commerce Street, Suite 200
Dallas, Texas 75202-4658

Fourteenth Court of Appeals
1307 San Jacinto, 11th Floor
Houston, TX 77002
Phone (713) 655-2800

It is possible to access the official websites of all Texas courts of appeals at http://www.courts.state.tx.us/courts/coa.asp.