Texas Courts of Appeals

Texas Courts of Appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the judicial system of Texas. They handle cases appealed from district courts and county courts, both criminal and civil.

Jurisdiction

Each court of appeals hears cases from lower courts within a specific region of the state. For example, the Third Court of Appeals in Austin hears cases from 24 counties in Central Texas.

In total there are 14 courts of appeal throughout the state of Texas.

Occasionally, these courts hear cases from counties outside their territorial jurisdiction. This happens by order of the Texas Supreme Court, which regularly transfers batches of cases from one court to another in order to equalize caseloads.

Courts of criminal appeal do not have jurisdiction in death penalty cases, which go directly from trial courts to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

The precedents established by a court of appeals are binding on the lower courts in its own district.

Size of the Courts of Appeals

Texas appellate courts vary in size from three justices to 13. Each court has one chief justice and at least two associate justices. In total, 80 judges serve on the 14 courts.

The size of each court is set by law, not by the constitution, so the legislature has the power to change the size and territory of each appeals court.

For example, the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth (pictured, top), is composed of seven justices. The Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas has 13 justices, the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont has four justices, and the Twelfth Court of Appeals in Tyler has three.

Typically each court decides cases in panels of three justices, though occasionally the entire court sits en banc to reconsider a prior panel decision. The en banc process is used to overrule prior precedent of the same court, which its panels would otherwise have to follow.

Election of Justices

Justices serving on the Texas courts of appeals serve six-year terms and are elected directly. Texas is one of the few states where judges run as partisan candidates, which means that judicial candidates are listed on ballots as either Republicans, Democrats, or some other party. Judicial candidates also compete in primary elections.

Vacancies between elections are filled by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate.

In order to qualify to serve as an appellate judge, a candidate must be:

• a citizen of the United States and Texas;
• age 35 to 74; and
• a practicing lawyer, or a judge, for at least 10 years.

Appeals from the Courts of Appeals

The courts of appeals are the middle level of the Texas judicial system. In many cases, their decisions are final, but in other cases they can be appealed.

When a case is appealed from a court of appeal, it will go to one of Texas’ two high courts, either to the Texas Supreme Court in a civil or juvenile case, or to the Court of Criminal Appeals in a criminal case.