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Texas — Court Rules & Rules of Practice Guide

Last verified · Published by Michigan Legal Publishing Ltd. · Browse the Texas rules

1. Court System Overview

Texas has the nation’s most byzantine court structure, headlined by two courts of last resort: the Supreme Court of Texas (civil/juvenile) and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) (criminal — final, including automatic death-penalty review). Trial courts: district courts (general jurisdiction — felonies, larger civil, family, some specialized by county), county courts at law and constitutional county courts (misdemeanors, mid-size civil — default statutory band is >$500 up to $325,000, Gov’t Code § 25.0003, but jurisdiction varies by statute per court), justice courts (JP courts — civil ≤$20,000 (verified — Gov’t Code § 27.031), small claims, evictions), municipal courts, statutory probate courts (in metros — a dedicated probate bench), and since September 1, 2024, the Texas Business Court. Appeals go to fifteen courts of appeals (fourteen regional + the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals in Austin for state-party and Business Court appeals). Rules are promulgated by the Supreme Court (with CCA co-authority on criminal rules); official texts at txcourts.gov (verified — TRCP March 2026 PDF).

2. The Ruleset Map

Ruleset Scope
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCP) (verified current PDF) Civil in district/county courts — Texas’s own numbering (Rule 91a dismissal, 106 service, 166a summary judgment, 194 mandatory disclosures); Rules 500–510 = Justice Court Rules (small claims/evictions — plain-language, self-contained); Rules 352–359 = Business Court rules (verified: authority/venue 354, removal 355, transfer 356, limitations tolling 357, written opinions 359)
Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure (TRAP) One set for all 15 courts of appeals + both high courts (verified from official TRAP PDF: civil NOA 30/90 days, accelerated 20 days (26.1); criminal 30/90 days (26.2); petition for review 45 days (53.7(a)); PDR 30 days (68.2(a)))
Texas Rules of Evidence (TRE) Unified civil+criminal evidence rules (1998 merger; FRE-patterned)
Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) Criminal procedure is statutory (arts. 1.01 et seq.; discovery art. 39.14 “Michael Morton Act” (verified — statute text); speedy trial constitutional after the act’s invalidation (verified — Meshell v. State, 739 S.W.2d 246 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987)))
Family Code / Estates Code / Property Code Family, probate/guardianship, eviction substance — statutory
Juvenile: Family Code Title 3 (Juvenile Justice Code) + TRCP/TRE hybrids Family Code § 51.17: the TRCP govern juvenile proceedings except where Title 3 provides otherwise (the state bears the burden of proof at adjudication), but discovery is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure and criminal case law, and the Rules of Evidence “applicable to criminal cases” apply (verified — statute text)
Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC) + Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure (TRDP) Ethics/discipline (State Bar Act framework)
Local rules + standing orders County-by-county (statutory county court jurisdiction varies!)
  • Texas Business Court (verified): created by HB 19 (Gov’t Code ch. 25A); opened 9-1-2024 in five metro divisions (currently operational: First/Dallas, Third/Austin, Fourth/San Antonio, Eighth/Fort Worth, Eleventh/Houston — verified, txcourts.gov); governor-appointed judges; jurisdiction over qualifying business disputes — CORRECTED/UPDATED: HB 40 (2025, eff. 9-1-2025) cut the former $10M tiers to $5M, so the threshold is now generally more than $5M in controversy (excluding interest, statutory/exemplary damages, penalties, fees, and costs), with publicly-traded-company cases covered regardless of amount (verified — Gov’t Code § 25A.004, 2025 text, and enrolled HB 40); HB 40 also added technology/IP-related disputes and arbitration-related jurisdiction and made the remaining divisions permanent; removal from district/county court under TRCP 355; written opinions required on request for dispositive rulings (Rule 359, verified); appeals to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals (verified — exclusive jurisdiction over Business Court appeals, official 15th COA page).

3. Civil Litigation Mechanics

  • Commencement: petition (Texas usage) + citation (not summons); answer due by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after the expiration of 20 days from service — the famous “Monday rule” (TRCP 99) (verified — TexasLawHelp (court-partnered) deadline guidance; the same “Monday next after the expiration of twenty days” formula appears in TRCP 15 in the official PDF).
  • Motions: Rule 91a dismissal (baseless causes — Texas’s 12(b)(6) analogue; rule title “Dismissal of Baseless Causes of Action” verified in the official TRCP; adopted 2013 to implement Gov’t Code § 22.004(g) (verified — official TRCP “Comment to 2013 change”; original adoption Misc. Docket No. 13-9022), and its fee provision, Rule 91a.7, was amended in 2019 to implement CPRC § 30.021 for actions commenced on or after September 1, 2019 — the current text says the court “may award” the prevailing party costs and reasonable and necessary attorney fees, except in actions by or against a governmental entity or official (verified — rule text and “Comment to 2019 change”)); special exceptions (the older pleading attack); Rule 166a summary judgment (title verified) — including the distinctive no-evidence motion, which in the current rule is no longer subsection (i): Rule 166a was rewritten effective 2026 (“Comment to 2026 change”: implementing Gov’t Code § 23.303 and modernizing the rule, with no intended substantive change other than deadlines), and the no-evidence motion is now defined in 166a(a)(2) (a motion asserting “there is no evidence of an essential element of a claim or defense on which the nonmovant would have the burden of proof at trial”), must state the elements challenged (166a(b)(2)(D)), may be filed “after adequate time for discovery” (166a(b)(3)(B)), and must be granted unless the respondent produces evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact (166a(h)(3)) (verified — official TRCP text).
  • Discovery: the 1999-overhauled discovery rules (Rule 190 “Discovery Limitations” control plans by level (title verified); Rule 194 “Required Disclosures in Suits Not Governed by the Family Code” — mandatory disclosures without awaiting a request (title verified); the 2021 amendment implementing Gov’t Code § 22.004(h-1) made disclosure automatic, patterned on FRCP 26(a), and a 2023 amendment moved Family Code suits to a separate request-based Rule 194a (verified — official TRCP “Comment to 2021 change” and “Comment to 2023 change”)).
  • Expedited actions (Rule 169): applies where all claimants (other than counter-claimants) plead only monetary relief “aggregating $250,000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney fees and costs,” and recovery is capped at the same $250,000 figure (Rule 169(a)–(b)) (verified — official TRCP text).
  • Justice courts (Rules 500–510): plain-language self-contained rules for ≤$20,000 claims, debt claims, and eviction cases (Rule 510 “Eviction Cases”, title verified); de novo appeal to county court under Rule 506 (verified — Texas State Law Library guide; Part V heading “Rules of Practice in Justice Courts” verified in official TRCP).
  • TCPA anti-SLAPP motions (CPRC ch. 27) are a Texas civil signature with automatic appeal rights (verified — ch. 27 includes § 27.003 “Motion to Dismiss” and § 27.008 “Appeal”, and denial is interlocutorily appealable under CPRC § 51.014(a)(12)).

4. Criminal Practice Mechanics

  • Path: misdemeanors in county courts (at law); felonies by grand jury indictment in district court (Tex. Const. art. I, § 10: “no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense, unless on an indictment of a grand jury,” except offenses punishable by fine or by non-penitentiary imprisonment, impeachment, and military cases — verified, constitution text); magistration under CCP art. 15.17 (appearance before a magistrate “without unnecessary delay, but not later than 48 hours after the person is arrested,” in person or by videoconference) and bail under CCP ch. 17 (art. 17.01 defines bail as the accused’s security to appear, including a bail bond or personal bond) (verified — statute text).
  • Speedy trial: constitutional only — the Texas Speedy Trial Act was struck down in 1987 as a separation-of-powers violation (verified — Meshell v. State, 739 S.W.2d 246 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987), holding arts. 32A.02 and 28.061 unconstitutional).
  • Discovery — the Michael Morton Act (CCP art. 39.14): open-file discovery upon timely request, disclosure of exculpatory/impeachment/mitigating material, and a continuing duty to disclose; a post-exoneration landmark (verified — statute text).
  • Post-conviction: habeas under CCP art. 11.07 (felony — filed with the clerk of the convicting court, writ “returnable to the Court of Criminal Appeals”; verified — art. 11.07 § 3) and 11.072 (“Procedure in Community Supervision Case”, title verified); death cases 11.071 (“Procedure in Death Penalty Case”, title verified) — the CCA runs state habeas, unlike anywhere else.
  • Criminal appeals: courts of appeals first (except death — direct to CCA: cases “in which the death penalty has been assessed” under CCP art. 37.071 “are appealed directly to the Court of Criminal Appeals,” and no notice of appeal is needed because the trial clerk files a notice of conviction with the CCA within 30 days of sentencing (verified — TRAP 71.1 and 25.2(b); CCP art. 4.04 § 2)), then petitions for discretionary review (PDR) to the CCA (TRAP 68; 30-day window verified — TRAP 68.2(a)).

5. Evidence

  • Texas Rules of Evidence — unified civil/criminal set (1998), FRE-patterned and restyled (2015) (verified — official TRE PDF: “Comment to 1998” notes the prior separate criminal rules; “Comment to 2015 Restyling” notes appear throughout; Rule 403 text confirmed); cited “Tex. R. Evid. 403.”
  • Experts: Daubert-plus — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex. 1995) (No. 94-0843, decided June 15, 1995): “We hold that Rule 702 requires expert testimony to be relevant and reliable,” with the proponent bearing the burden and the trial court weighing six non-exclusive reliability factors (testability, reliance on subjective interpretation, peer review/publication, potential rate of error, general acceptance, non-judicial uses) (verified — opinion text, CourtListener) and Kelly v. State, 824 S.W.2d 568 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (criminal) reliability frameworks (Kelly verified — rejected Frye, requires valid theory, valid technique, proper application, shown by clear and convincing evidence); expert reliability is also tested on legal-sufficiency (“no evidence”) review, not only at admissibility — Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1997): “If the expert’s scientific testimony is not reliable, it is not evidence,” accepting epidemiological proof of “more than a doubling of the risk” in toxic-tort causation while rejecting it as a bright-line test; Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 439 S.W.3d 332 (Tex. 2014) carried the Havner framework into asbestos substantial-factor causation (verified — opinion texts, CourtListener).

6. Appellate Mechanics

  • Two supreme courts, fifteen courts of appeals: civil appeals → regional COA → petition for review to the Supreme Court (45 days after COA judgment or overruling of rehearing — verified, TRAP 53.7(a)); criminal → COA → PDR to the CCA (30 days — verified, TRAP 68.2(a)); death penalty → CCA directly (verified — TRAP 71.1; CCP art. 4.04 § 2). State-party/Business Court appeals → Fifteenth COA (verified — official 15th COA page: statewide civil jurisdiction, exclusive over state-entity and Business Court appeals; began September 1, 2024, sits in Austin).
  • Initiating: notice of appeal in the trial court within 30 days (90 with timely new-trial/modification/reinstatement motions or findings requests; 20 days for accelerated appeals) (verified — TRAP 26.1 civil; 26.2 criminal, 30/90 days); restricted appeals (TRAP 30 “Restricted Appeal to Court of Appeals in Civil Cases”, title verified) and mandamus fill gaps — mandamus practice in the COAs/Supreme Court is enormous in Texas (TRAP 52 “Original Proceedings”, title verified).
  • Interlocutory appeals: statutory list (CPRC § 51.014 — temporary injunctions (a)(4), special appearances (a)(7), pleas to the jurisdiction (a)(8), etc.) + permissive appeals (§ 51.014(d)); TCPA denials appealable (§ 51.014(a)(12)) (all verified — statute text via Justia).
  • Overlap districts: Gov’t Code § 22.201, as last amended by S.B. 1045 (eff. Sept. 1, 2023), still lists the same ten counties (Harris and nine neighbors) in both the First and Fourteenth districts, Hunt County in both the Fifth and Sixth, and Gregg, Rusk, Upshur and Wood in both the Sixth and Twelfth; for the Houston courts, § 22.202(h) assigns new appeals between the First and Fourteenth by random draw and § 22.202(i) allows the clerks to equalize dockets by transfer (verified — statute text, checked September 2, 2026; no consolidation of the overlaps appears in the current statute); transfer/docket-equalization moves cases between COAs, with precedent-choice rules (TRAP 41.3 “Precedent in Transferred Cases”, title verified).

7. Rules of Professional Conduct

  • Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC) — Model Rules-influenced but its own numbering (e.g., candor = Rule 3.03 “Candor Toward the Tribunal”; confidentiality = 1.05) — do not cite Model Rule numbers in Texas (verified — official TDRPC PDF, current version effective March 7, 2025). Cited “Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof’l Conduct 3.03.”
  • Adopted by Supreme Court order after referendum of the bar (Texas lawyers vote on rule changes — unique) (verified — Gov’t Code ch. 81, subch. E-1: Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Referenda rule-proposal process, § 81.0878 “Referendum Vote by State Bar Members,” § 81.0879 Supreme Court approval/rejection).

8. Attorney Discipline & Enforcement

  • Flow (Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure): grievance → State Bar Chief Disciplinary Counsel (CDC) (classification within 30 days: inquiry vs. complaint vs. discretionary referral, TRDP 2.10; classification appealable to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals) → just-cause determination (TRDP 2.12) → respondent elects within 20 days evidentiary panel (grievance committee) or district court trial (TRDP 2.15; with possible jury — Texas allows jury trials in discipline, TRDP 3.06) → sanctions; Board of Disciplinary Appeals (BODA) and the Supreme Court oversee (verified — official TRDP PDF).
  • Sanctions: private reprimand → public reprimand → probated/active suspension → disbarment (verified — TRDP sanctions list, which also includes resignation in lieu of discipline and disability suspension); compulsory discipline for criminal convictions (verified — TRDP Part VIII, intentional crimes).
  • Discipline published in the Texas Bar Journal — TRDP 6.07 requires the final disposition of all disciplinary proceedings and actions to be reported there (and sent to a newspaper of general circulation in the lawyer’s county), with private reprimands published with the name deleted (verified — official TRDP PDF); attorney profiles on the State Bar site.

9. Newcomer Orientation Notes

  • Vocabulary: petition/citation/answer-by-Monday; “nonsuit” (voluntary dismissal, TRCP 162 “Dismissal or Non-suit”: the plaintiff may dismiss or take a non-suit “at any time before the plaintiff has introduced all of his evidence other than rebuttal evidence,” without court order, but the dismissal does not prejudice an adverse party’s pending claim for affirmative relief or a pending sanctions/fee motion (verified — rule text)); “special appearance” (jurisdiction challenge, Rule 120a — rule title verified, and cross-confirmed by CPRC § 51.014(a)(7) — strict order-of-pleading); “severance vs. separate trials.”
  • Check each county court at law’s jurisdictional statute — the default civil band is >$500 up to $325,000 (verified — Gov’t Code § 25.0003, 2025 text), but ceilings vary court-by-court (Gov’t Code ch. 25) — before assuming where a case belongs.
  • The Business Court is young law: ch. 25A jurisdiction (expanded and thresholds lowered by HB 40, eff. 9-1-2025), removal windows, and Fifteenth COA routing are actively being construed — check current case law before filing/removing.
  • Mandamus is normal: discovery and venue errors are policed by mandamus, not appeal.
  • E-filing: statewide mandatory eFileTexas — “mandatory for all attorneys filing civil, family, probate, or criminal cases in the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Courts of Appeals, and all district and county courts” (verified — efiletexas.gov); re:SearchTX (research.txcourts.gov) for records — the site describes statewide case search, full-text document search, case tracking with alerts, sign-in with an eFileTexas account, paid access tiers, and case notices e-mailed to attorneys of record (verified — site text).
  • Self-help: TexasLawHelp.org (court-partnered, excellent); justice-court self-help built into Rules 500–510’s plain language.
  • Out-of-state counsel: PHV under Rule 19 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas (“Requirements for Participation in Texas Proceedings by a Non-Resident Attorney”): first pay the $250-per-case nonresident attorney fee to the Board of Law Examiners under Gov’t Code § 82.0361, then file a sworn motion in the court accompanied by a motion from the associated Texas-licensed attorney; the court may deny the motion to a lawyer appearing in Texas “on a frequent basis” (verified — BLE rulebook and statute text).

10. Sources & Verification

Sources fetched 2026-08-27 (pass 1):

Sources fetched 2026-08-28 (pass 2):

Sources fetched 2026-09-02 (flag-resolution pass 3):

Not verified (flagged): none — all previously flagged items resolved 2026-09-02 (pass 3).