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Texas Courts of Appeals

From Ballotpedia

See also

TheTexas Courts of Appeals are a set of 15 appellate courts in the Texas judicial system with intermediate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases that are appealed from the lower district or county courts.^[1]

"The first intermediate appellate court in Texas was created by the Constitution of 1876, which created a Court of Appeals with appellate jurisdiction in all criminal cases and in all civil cases originating in the county courts. In 1891, an amendment was added to the Constitution authorizing the Legislature to establish intermediate courts of civil appeals located at various places throughout the State. The purpose of this amendment was to preclude the large quantity of civil litigation from further congest- ing the docket of the Supreme Court, while providing for a more convenient and less expensive system of intermediate appellate courts for civil cases. In 1980, a constitutional amendment extended the appellate jurisdiction of the courts of civil appeals to include criminal cases and changed the name of the courts to the 'courts of appeals.'"^[2]

Jurisdiction

The state of Texas is divided into 15 regions, and each court has jurisdiction over cases in its geographic area. The fifteenth district court has jurisdiction over the entire state.

Texas First District Court of Appeals - Houston
Texas Second District Court of Appeals - Fort Worth
Texas Third District Court of Appeals - Austin
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals - San Antonio
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals - Dallas
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals - Texarkana
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals - Amarillo
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals - El Paso
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals - Beaumont
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals - Waco
Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals - Eastland
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals - Tyler
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals - Corpus Christi & Edinburg
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals - Houston
Texas Fifteenth District Court of Appeals - Austin

Judges

The number of judges serving on each court is defined by statute and varies from three to 13. At a minimum, "each Court is presided over by a chief justice and has at least two other justices."^[1] There are 80 judges authorized by statute for the 14 Courts of Appeals. Most cases are only heard by three justices; cases only require the full slate of justices in extreme circumstances.^[1]^[3]

Salary

See also:Texas court salaries and budgets

In 2025, associate judges serving on the Texas District Courts of Appeals in districts 1 through 14 received a base salary of $192,500, according to the Office of Court Administration. Judges on the Fifteenth District Court of Appeals earned a base salary of $205,000.^[4]

Judicial selection

See also:Partisan election of judges andJudicial selection in Texas

The justices of theTexas Court of Appeals are selected in district levelpartisan elections. The elected justices serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.^[5]

Qualifications

To serve on the Texas Court of Appeals, a justice must be:

a U.S. citizen;
a resident ofTexas;
licensed to practice law in the state;
between the ages of 35 and 75;*^[6]^[7] and
a practicing lawyer and/or judge for at least 10 years.^[5]

Chief justice

Thechief justice of each district court is selected by voters at large. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.^[5]

Vacancies

In the event of a midterm vacancy, thegovernor appoints a replacement who must be confirmed by theTexas Senate. The appointee serves until the next general election, in which he or she may compete to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.^[5]

Elections

To see election results, please visit theindividual court pages. For details about Texas' judicial elections,click here.

Ethics

TheTexas Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates inTexas. It consists of eight overarching canons:

Canon 1: Upholding the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
Canon 2: Avoiding Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All of the Judge’s Activities
Canon 3: Performing the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially and Diligently
Canon 4: Conducting the Judge's Extra-Judicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with Judicial Obligations
Canon 5: Refraining from Inappropriate Political Activity
Canon 6: Compliance with the Code of Judicial Conduct
Canon 7: Effective Date of Compliance
Canon 8: Construction and Terminology of the Code^[8]

The full text of theTexas Code of Judicial Conduct can be foundhere.

Removal of judges

Court of Appeals judges inTexas may be removed in one of three ways:

Removal or retirement by a review tribunal upon aTexas Commission on Judicial Conduct recommendation to the Supreme Court. The Commission investigates and, if warranted, prosecutes allegations of judicial misconduct. After a Commission recommendation, the Supreme Court selects a review tribunal made up of Court of Appeals judges to verify the Commission's findings and enter a judgment. Decisions are subject to appeal to the Supreme Court.
By thegovernor on the address of two thirds of theTexas Senate and theTexas House of Representatives.
By a two-thirds vote of the Senate, upon impeachment by a majority vote of the House.

State profile

Demographic data for Texas
	Texas	U.S.
Total population:	27,429,639	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	261,232	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	74.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11.9%	12.6%
Asian:	4.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,207	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.9%	11.3%
Source:U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Clickhere for more information on the 2020 census andhere for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the censushere.

Presidential voting pattern

See also:Presidential voting trends in Texas

Texasvoted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted forDonald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won thesePivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Texas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.^[9]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won asRetained Pivot Counties and those won byJoe Biden (D) asBoomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Texas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia

Texas	Judicial Selection	More Courts

Courts in TexasTexas Courts of AppealsTexas Court of Criminal AppealsTexas Supreme Court	Elections:2026 •2025 •2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017Gubernatorial appointmentsJudicial selection in Texas	Federal courtsState courtsLocal courts