Texas Courts of Appeals

Texas has fourteen intermediate courts of appeal. Each court governs a court of appeals district of varying size; for example, the 13th Court of Appeals district stretches from Austin to San Angelo, while Houston has two coterminous districts. The number of judges on each court ranges from three to thirteen. There are eighty court of appeals judges statewide. The courts of appeals hear appeals of both civil and criminal cases from the state’s trial courts.

Generally, about two-thirds of all appeals to the courts of appeals involve criminal matters. On any given day, a court of appeals might consider the appeal of a convicted murderer, a royalty owner who feels he or she is being cheated by the oil company, or a multi-million dollar verdict in a medical malpractice case. The courts of appeals reverse about one in ten trial court decisions.

Court of appeals judges must therefore be well-versed in all areas of the law. They must also hear a lot of cases. Unlike the Texas Supreme Court, which has the power to choose the cases it wishes to hear, courts of appeals must decide all the cases appealed to them. On average, the courts of appeals dispose of 9-10,000 matters every year, as opposed to the Supreme Court’s 3-4000. Since the Supreme Court cannot possibly consider all the eligible cases, courts of appeals are the last resort for the vast majority of appeals. More importantly, courts of appeals are the last place in the judicial system in which errors of fact may be corrected. In other words, these courts have the power to decide if the evidence presented at the trial justifies the trial court’s judgment, which is often (but not always) based on a jury verdict.

Consequently, courts of appeals are the ultimate check against an unfair or biased outcome at the trial level. If a court of appeals allows a trial court judgment based on factual errors to stand, the Supreme Court has little ability to correct the outcome. It is thus imperative, as it is with any court, that court of appeals judges be scrupulously fair and well qualified.

Most people do not know who their court of appeals judges are. These judges rarely run high-profile political campaigns and appear far down on the election ballot. In fact, significantly fewer people vote in the court of appeals elections than in the Supreme Court elections, despite the crucial importance of these courts and their substantial influence on voters’ lives.

That is why it is incumbent on every voter to learn as much as possible about the candidates for the court of appeals. Seek information about the candidates in your district from local sources, such as bar associations and other trade and professional groups, newspapers, friends, and business associates. Call the candidate’s campaign office and ask for campaign materials and background information. Find out who is backing the candidate and why.

Cast an informed vote. Don’t leave it to someone else to choose the person who may judge you!