About Texas Courts

Courts of Appeals 

Texas has 15 courts of appeals with intermediate appellate jurisdiction. The First through Fourteenth Court of Appeals have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts. Each of these 14 courts of appeals have jurisdiction in a specific geographical region of the state.

The Fifteenth Court of Appeals has statewide civil intermediate appellate jurisdiction and exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over matters arising out of or related to a civil appeals brought by or against the state or a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of the state government, including a university system or institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, or by or against an officer or employee of the state or a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of the state government arising out of that officer's or employee's official conduct (subject to certain exceptions). In addition, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the Texas Business Court which has jurisdiction over cases involving business disputes valued at more than $10 million.

Each court is presided over by a chief justice and has at least two other justices. The specific number of justices on each court is set by statute and ranges from three to 13. Presently there are 83 justices authorized for these courts.

Appeals in the courts of appeals are usually heard by a panel of three justices, unless an en banc hearing is ordered in a particular case, in which instance all the justices of a court hear and consider the case.

You can visit the web sites of all 15 courts of appeals, via Courts in the main menu.

For further information on court structure, jurisdiction, judge qualifications, contact information, and maps, see About Texas Courts.