The Supreme Court of Texas is the highest state court for civil appeals and promulgates rules of administration and civil procedure for the courts of Texas. It is comprised of the Chief Justice and eight justices.

The Court disposed of or otherwise acted upon a total of 3,037 matters during fiscal year 1997, a decrease of 4.5 percent from the 3,181 matters passed on in fiscal year 1996.

Regular causes are regular appeals or original actions pending before the court. Normally, they reach this status when a Writ of Error is granted in the cause. Petitions for Original Mandamus and Habeas Corpus, which are not disposed of upon initial review, and in which the petition is granted, may also become regular causes.

The 120 regular causes added to the Court's docket during the year ended August 31, 1997, were 21 percent less than the 152 regular causes added in fiscal year 1996.

The 121 regular causes disposed of were 14.8 percent less than the 142 disposed of in fiscal year 1996 and 22 percent less than the 10-year average of 155. Of the regular causes disposed of during 1997, 90 came to the Court on applications for writs of error from the 14 Courts of Appeals. Of those 90 dispositions, the lower courts were reversed in whole or in part in 74 causes, or 82.2 percent. This compares to 81.6 percent reversals in fiscal year 1996.

The 57 regular causes (including motions for rehearing) left pending at the end of fiscal year 1997 represented 32 percent of the total number of regular causes added during the year or carried over from the previous year. This is 6 causes less than the 10-year average of 63 pending causes. At the end of fiscal year 1996, 52 regular causes had been pending in the Court.

An Application for Writ of Error is a request filed by one of the parties, requesting the Supreme Court to review the judgment of a Court of Appeals. If four or more of the nine justices concur, the writ is granted and the cause is scheduled for argument before the court.

The 983 applications for writs of error filed during fiscal year 1997 represented a 0.6 percent decrease from the 989 applications filed in fiscal year 1996, and was 2.2 percent lower than the 10-year average of 1,005.

The 936 applications for writs of error disposed of during the year were 7.4 percent less than the 1,011 disposed of during fiscal year 1996, and 7.2 percent less than the 10-year average of 1,009. Eleven percent, or 104, of the 936 applications disposed of were granted.

The 389 applications for writs of error left pending at the end of fiscal year 1997 represented 29 percent of the total number of such applications filed during the year or carried over from the previous year. This is 32 more pending applications than the 10-year average of 357 pending applications. At the end of fiscal year 1996, 337 applications for writs of error had been pending in the Court.

The 2,029 other writs and motions filed during fiscal year 1997 were 1.2 percent more than the 2,004 filed during fiscal year 1996. This is 14.4 percent more than the 10-year average of 1,773 other writs and motions filed.

The 1,980 other writs and motions disposed of during fiscal year 1997 were 2.4 percent less than the 2,028 disposed during fiscal year 1996. This is 234 more dispositions than the 10-year average of 1,746 dispositions.

The 244 other writs and motions left pending by the Court at the end of fiscal year 1997 represented 12 percent of the total number of other writs and motions filed during the year. At the end of fiscal year 1996, 196 other writs and motions had been pending in the Court.

During fiscal year 1997, the justices of the Supreme Court wrote 179 opinions (or an average of 19.9 opinions each), 2.2 percent less than the 183 opinions written in fiscal year 1996 and 15.6 percent less than the 10-year average of 212. About 66 percent, or 118, of the opinions written in 1997 were deciding opinions which disposed of causes.

During fiscal year 1997, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments of 57 causes and considered an additional 47 causes submitted on briefs. 

Regular Causes are regular appeals or original actions pending before the court. Normally, they reach this status when a Writ of Error is granted in the cause. Petitions for Original Mandamus and Habeas Corpus, which are not disposed of upon initial review, and in which the petition is granted, may also become regular causes.

An Application for Writ of Error is a request filed by one of the parties, requesting the Supreme Court to review the judgment of a Court of Appeals. If four or more of the nine justices concur, the writ is granted and the cause is scheduled for argument before the court.