Court Description

The Third Court of Appeals, which is located in Austin, Texas, is one of 14 intermediate appellate courts in the State of Texas.  The Third Court hears both civil and criminal appeals arising from a district court or county court-at-law in any of the following 24 counties (see map below):

Other than rare cases, the losing party in these 24 counties has an automatic right to appeal to the Third Court.  Then, once the Third Court has decided a case, the losing party may petition for its case to be heard by one of the two highest courts in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court (for civil cases) or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (for criminal cases). The state’s highest courts hear only a small portion of the appeals filed there.  As a result, most cases that are filed in the Third Court end there.

The Third Court is unique because appeals involving state government must proceed through Travis County, with all appeals in those cases proceeding through the Third Court.  The Third Court, therefore, has a great deal of judicial oversight over state government.

The Third Court is composed of six justices.  The court sits in panels of three justices, except in rare cases in which all six justices hear the case.  The justices are elected for six-year terms.

For more information on the Third Court of Appeals, you can visit its website here.