About The Third Court

Created in 1892, the Third Court of Appeals holds a special place in the Texas legal system. The court, located in Austin, covers 24 counties and is one of fourteen intermediate appellate courts in the state. These courts provide review “in between” the trial courts and the state’s two highest courts, the Texas Supreme Court (for civil cases) and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (for criminal cases). As a practical matter, the court is the final review for the majority of the cases it hears, since the highest courts accept only a small portion of the cases presented to them.

The courts of appeals do not conduct trials. They review decisions of trial judges for legal error, and either affirm the trial court results, or reverse all or a portion. Each side presents its case to a three-judge panel through written legal briefs covering the applicable points of law and the trial court record. The court may hear oral argument from the attorneys representing each side. It then issues its decision, typically in the form of a written opinion.

What makes the Third Court of Appeals so unique is the mix of cases that it hears. Like the state’s other intermediate appellate courts, the Third Court hears civil and criminal appeals arising from district courts and county-courts-at-law in the counties it covers. But unlike the other courts, a significant portion of the Third Court’s docket is cases involving governmental agencies and officers, many of which must be brought in Travis County under Texas law. If you care about issues such as the environment, education, energy, public corruption, and more, then you care about the cases decided by the Third Court.

The Third Court is composed of a chief justice and five justices. The justices are elected to six-year terms. All court of appeals justices must be at least 35 years of age, a citizen of Texas, licensed to practice law in Texas, and must have practiced law (or have been a lawyer and a judge of a court of record together) for at least ten years.