What is Texas’s “Fifth District Court of Appeals”?
The Fifth District Court of Appeals is a Texas state appellate court located on the second floor of the George Allen Courthouse, 600 Commerce Street in Dallas, Texas. The court of appeals has a second courtroom (the Merrill Hartman Courtroom) on the ninth floor of the same courthouse. The Fifth District Court of Appeals is sometimes referred to as the Fifth Court of Appeals, the Dallas Court of Appeals, or the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. The Fifth District Court of Appeals is not the same court as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is a federal court of appeals located in New Orleans. Likewise, the Fifth District Court of Appeals is not the same court as the Fifth Judicial District Court, which is a Texas state trial court hearing cases in New Boston, Texas (county seat of Bowie County) and Linden, Texas (county seat of Cass County). Finally, the Fifth District Court of Appeals is not the same as the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, which covers eleven South Texas counties and is based out of Corpus Christi. The Fifth District Court of Appeals generally hears appeals arising from trial courts in the following six counties: Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall. The Fifth District Court of Appeals has thirteen justices, more than any other Texas court of appeals. The Fifth District Court of Appeals was known as the Fifth District Court of CIVIL Appeals before September 1, 1981, when its jurisdiction was expanded to also include criminal cases. The Fifth District Court of Appeals was known as the Court of Appeals for the Fifth SUPREME JUDICIAL District of Texas until September 1, 1987, when the Texas Legislature removed the phrase “Supreme Judicial” from naming conventions. See Act of Apr. 30, 1987, 70th Leg., R.S., ch. 148, § 1.02, sec. 22.201, 1987 Tex. Gen. Laws 534, 535; In re Williams, 123 S.W.3d 39, 41 n.2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2003, no pet.).
Back to Frequently Asked Questions