What is the significance of a cause number or case number in a Texas appeal?

In a Texas court of appeals, the first two digits of an appellate cause number are used for the number of the court of appeals district. For example, “05” signifies that the appeal is in the Fifth District Court of Appeals. The second two digits of an appellate cause number are used for the year in which the appeal was filed. For example, “21” signifies that the appeal was filed in the year 2021. An appellate cause number will end with “CV” or “CR” to indicate whether the case is a civil case or a criminal case. The third set of digits in an appellate cause number (which are located immediately before the “CV” or “CR”) are assigned chronologically for that type of case filed in that court in that year. For example, the case number 05-21-00001-CV signifies that the case was the first civil case filed in the Fifth District Court of Appeals in the year 2021.

Back to Frequently Asked Questions