Bill > HB4797

This bill proposes a comprehensive reorganization of the Texas Court of Appeals districts, reducing the number of districts from 15 to 6 and renaming them as Appellate Districts A through E. The bill changes the geographical composition of each district by redistributing counties among the new districts, adds additional cities where courts can be held (such as Beaumont, Waco, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and El Paso), and significantly increases the number of justices in each district. For example, Appellate District A will now have 21 justices instead of the previous 8, and Appellate District D will have 15 justices instead of 6. The bill also provides detailed transition provisions for current judges and court clerks, specifying how they will be reassigned to the new districts while maintaining their current classifications and compensation. Specifically, current chief justices of various courts of appeals will become chief justices or deputy chief justices of the new appellate districts, and their current clerks will similarly be repositioned. The legislation ensures that ongoing legal cases are not disrupted by specifying that cases with transcripts already filed will remain in their original court of appeals district, and the changes will take effect on September 1, 2025.

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https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB4797