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Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Texas

Photo of Supreme Court of Texas Justices

Composed of the Chief Justice and eight Justices, the Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for civil matters in the State of Texas. The Supreme Court is in Austin, next to the State Capitol.

The Justices of the Supreme Court are elected to staggered six-year terms in state-wide elections. When a vacancy arises the Governor may appoint a Justice, subject to Senate confirmation, to serve out the remainder of an unexpired term until the next general election. All members of the Court 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 (see Texas Constitution, Art. 5, Sec. 2).

By statute the Court has administrative control over the State Bar of Texas. Tex. Gov't Code § 81.011. The Court is also the sole authority for licensing attorneys in Texas and appoints the members of the Board of Law Examiners which administers the Texas bar examination. Tex. Gov't Code §§ 82.00, 82.004.

The Court promulgates the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Texas Rules of Evidence and other rules and standards.

Justice Lehrmann, UT Law Commencement Speaker... and a Proud Mom

May 22, 2017

Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra H. Lehrmann urged University of Texas law graduates to denounce injustice, to listen and engage and to learn from the other side.

“Don’t be stubborn,” Justice Lehrmann told graduates Saturday at the School of Law’s Sunflower Ceremony, the law school’s commencement.

Sound like a mother admonishing her children? She was.

Texas' Two Highest Courts Spearhead Beyond the Bench Summit

March 01, 2017

Texas' two highest courts, the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, spearheaded the Beyond the Bench: Law, Justice, and Communities Summit on December 14, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. The Summit brought together Texas judges, law-enforcement officers, and national, state, and community leaders with the objective of strengthening trust and confidence in our justice system.

Former Chief Justice Jack Pope, 1913-2017

February 25, 2017

Retired Texas Chief Justice Jack Pope, who helped establish formal judicial education for Texas judges, fought for a voluntary judicial-ethics code when judges had none and fought again to make that code mandatory and enforceable, died Saturday at 103. He served Texas for 39 years as a district court judge, court of appeals justice and on the Supreme Court, the last two as chief justice.

Court Adopts Order to Allow Limited Access to Electronic Court Records

February 21, 2017

The Texas Supreme Court has adopted recommendations from the Judicial Committee on Information Technology that will provide varying access to electronic judicial records by judges, lawyers in their own cases (and visiting judges assigned to specific cases) and court clerks. The access will be through a system called re:SearchTX.

Chief Justice Hecht's 2017 State of the Judiciary

February 01, 2017

In his second State of the Judiciary address Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht urged legislators Wednesday to redouble courthouse security across Texas and provide money to protect judges from known threats as well as changes in the law to protect their personal information.

Court Task Force to Examine Bar Exam

July 18, 2016

The way St. Mary's Law School Dean Stephen M. Sheppard sees it, more may explain dramatic declines in bar-exam passage rates than fewer qualified students filling law classes in times when law-school enrollments have declined. As the head of a recently appointed Texas Supreme Court task force, Sheppard hopes to test the bar exam itself.