Appealing a Justice Court Case

While Justice Courts hear eviction cases, eviction cases have their own appeal rules. You only have five days to appeal an eviction, and there may be significant costs even if you have a fee waiver. See Appealing an Eviction.

An appeal asks a higher court to hear a case that you lost. For example, a County Court hears appeals from Justice Courts located within the same county. In Texas, the County Court hears the appealed case de novo. De novo means you present all evidence and arguments as if the Justice Court case never happened.  In short, the case starts over from the beginning in County Court.

Appealing a Justice Court case differs from asking the same court to rehear the case. For instance, if you file a Motion for New Trial or a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment, you are asking the same Justice Court to reconsider your case. If you appeal to County Court, you are asking an entirely different court to decide your case.

A Justice Court hears cases within its precinct. There may be more than one precinct in a county.

When you file your appeal with the Justice Court, the Justice Court will send the case to the County Court in the county where the precinct is located.

In non-eviction cases, you generally have 21 days from the signed judgment to file your appeal. Note that the judgment is not always signed on the hearing date, so be sure to look at the judgment carefully. If possible, file your appeal within 21 days of the hearing date to be safe.

If you asked the Justice Court to set aside its judgment, give you a new trial, or reinstate a case it dismissed, you must appeal within 21 days from the date the Justice Court denied your request. (Note that you have 14 days from the signed judgment to file a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment, Motion for a New Trial, or Motion to Reinstate. If the judge does not make a decision, the motion is considered denied at 5:00 PM, 21 days after the signed judgment.)

In an eviction case, you only have five days to file an appeal. See Appealing an Eviction for more information specific to eviction cases.

Deadline Example 1: You lose your Justice Court case on September 1. The judge signs the judgment at the hearing. You believe that the judge is unlikely to change their mind, so you do not file a Motion for New Trial. Your appeal deadline will be on September 22, which is 21 days after the signed judgment.

Deadline Example 2: You miss your Justice Court hearing on August 1. The judge signs a default judgment against you that same day. You believe you had a very good reason for missing the hearing, so you file a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment on August 11, within the 14-day deadline for such a motion. The judge does not make a decision on your Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment, so the motion is considered denied at 5:00 PM on August 22, or 21 days after the judgment was signed. The deadline to file your appeal is September 12, 21 days after the court effectively denied your Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment.

The cost depends on whether you are the plaintiff or defendant, and whether you qualify for a fee waiver. 

If you do not qualify for a fee waiver, you must post a bond, or pay the amount of the bond in cash, to appeal. The amount of the bond is different for plaintiffs and defendants. The plaintiff is the person who brought the suit. The defendant is the person being sued. You will also pay a separate filing fee to the County Court.

Fee Waiver Option

If you are low-income, you can ask for a fee waiver. If the court approves your fee waiver, you do not have to pay anything to appeal.

Bond Option

The plaintiff may file a $500 bond to appeal. A bond is a promise signed by one or more individuals (other than one of the parties) who promise to pay if the plaintiff loses on appeal and fails to pay any judgment sum. In other words, a bond requires a co-signer, called a “surety,” to guarantee the payment. The judge must approve of your surety, so pick someone trustworthy.

Defendants must file a bond equal to twice the amount of the Justice Court judgment.

Cash Deposit Option

Alternatively, the appealing plaintiff or defendant may pay a cash deposit equal to the bond amount instead of filing a bond. This amount will go toward paying the judgment if the party loses their appeal. Anything that remains after the judgment and costs will be returned.

Additional Filing Fee

When you appeal by filing a bond or paying a cash deposit, you will also need to pay the filing fee in County Court. If you filed using a valid fee waiver, you will not need to pay a bond, cash deposit, or filing fee.

You must “perfect” your appeal before the Justice Court will send it to the County Court. To perfect your appeal, all you have to do is to file bond, pay a cash deposit, or file a fee waiver within the time limit. If you use a fee waiver, the other side will have a chance to contest it, if they choose.

When you perfect your appeal, the Justice Court will send your case to County Court.

Yes. When you correctly use a fee waiver to file a case in Justice Court, you check the box that says “I cannot afford to pay court costs.” When you want to appeal, you need to file another fee waiver and check the box that says, “I cannot furnish an appeal bond or pay a cash deposit to appeal a justice court decision, and I cannot afford to pay court costs.”

After you file the new fee waiver, you will need to send a copy to the other side.

An Answer is the defendant’s response to the plaintiff’s allegations. If you are the defendant, you should have filed an Answer in Justice Court. If you already filed an Answer, you do not need to file another.

If you did not file an Answer in Justice Court, you have 20 days after you appeal to file an Answer with the County Court. You can use an Answer to list defenses in your case. An Answer is not strictly required in every appeal, but it is standard practice. Filing an Answer can also can help show that you respect the court rules and that you are serious about the case.

TexasLawHelp has a guide to help you file an Answer if you have not already done so.

You will have a new trial in the County Court. It will be like the Justice Court trial did not happen. You can present the same evidence you used in Justice Court, such as papers, witnesses, and photographs. If you have new evidence, you can present it as well. Unlike Justice Court, though, you must follow the rules of evidence in County Court.

The judge will listen first to the plaintiff’s side, and then to the defendant’s side. The two sides can also question each other’s witnesses.

If you miss the 21-day deadline, you may still apply with the County Court for a Writ of Certiorari. If approved, the County Court has accepted your case to be reheard.

You must apply for the writ within 90 days of the judgment by filing a petition in County Court. Your application must argue at least one of the following:

Lack of Jurisdiction - Facts that tell why the Justice Court did not have jurisdiction over the case. Jurisdiction is the legal authority a court has to hear a case. Jurisdiction can depend on the type of case, the amount sued for, and where the events in the case took place. It is best to talk to an attorney if you think that the court may not have had jurisdiction.

Unjust Decision Not Due to Your Inexcusable Negligence - Facts that tell why the case outcome was unjust. Just as importantly, you must also give facts that tell why the outcome was not your fault. For example, say you lose your case in a default judgment because you did not file an Answer and did not go to the hearing. You then miss the deadline to file a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment and the deadline to file an appeal to County Court. You would have to convince the County Court that you had a good reason for not filing an Answer, missing the hearing, and missing both deadlines.

Getting a Writ of Certiorari requires more than merely saying that the outcome was unjust and not your fault. You must give facts that show why the outcome was unjust and not your fault (or why the Justice Court did not have jurisdiction). It is highly recommended that you hire an attorney to help you with your application for Writ of Certiorari.

If the County Court gives you a Writ of Certiorari, you must pay a cash deposit, file a bond, or file a fee waiver.

You can ask the Justice Court to set aside the judgment and rehear the case. However, there is no guarantee that the court will grant your request. On the other hand, you have the right to appeal to County Court. If you file your documents and pay any fees on time, the County Court must hear your case.

When you file a fee waiver to appeal, the other side can contest it within seven days after getting notice. If the other side tells the court they don’t think you qualify for a fee waiver, the Justice Court will hold a hearing.

If the Justice Court says that you do not qualify to use a fee waiver, you can appeal that decision to County Court. To appeal the fee waiver decision to County Court, you must give the Justice Court written notice of the appeal within seven days of the Justice of the Peace’s order that denied the fee waiver. The Justice Court will notify the County Court, and the County Court then has 14 days to hear the fee waiver appeal.

A fee waiver appeal hearing in County Court only decides whether you can use the fee waiver. It does not decide any other issues in your case.

If you do not appeal the Justice Court’s fee waiver decision, or if you lose your fee waiver appeal, you have five days to instead file a bond or pay a cash deposit.