Transfers To and From the Fifteenth

Court of Appeals (a) Definitions. (1) “Regional court of appeals” means a court of appeals other than the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. (2) “Transferor court” means the court of appeals in which the appeal is pending. (3) “Transferee court” means the court of appeals to which a party requests or the transferor court seeks to transfer the appeal (b) Application. (1) The transfer process in this rule applies to appeals: (A) taken to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals that are not within the Fifteenth Court of Appeals’ exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction; or (B) taken to a regional court of appeals and over which the Fifteenth Court of exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction. Appeals has (2) This rule does not apply to appeals transferred by the Supreme Court for good cause, for docket including equalization purposes. (c) Transfer by a Court of Appeals. (1) Standard. The transferor court must transfer the appeal if: (A) the deadline for filing an objection has passed; (B) either: (i) and the transferor court is a regional it appeals court of determines that the appeal is within the Fifteenth Court of Appeals’ exclusive intermediate jurisdiction; or (ii) the is transferor court the Fifteenth Court of Appeals and it determines the appeal is not exclusive within intermediate appellate jurisdiction; and its (C) the transferee agrees to the transfer. (2) Transfer Initiation. A transfer may be initiated by a party’s motion or by the transferor court. (3) Motion or Notice and Opportunity to Respond. (A) A party may file a motion to transfer an appeal. The motion should be filed within 30 days after the appeal 36 in filed is perfected but must be filed by the date the appellee’s brief is filed. The motion must be the transferor court and explain why the Fifteenth Court of Appeals does or exclusive does intermediate appellate jurisdiction. The motion may be supported by briefing. The movant must immediately notify the transferee court of the motion. have not (B) If the transferor court initiates a transfer, the transferor court must notify the parties and the transferee court. (C) A party may file a response to the potential transfer. The response must be filed within 10 days after the motion’s filing or after receiving the transferor court’s notice. The response must explain why the Fifteenth Court of Appeals does or does exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction. have not (4) Preliminary Decision. After the deadline for filing a response has passed, the transferor court must notify the parties its transferee and preliminary decision. court of the (5) Transferee Court Disagreement. If the transferee court disagrees with the transferor court’s preliminary decision, the transferee court must, within 20 days after receiving notice from the transferor court of its preliminary decision, file a letter in the transferor court explaining its disagreement. The transferee court may file a letter agreeing with the preliminary decision. transferred, should be (6) Transfer Notice. If the transferor court and transferee court agree on whether the appeal the transferor court must finalize its decision and notify the parties. If the transferor court transfers an appeal under (1), the transferor court must notify the Supreme Court and the Office of Court Administration of the transfer. (d) Transfer by the Supreme Court. (1) Submission Contents. If the transferor court and transferee court do not agree the appeal should be on whether transferred, then the transferor court must forward to the Supreme Court either: (A) the party’s motion to transfer, any briefing, the transferee court’s letter and a letter explaining the transferor court’s decision on the motion; or (B) a letter from the transferor court that explains its reasons for requesting transfer and that notes any party objections and the transferee court’s letter under. (2) Submission Deadline. circumstances Unless exceptional require additional time, the documents in (1) must be submitted to the Supreme Court within 20 days after receipt of the transferee court’s letter. (3) Supreme Court Decision. After receipt of all relevant documents, the Supreme Court will consider and decide the motion or request by the transferor court to transfer. Notes and Comments Comment to 2024 change: Rule 27a is adopted to implement Texas Government Code Section 73.001. Paragraph (b)(1) limits the applicability of the transfer process in Rule 27a to the appeals described in Section 73.001(c). And paragraph (b)(2) makes clear that Rule 27a does not apply to “good cause” transfers under Section 73.001(a), which are handled under the Policies for Transfer of Cases Between Courts of Appeals adopted in Misc. Dkt. No. 06-9136. Consistent with Section 1.15 of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals’ enabling legislation, Rule 27a only applies to appeals perfected on or after September 1, 2024. See Act of May 21, 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., ch. 459 (S.B. 1045). It does not apply to appeals pending in the courts of appeals that were filed between September 1, 2023, and August 31, 2024, and of which the Fifteenth Court of Appeals has exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction under Texas Government Code Section 22.220(d). On September 37 1, 2024, immediately to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. those appeals should be transferred Comment to 2025 change: Rule 27a is amended to clarify the rule’s applicability and objection procedures. To accommodate these changes, some paragraphs have been rearranged and relettered or renumbered.