Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.002(a), 73.001, 73.055, 27.003, 27.009; PJC 110.1
Defamation in Texas — one year to sue, a retraction request first, and the anti-SLAPP motion waiting
A claim in Texas district and county courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Defamation is the shortest-lived claim in Texas civil law. One year from publication, and the clock does not restart when the statement is repeated online under the single publication rule.
Two procedural features shape every one of these cases. A request for a correction is a precondition to maintaining the suit. And a defendant can move to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, which stays discovery and, on success, requires the plaintiff to pay the defendant's attorney's fees.
What the claim is
Someone published a false statement of fact about you to a third person, and it damaged your reputation.
Where the right comes from
Common law, with libel defined by statute in CPRC § 73.001 and the correction procedure in the Defamation Mitigation Act, CPRC §§ 73.051–73.062. The constitutional fault standards come from New York Times Co. v. Sullivan and the Texas cases applying it, including WFAA-TV, Inc. v. McLemore, 978 S.W.2d 568 (Tex. 1998).
What a plaintiff has to prove — PJC 110.1
- The defendant published a statement of fact to a third party.
- The statement was defamatory concerning the plaintiff.
- The defendant acted with the requisite degree of fault — negligence as to truth for a private figure, actual malice for a public official or public figure.
- Damages, unless the statement is defamatory per se.
Defamation per se covers statements that injure a person in their office, profession or occupation, impute a serious crime, impute a loathsome disease, or impute sexual misconduct. General damages are presumed for those.
Actual malice means knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth — a subjective test about the speaker's state of mind, not a synonym for ill will.
How long you have to file
One year from publication, under CPRC § 16.002(a), which sets the same period for malicious prosecution, libel, slander and breach of promise of marriage.
Texas applies the single publication rule: the period runs from the first publication, and continued availability of the same statement does not restart it. The discovery rule rarely applies to mass media publication, though it can where the statement was inherently undiscoverable.
What has to happen before you file
A request for a correction, clarification or retraction. CPRC § 73.055(a) provides that a person may maintain a defamation action only if a timely and sufficient request was made, or the defendant made a correction on its own.
The request is timely if made during the limitations period, and it must be served on the publisher, be in writing, identify the person making it, be signed, and state with particularity the statement alleged to be false and defamatory.
And the 90-day rule for punitive damages. Under § 73.055(c), a person who does not request a correction within 90 days of receiving knowledge of the publication may not recover exemplary damages.
What the claim pays
Actual damages — injury to reputation, mental anguish, and economic loss such as lost business or a lost job.
Presumed general damages for defamation per se, without proof of specific harm.
Exemplary damages, on clear and convincing proof of actual malice, subject to CPRC § 41.008 and to the 90-day retraction request rule.
No attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
The TCPA — the risk that runs the other way
The Texas Citizens Participation Act, CPRC ch. 27, lets a defendant move to dismiss a claim based on the exercise of the right of free speech, petition or association. Filing the motion stays discovery. The plaintiff must then establish, by clear and specific evidence, a prima facie case for each essential element.
CPRC § 27.009(a)(1) makes the consequence mandatory: on dismissal the court shall award the moving party court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and may award sanctions. A defamation plaintiff who loses a TCPA motion pays for the defence.
The statute cuts both ways in one respect: § 27.009(b) allows fees to the responding party where the court finds the motion frivolous or filed solely to delay.
Common defenses
- Truth or substantial truth. A complete defense; a statement is not actionable if it is substantially true even if some detail is wrong.
- Opinion. A statement that cannot be proved true or false is not a statement of fact.
- Privilege — judicial and legislative proceedings, official communications, and fair reporting of official proceedings.
- No actual malice, where the plaintiff is a public official or public figure.
- The TCPA motion to dismiss.
- Failure to request a correction, which bars the action, or a request outside 90 days, which bars exemplary damages.
- Limitations — one year, and it is the most common defense of all.
What people get wrong
The deadline is one year, not two. People assume the general personal injury period applies. It does not, and the mistake is unrecoverable.
Reposting does not restart the clock. The single publication rule runs from the first publication.
Opinions are not defamatory. "He is a crook" in a heated argument is usually opinion; "he stole $40,000 from the account on 3 March" is a statement of fact.
Suing can cost you money. A TCPA dismissal makes a fee award against the plaintiff mandatory.
Public figures face a much harder test. Actual malice requires proof the speaker knew the statement was false or seriously doubted its truth.
Where it came from
Texas libel law was largely statutory by 1901, and the definition in § 73.001 has changed little since. The constitutional overlay arrived with Sullivan in 1964 and reshaped the fault element for anyone speaking about public figures.
The Defamation Mitigation Act came in 2013, borrowing from the Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act. Its premise is that a correction is often what a defamed person wants, and it makes asking for one a precondition to suing.
The TCPA arrived in 2011 and became the dominant procedural fact in Texas defamation practice — broadly worded, aggressively used, and generating so much satellite litigation in commercial cases that the Legislature narrowed its scope in 2019. It remains fully available in defamation cases.
Common questions
How long do I have to sue for defamation in Texas?
One year from the date the statement was first published.
Do I have to ask for a retraction first?
Yes. A timely and sufficient written request for a correction, clarification or retraction is a precondition to maintaining the action, and asking within 90 days of learning of the publication preserves exemplary damages.
Can I recover attorney's fees?
Not as a prevailing plaintiff. If the defendant wins a TCPA motion to dismiss, you pay theirs.
What if the statement was an opinion?
Opinion is not actionable. The test is whether the statement can be objectively verified as true or false.
What is anti-SLAPP?
A motion under CPRC chapter 27 that stays discovery and forces the plaintiff to show clear and specific evidence of each element early, with a mandatory fee award to the defendant on dismissal.
Does it matter that I am not famous?
Yes, in your favour. A private figure need only prove the defendant was negligent about the truth. A public figure must prove actual malice.