§ 117.004.Appeal to Supreme Court

A routing rule, and an unusual one.

The appeal is taken directly to the supreme court, skipping the courts of appeals.

It applies to a civil action brought against a person who may be entitled to immunity or indemnification under Section 117.002 or 117.003.

"May be entitled" is a low threshold. The route does not wait for a ruling that the protection applies.

Direct appeals are rare in Texas civil practice. The ordinary path runs through an intermediate court, and bypassing it is reserved for questions the legislature wants answered quickly and once.

The effect is uniformity. Fourteen courts of appeals could reach different answers about the same enforcement conduct; one court cannot.

It is also speed. An official facing suit for carrying out an assigned duty gets an answer without a full trip through the intermediate court.

The rule is written to reach the case early. Immunity questions are ordinarily raised at the start, and sending the appeal straight up keeps a threshold question from consuming years.

It puts the work on one court. The supreme court hears these appeals without the benefit of an intermediate opinion, which is the trade the legislature made for a single answer.

The phrase may be entitled keeps the route open to a defendant who lost below. The section does not condition the direct appeal on a ruling in the person’s favor.