§ 16.072.Saturday, Sunday, or Holiday

A short provision that prevents an arbitrary loss of rights.

If the last day of a limitations period under any statute of limitations falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the period for filing suit is extended to include the next day that the county offices are open for business.

"Under any statute of limitations" is the phrase that matters. The section is not confined to this chapter — it reaches limitations periods throughout Texas law, so the medical liability period, the tort claims periods, and periods in other codes all benefit.

The reference point is county offices, not the courthouse or the clerk’s window. That is a workable test because it is publicly ascertainable and uniform across the county, and it accommodates local closures that a fixed list of state holidays would miss.

The rule reflects a simple fairness point: a claimant who has waited until the last day is entitled to do so, and should not lose the claim because the last day happened to be a Sunday.

Electronic filing has narrowed the section’s practical importance without removing it. Texas requires e-filing for represented parties in civil cases, and an electronic filing system does not close for the weekend — but a self-represented party filing on paper still depends on the office being open.

Note that the extension attaches to the last day only. Weekends and holidays falling inside the period are counted normally; nothing here shortens or lengthens the period itself.

The section says nothing about what counts as a holiday, so the answer comes from the practice of the county offices in question rather than from this text.