§ 171.041.Appointment of Arbitrators
Title 7. Alternate Methods of Dispute Resolution · Chapter 171. General Arbitration · Subchapter C. Arbitration · Last amended 1997 · Last verified August 29, 2026
Full Text of § 171.041
Plain-English Summary
Appointment starts with the contract and ends, when necessary, with a judge.
The agreement controls. The method of appointment is as specified in the agreement to arbitrate.
Most agreements say something. They name an institution, adopt its rules, or set out a selection procedure of their own.
Three failures send the question to court. The agreement does not specify a method; the agreed method fails or cannot be followed; or an appointed arbitrator fails or is unable to act and no successor has been appointed.
The applicant states two things: the nature of the issues to be arbitrated, and the qualifications of the proposed arbitrators.
The court then shall appoint one or more qualified arbitrators. The duty is mandatory once a listed failure is shown.
A court-appointed arbitrator is not a lesser arbitrator. The appointee has the powers of an arbitrator named in the agreement itself.
That equivalence is what makes the section useful. A party cannot stall an arbitration by refusing to participate in choosing the panel.
Section 171.089 uses this section again after a vacatur, when a court orders a rehearing before new arbitrators and the agreement does not say how to choose them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who chooses the arbitrators?
Whoever the agreement says. The court appoints only where the agreement is silent, the method fails, or an appointed arbitrator cannot act.
What must an application say?
The nature of the issues to be arbitrated and the qualifications of the proposed arbitrators.
Does a court-appointed arbitrator have full powers?
Yes, the same powers as an arbitrator named in the agreement.
Amendment History
- Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 5.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.