§ 27.004.Hearing

Three deadlines in one section, and they nest.

The default is 60 days. A hearing on a motion to dismiss must be set not later than the 60th day after the date of service of the motion.

Three things can push it back: the docket conditions of the court, a showing of good cause, or agreement of the parties — but in no event more than 90 days after service.

Subsection (b) lets the court help itself. Where it cannot hold the hearing in time, it may take judicial notice that its docket conditions required a later date. That removes any need for evidence about the court’s own calendar — the judge may note it — but the 90-day ceiling still applies.

Subsection (c) is the only route past 90 days. If the court allows discovery under the proof provision, it may extend the hearing date, but in no event beyond 120 days after service.

The speed is the point of the whole chapter. A motion designed to end meritless litigation early is worth little if it takes a year to be heard, and the deadlines here are what make the mechanism work.

They also matter because of what follows. The ruling provision requires a decision within 30 days of the hearing, and failure to rule in time is a denial by operation of law that can be appealed — so the hearing date sets the whole timetable.

Every ceiling in the section is expressed as "in no event", which leaves no room for a further extension by agreement or otherwise.