§ 43.003.Priority of Execution

An ordering rule for execution, and its second subsection is what makes it work.

If a judgment granted against two or more defendants finds a suretyship relationship, the court shall order the sheriff to levy the execution in a stated order.

The condition is a finding in the judgment. A suretyship that exists in fact but was not found by the court does not trigger the section, which is a drafting point for a surety defending the case.

First, against the principal’s property located in the county where the judgment was granted.

Second, if the sheriff cannot find enough of the principal’s property in that county, against as much of the principal’s property as the sheriff finds.

Third, against as much of the surety’s property as is necessary to make up the balance shown in the writ.

The order is exhaustive rather than proportional. Everything of the principal’s that can be found in the county goes first, and the surety answers only for what remains.

Subsection (b) is the practical half: the clerk shall note the order to the sheriff on the writ of execution.

That matters because of how the execution chapter works. An officer follows the suretyship ordering rule only where the relationship appears on the face of the writ or the clerk’s endorsement — an officer has no duty to investigate relationships among judgment debtors.

So the notation on the writ is what converts a finding in a judgment into a protection at the door.

A surety should therefore check the writ, not only the judgment. A correct judgment with an unnoted writ leaves the officer free to levy in any order.