§ 51.002.Certiorari from Justice Court

An older route out of the justice court, running alongside the ordinary appeal.

After final judgment in a case tried in justice court in which the judgment or amount in controversy exceeds $250, exclusive of costs, a person may remove the case from the justice court to the county court by writ of certiorari.

Certiorari differs from appeal in who may use it. The appeal provision speaks of a party to the final judgment; this speaks of a person — which historically allowed removal at the instance of someone affected by the judgment who was not a party to it.

The mechanics are set out in subsection (c). On service of the writ, the justice shall immediately make a certified copy of the entries made on his docket and of the bill of costs, and immediately send them and the original papers to the clerk of the county or district court.

The repetition of "immediately" is deliberate. The case has been removed, and the justice court has no further business with it.

Subsection (d) contains the exception that matters most in practice: the section does not apply to a case of forcible entry and detainer.

Eviction cases are excluded because speed is the point of them. Those proceedings are designed to resolve possession quickly, and a removal route running alongside the ordinary appeal would supply a second way to delay.

Certiorari is rarely used today, since the ordinary appeal produces a trial de novo in the same court and is the simpler route.

Subsection (b) makes the same redirection the appeal provision makes, sending the case to the district court in counties where the county court’s civil jurisdiction has been transferred.