§ 51.012.Appeal or Writ of Error to Court of Appeals

The general right of appeal, in one sentence, and two words in it do most of the work.

In a civil case in which the judgment or amount in controversy exceeds $250, exclusive of interest and costs, a person may take an appeal or writ of error to the court of appeals from a final judgment of the district or county court.

"Final judgment" is the requirement that generates most appellate litigation in Texas. Only a final judgment is appealable under this section, and whether a judgment is final can be a hard question — particularly where a case resolves in stages or where an order disposes of some parties and not others.

The finality rule is why the interlocutory appeal provision exists. Everything appealable before final judgment is there by statute, and nowhere else.

The $250 threshold is a historical survival with no practical effect, since district and county court jurisdiction begins well above it.

"Exclusive of interest and costs" is a slightly wider exclusion than the justice court provision uses, which excludes costs alone.

The section covers both routes up — an appeal and a writ of error — with the writ of error carrying its own six-month period under the following section.

"A person" rather than "a party" is the same wide formulation used elsewhere in the chapter.

What the section does not do is set the procedure. Deadlines, the notice of appeal, the record and the briefing come from the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure; this supplies the right.