§ 51.017.Service of Notice on Court Reporter

A short procedural addition to the appellate rules, and it fixes a practical gap.

In addition to requirements for service of notice of appeal imposed by Rule 25.1(e) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, notice of appeal, including an interlocutory appeal, must be served on each court reporter responsible for preparing the reporter’s record.

"In addition to" is the operative phrase. The rule’s existing service requirements are untouched; this adds one more recipient.

The problem it addresses is delay at the start of every appeal. The reporter’s record is prepared by the court reporter, and a reporter who does not know an appeal has been filed has no reason to begin.

Direct service solves it. The reporter learns of the appeal from the notice rather than from a clerk’s docket or a later request.

"Each court reporter" is deliberate. A case tried over months, or heard by more than one judge, may have several reporters, and the record needs all of them.

Including interlocutory appeals matters more than it might appear. Those appeals are accelerated, which leaves little time for the record — and the entry that stays the commencement of trial makes the timetable urgent for everyone.

The requirement is on the appealing party, and it is easy to overlook because the rule’s own list does not mention the reporter.

Subsection (b) was repealed in 2025, leaving the section as a single service requirement.