10thCoA in Waco, Texas

TENTH COURT OF APPEALS 

IN WACO 

The 10th Court of Appeals of Texas has a membership of three and is based in the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco.

MEMBERSHIP AS OF 2018 

Chief Justice Tom Gray, Justice Rex Davis (Pl. 2), and Justice Al Scoggins (Pl. 3)

In the 2018 election season, Republican Incumbent Chief Justice Tom Gray drew no challenger and received 100% of the vote

2015 WACO COURT OF APPEALS NEWS - OFF-SITE ORAL ARGUMENT 

The court heard oral arguments at the Beto Criminal Justice Center of Sam Houston State University on four cases on March 31, 2015, as reported by THE HOUSTONIAN: Tenth Court of Appeals visits Kerpner Courtroom (4/1/2015).

2014 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS

Justice Rex Davis, was re-elected to Place 2 on the court with all of the votes (165,527), since he did not draw a Democratic opponent.

MEMBERSHIP OF THIS COURT AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 (with term termination year shown)

Thomas W. Gray 2018
Rex D. Davis 2014 (re-elected for another 6-year term)
Al Scoggins 2016

PARTICULARITIES OF THIS COURT IN COMPARISON WITH OTHERS 

Because the Waco Court of Appeals consists of only three members and handles a moderate caseload, it has no need to divide itself in panels.
Chief Justice Gray often dissents with a footnote. See example below.
As of April 1, 2015, the court does not make briefs available for online viewing. Other Texas appellate courts make appellate briefs and many other documents accessible through hotlinks on the docket sheets.
The court issues opinion with the case style shown in the footer, which is helpful when viewing documents online and when excerpting individual pages or portions of pages because case-identifying information thus appears on the single page or snippet.

JAN 2013 MEMBERSHIP: ASSOCIATE JUSTICES BY PLACE DESIGNATION

OPINION STATISTICS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 

Note: Chief Justice Tom Gray frequently dissents and expresses the grounds for disagreement in a footnote rather than a full-fledged dissenting opinion. The reported statistics do not reflect these footnote dissents.

Example of Dissent by Footnote

COUNTIES SERVED BY THE APPELLATE COURT SITTING IN WACO, TEXAS 

Bosque Falls Leon Navarro Brazos Freestone Limestone Robertson Burleson Hamilton McLennan Somervell Coryell Hill Madison Walker Ellis Johnson

Link to Court's website: http://www.txcourts.gov/10thcoa.aspx

WACO COURTHOUSE PIC 

Rotunda of McLennan County Courthouse

Physical Location: The Tenth Court of Appeals is housed in the McLennan County Courthouse

501 Washington Avenue, Waco, Texas 76701-1373 

TREATMENT OF SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS BY THIS COURT 

See opinion in Cause No. 10-14-00297-CV:

We also recognize that appellant elected to represent herself on appeal. Under Texas law, pro-se litigants, as appellant is here, are held to the same standards as licensed attorneys with regard to compliance with applicable laws and rules of procedure. See In re N.E.B., 251 S.W.3d 211, 212 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2008, no pet.) (citing Mansfield State Bank v. Cohn, 573 S.W.2d 181, 184-85 (Tex. 1978) ("There cannot be two sets of procedural rules, one for litigants with counsel and the other for litigants representing themselves. Litigants who represent themselves must comply with the applicable procedural rules, or else they would be given an unfair advantage over litigants represented by counsel.")).

OPINION RELEASE SCHEDULE 

This court typically releases opinions and procedural orders once a week (sometimes more frequently). See release dates for the first quarter of 2015 below:

Opinions and orders (in pdf) as docket sheets are hyper-linked on the pages for particular dates, but briefs are not made accessible on-line.

APPELLATE MEDIATION IN THE WACO COURT OF APPEALS

See examples of Mediation Referral Order in the cases: 10-15-00018-CV (issued 2/12/2015) and
10-14-00397-CV (issued 2/5/2015).

RECENT RULINGS OF INTEREST 

Motion to Enforce Mediation Order is dismissed as moot in Cause No. 10-14-00376-CV
Amended docketing statement ordered filed to clarify who is a party to appeal 10-14-00397-CV
Show-cause order issued against court reporter for failure to file record in Cause 10-14-00237-CV

Permissive interlocutory appeal is granted in Cause No. 10-14-00374-CV
Petition for permission for discretionary interlocutory appeal denied in Cause No. 10-15-00014-CV; appeal dismissed for want of jurisdiction
State's fourth motion for extension of time to file its brief in criminal appeal denied 10-14-00112-CR 

Motion to exceed word limit granted in Cause No. 10-14-00313-CV
Appellate counsel disqualified in Cause No. 10-14-00206-CV with footnote dissent by Chief Gray

RECENT DISSENTS

Justice Rex Davis dissented to the majority’s dismissal of an inmate's appeal without affording
the appellant an opportunity to cure the Chapter 14 deficiency. 10-14-00326-CV


Date of last revision: 12/31/2018