Sixth Court of Appeals
The Sixth Court of Appeals sits in Texarkana and covers Bowie, Camp, Cass, Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Hopkins, Hunt, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Red River, Rusk, Titus, Upshur, and Wood counties.
Three justices cover a 20-county district. After a court of appeals decision, either party can file a Petition for Discretionary Review (PDR) asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider the outcome. The CCA grants about 7.2% of PDRs from Sixth Court decisions and, when it does, rules against the lower court in about 80% of those cases—consistent with the statewide average despite the small bench.
This Court hears appeals from pretrial habeas denials (articles 11.08 and 11.09) and from 11.072 rulings (community supervision). Habeas under article 11.07—the main felony route—is filed with the convicting court and decided by the Court of Criminal Appeals. See Direct Appeals and Postconviction Relief for the full map.
What we handle
We handle direct appeals, habeas corpus applications, and petitions for discretionary review from the counties in the Sixth Court’s jurisdiction. Distance is not a barrier—appellate work is done on the record, and the record comes to us. We have not yet had cases before the Sixth Court, but we handle criminal appeals from all of Texas.