Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.004 · Chapter 31. JUDGMENTS
EFFECT OF ADJUDICATION IN LOWER TRIAL COURT.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A judgment or a determination of fact or law in a proceeding in a lower trial court is not res judicata and is not a basis for estoppel by judgment in a proceeding in a district court, except that a judgment rendered in a lower trial court is binding on the parties thereto as to recovery or denial of recovery.
(b) This section does not apply to a judgment in probate, guardianship, mental health , or other matter in which a lower trial court has exclusive subject matter jurisdiction on a basis other than the amount in controversy.
(c) For the purposes of this section, a "lower trial court" is a small claims court, a justice of the peace court, a county court, or a statutory county court.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 167, Sec. 3.07(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.31.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 a5ff6fd256903d1b0b3a27b1bf5803aa498c02329061649f933bcfa372852e2f
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.004. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.