The Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas is one of the 14 Texas Courts of Appeals

Texas Courts of Appeals

The Texas Courts of Appeals are part of the Texas judicial system. In Texas, all cases appealed from the district level, both criminal and civil, may be heard by one of the fourteen Texas Courts of Appeals. The exception is for cases where the death penalty is a factor; these cases go directly to...

. It currently sits in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

. It is simultaneously both the smallest Court of Appeals in terms of jurisdictional geographic size (only six counties, one of which is shared with another Court) and the largest in terms of composition (13 Justices).

Jurisdiction

The Fifth Court presides over appeals from the following counties:

• Collin
  Collin County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 491,675 people, 181,970 households, and 132,292 families residing in the county. The population density was 580 people per square mile . There were 194,892 housing units at an average density of 230 per square mile...
  
  
• Dallas
  Dallas County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
  
  
• Grayson
  Grayson County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 110,595 people, 42,849 households, and 30,208 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 48,315 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...
  
  
• Hunt
  Hunt County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 76,596 people, 28,742 households, and 20,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile . There were 32,490 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile...
  
   (*)
• Kaufman
  Kaufman County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 71,313 people, 24,367 households, and 19,225 families residing in the county. The population density was 91/sq mi . There were 26,133 housing units at an average density of 33/sq mi...
  
  
• Rockwall
  Rockwall County, Texas
  As of the census of 2000, there were 43,080 people, 14,530 households, and 11,972 families residing in the county. The population density was 334 people per square mile . There were 15,351 housing units at an average density of 119 per square mile...
  
  

(*) This county shares jurisdiction with the Sixth Court of Appeals of Texas.

Current Justices

As authorized under Chapter 22 of the Texas Government Code, the Fifth Court consists of a Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 and 12 associate justices.

• Carolyn Wright (Chief Justice)
• Joseph B. Morris
• Jim Moseley
• David Bridges
• Michael J. O'Neill
• Kerry P. FitzGerald
• Martin E. Richter
• Molly Francis
• Douglas S. Lang
• Elizabeth Lang-Miers
• Mary Murphy
• Robert M. Fillmore
• Lana Myers

The current court clerk is Lisa Matz.