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Change:
Removing the requirement that citations to Courts of Appeals include a reference to the city in which the particular court sits.
Rule 4.1.1:
. . . A complete citation must contain the case name; a citation to the volume and page of the South Western Reporter; the specific page containing the cited material; a parenthetical, including the name of the court (“Tex. App.”), an em dash (there is no space on either side of the em dash) followed by the city in which that court is located followed by the district number of that court (Rule 4.3), the date, the writ history or petition history (Rules 4.4 and 4.5), and a notation of interlocutory orders, if appropriate (Rule 4.7); parenthetical information regarding weight of authority, if appropriate (Rule 4.1.2); and any subsequent history (Rule 4.6):
Example:
Intercontinental Terminals Co. v. Hollywood Marine, Inc., 630 S.W.2d 861, 863 (Tex. App.—1st Dist. 1982, writ ref’d n.r.e.).
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Change:
Providing an example citation for the 15th Circuit Court of Appeals under the revised Court of Appeals citation format.
Example:
In re Google, 705 S.W.3d 479, 484 (Tex. App.—15th Dist. 2025, no pet. h.).
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Change:
Making designations “mem. op.” and “per curiam” optional for civil cases.
Rule 4.1.2(a):
(a) Current Civil Cases. As of January 1, 2003, the courts of appeals must publish an opinion in every civil case, and all cases have precedential value. (When citing pre-2003 opinions, consult Rule 4.1.2(c).)
For cases designated “per curiam,” include a parenthetical so indicating (“per curiam”) may be included after the court parenthetical. For “Memorandum Opinions,” include a parenthetical so indicating (“mem. op.”) may be included after the court parenthetical or, if applicable, the per curiam parenthetical:
Examples:
Richardson v. Kays, No. 02-03-241-CV, 2003 WL 22457054, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Oct. 30, 2003, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.).
In re Int’l Profit Assocs., Inc., 274 S.W.3d 696, 697 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2008, orig. proceeding) (per curiam) (mem. op.), mand. Granted, 274 S.W.3d 672, 680 (Tex. 2009) (per curiam).
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Change:
Providing citation guidelines for the Texas Business Court.
The rule for citations to the Texas Business Court will become the new Rule 7.2. All subsequent rules under Rule 7 will be adjusted accordingly.
New Rule:
Cite all reported Business Court cases to the Business Court public domain cite and to the South Western Reporter, if available. A complete citation must contain the case name; the Business Court public domain cite; the specific paragraph containing the cited material; a citation to the volume and page of the South Western Reporter; the specific page containing the cited material; and a parenthetical including the division number and year:
Lone Star NGL Prod. Services LLC v. EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC, 2024 Tex. Bus. 8, ¶ 2, 705 S.W.3d 243, 246 (11th Div. 2024).
Citations to unreported Business Court cases and cases not yet appearing in the South Western Reporter advance sheets should follow this form:
Sebastian v. Durant, 2025 Tex. Bus. 4, ¶ 10, 2025 WL 394634, at *2 (11th Div. 2025).
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Change:
Standardizing the abbreviation for “county” across all cites to “cnty.” This change also brings the Greenbook abbreviation for “county” in-line with the Bluebook.
Rule 7.2:
Except as provided below, abbreviate Abbreviate court names in accordance with The Bluebook Table T7:.
Examples:
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Change:
Adjusting the abbreviation from “Suppl.” to “Supp.” in line with the Bluebook.
Rule 7.3.1:
. . .
When citing to a supplemental clerk’s record, use the abbreviation “Suppl.” “Supp.”:
The court subsequently issued findings of fact regarding the special appearance (I Suppl. Supp. at 3).
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Change:
Adding sub (a) titled “short form” specifying the short-form citation format for statutes currently in effect.
Rule 10.2.1:
(a) A short form citation to a codified statute is formatted as:
[Abbreviated subject matter] [pincite to title/chapter/subchapter/section].
Examples:
Tex. Gov’t Code § 301.028
Becomes
Gov’t § 301.028
Tex. Parks & Wild Code ch. 65
Becomes
Parks & Wild ch. 65
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Change:
Eliminating the “Ann.” designation for annotated statutory reprints.
Rule 10.2.1:
Cite material in these statutes to the subject matter codes or, if appropriate, their supplements. The citation must include the name of the subject matter code and the section number. If a statute is currently in force, cite it without indicating the date of publication:
Tex. Tax Code Ann § 26.06(a)(Supp.).
. . .
Unannotated statutory reprints are cited as above but should omit the abbreviation “Ann.”:
Tex. Penal Code § 29.02.
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Change:
Allowing direct citation to the Texas Legislative Council websites.
Rule 10.5:
Citations to a statute or session law available on the Texas Legislative Council website or in a commercial electronic database follow standard citation form:
Tex. Agric. Code Ann. § 1.003.
Texas statutes are available on the Texas Legislative Council website, but the site makes no warranty as to the accuracy of the data. This website may be used for informational purposes but not as a citation source.
[ . . . ]
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Change:
Allowing citation of certain gubernatorial proclamations to either the Texas Register, Senate Journal (only for special session proclamations and for general appropriations acts that are senate bills), or General and Special Laws of the State of Texas.
Rule 10.7.2: Certain Gubernatorial Proclamations
Gubernatorial proclamations call for special sessions or veto general appropriations bills are reprinted in several locations in the General and Special Laws of the State of Texas. They may be cited to either the Texas Register, Senate Journal (only for special session proclamations and for general appropriations acts that are senate bills), or General and Special Laws of the State of Texas in order of precedence. Citations should follow the general format for each, and examples citing to the same proclamation in each of the three sources are provided below.
Examples
The Gov. of the State of Tex., Proclamation 41-3844, 46 Tex. Reg 3984 (2021).
Tex. Gov. Proclamation, Tex. S.B. 1, S.J. of Tex., 87th Leg., R.S. 3191 (2021).
Tex. Gov. Proclamation No. 41-3844, 87th Leg., R.S., ch. 1053, 2021 Tex. Gen. Laws. 3777.
Citations of such gubernatorial proclamations must include the title (“Tex. Gov. Proclamation”), proclamation number, legislature number and session, and a citation to the General and Special Laws of the State of Texas in accordance with Rule 10.3.4:
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Change:
Adding a Practice Tip to Rule 14.7.3 explaining the variety of ways gubernatorial messages, proclamations and executive orders are published.
New Practice Tip following Rule 14.7.3:
Many gubernatorial messages, proclamations, and executive orders are cited in the Texas Register. Proclamations that call a special session are typically printed in the house and senate journals for the first day of the called legislative session. Proclamations from the governor designating certain issues as emergency items are also printed in the house and senate journals. Proclamations vetoing or line-item vetoing senate bills are reprinted in the senate journal, but the house journal simply lists the items vetoed or line-item vetoed. Proclamation that line-item veto the general appropriations act are printed in the General and Special Laws of the State of Texas immediately following the text of the general appropriations act. Executives orders, proclamations, speeches of the governor, and veto messages are also available online from the Legislative Reference Library of Texas some of which are not available in the Texas Register or elsewhere.
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Change:
Providing examples in Rule 15 for pincites to Attorney General Opinions and & Secretary of State Advisory Opinions.
Examples:
Tex Att’y Gen. Op. No KP-0489, at 1 (2025) (used, e.g., Tex. Bd. of Chiropractic Examiners v. Tex. Med. Ass’n, 375 S.W.3d 464 (Tex. App.—Austin 2012, pet. denied))
Tex. Sec’y State Op. No. JH-2, at 1 (1991).
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Change:
Requiring cites to the Texas Administrative Code to display both the relevant part, chapter, and subchapter, in addition to prior requirements. This addition is needed so readers can quickly navigate to the cited section.
Previously, cites to the Texas Administrative Code were only required to contain the title, chapter, and section, which was insufficient to directly locate a source.
Rule 16.1.1:
Whenever possible, cite Texas administrative rules and regulations to the Texas Administrative Code (“Tex. Admin. Code”) by title, part, chapter, subchapter, section, and year of the bound volume. Title number precedes “Tex. Admin. Code,” while the remaining divisions follow “Tex. Admin. Code.” Citations should include a parenthetical indicating the agency or organization issuing the rule and the subject heading of the rule. Abbreviate agencies in accordance with The Bluebook Tables T6 and T10.
Example:
Long Form: 4 Tex. Admin. Code pt. 1 ch. 9 subch. F § 12 (2013).
Short Form: 4 Tex. Admin. Code 1-9-F-12.