Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the Texas court that hears criminal appeals at the state level, and it sits in Austin in the Supreme Court Building. It was created by constitutional amendments proposed through Senate Joint Resolution No. 16 and approved by Texas voters, which gave it appellate jurisdiction coextensive with the limits of the State in all criminal cases; Governor Jim Hogg proclaimed the amendments part of the state constitution on September 22, 1891, and the court marked the 125th anniversary of that event in 2016. Appeals in every case where a death sentence was assessed go directly to it from the trial courts. Other criminal appeals go first to one of fourteen courts of appeals, and the court may review their decisions. It also has sole authority to grant the writ of habeas corpus to a person convicted of a felony.