What is the deadline for service of an application for an order or notice of a court proceeding?

The period runs from the time specified for the court proceeding (counted backwards).

Count backward from the trigger event. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.

"An application to the court for an order and notice of any court proceeding, as defined in Rule 21d(a), not presented during a court proceeding, must be served upon all other parties not less than three days before the time specified for the court proceeding, unless otherwise provided by these rules or shortened by the court." (TRCP 21(b))

TRCP 21(b)

1. Exclude the day of the trigger event.
2. Count every following day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
3. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or Texas legal holiday, continue to the next day that is not one of those.

Exclude the trigger day and count calendar days under Tex. R. Civ. P. 4 (Computation of Time).

If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday in the Texas calendar, the computation rule carries it to the next open day.

Texas computes time under Tex. R. Civ. P. 4 (Computation of Time). The applied calendar bundles the state legal holidays for the covered years; court-specific closures and emergency orders are not bundled.

No date is calculated on this page because the encoded provision could not be reduced to one fixed period. Read the rule text, the starting event and the noted branches, then confirm the period in the current rules before relying on any date.

Genuine ambiguity. TRCP 4 excepts "the three-day periods in Rules 21 and 21a, extending other periods by three days when service is made by mail" from the short-period exclusion. The better reading is that the exception targets only the mail add-on (now in TRCP 21a(c)), leaving the TRCP 21(b) notice period as a working-day count, but the literal reference to "Rules 21 and 21a" is capable of the opposite reading. Confirm against local practice before relying on it.

Extensions

The court may shorten the period (TRCP 21(b)); other rules may provide otherwise.

Orders and local rules

A scheduling order, stipulation approved by the court, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.

• The court may shorten the period (TRCP 21(b)); other rules may provide otherwise.
• A stipulation, scheduling order, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.
• Genuine ambiguity. TRCP 4 excepts "the three-day periods in Rules 21 and 21a, extending other periods by three days when service is made by mail" from the short-period exclusion. The better reading is that the exception targets only the mail add-on (now in TRCP 21a(c)), leaving the TRCP 21(b) notice period as a working-day count, but the literal reference to "Rules 21 and 21a" is capable of the opposite reading. Confirm against local practice before relying on it.

These checks help you review the result. They do not activate a calendar date or certify that the deadline applies.

• Correct trigger date from the docket, service record or filing receipt
• Any Texas local rule, standing order or case order that changes the period
• Texas legal holidays and any court closure notice
• The court’s time zone and its electronic or paper filing cutoff
• Current rules and any order entered in the case

Find answers about when this 3 working-days period starts, how it is counted, what can change it and how to keep your calculation.

The period and the counting method come from different provisions. The official source is the court’s published rules; the reading links open the rule text at the Legal Information Institute.

Rule record reviewed September 17, 2026. Guide sources checked September 17, 2026. Next source check September 17, 2026.

Published by Deadline Engine. This tool calculates the ordinary period under the cited rule. It does not decide whether the rule applies, obtain an extension or file anything for you.