When does the court’s thirty-day period to decide successive habeas authorization end?

Section 2244(b)(3)(D) directs the court of appeals to grant or deny authorization not later than thirty days after filing of the authorization motion. The actor is the court. This calculation is not an applicant filing cutoff, an automatic grant, or a determination of the effect of judicial delay.

Responsible actor. The court of appeals, acting through the section 2244(b)(3)(B) three-judge panel.

Identify an actual motion in the appropriate court of appeals seeking authorization under section 2244(b)(3)(A). A district-court habeas filing, transfer request or earlier judgment is not substituted for that filing.

Use the established appellate filing date. If inmate deposit, transfer or docketing facts affect legal filing, establish that input from the applicable rule and record before calculating.

Subsection (b)(3)(B) directs a three-judge appellate panel to determine the motion. Subsection (C) requires the stated prima facie showing before authorization; passage of time is not a substitute for an order.

An overdue court-action date raises a separate question about controlling law and remedies. This ordinary count does not announce loss of jurisdiction, automatic authorization or an applicant sanction.

The stated court-action period under section 2244(b)(3)(D), after actual authorization-motion filing is established. The page does not calculate section 2244(d) limitations or decide whether an application is second or successive.

1. Identify the governing statutory branch and responsible actor.
2. Establish the operative event from the docket, service evidence or legally determined commencement.
3. Exclude the trigger date and apply only the supported ordinary period.
4. Check the last day, court-specific closures, filing method, orders and every separate controlling clock.

Exclude the established triggering date. Count every calendar day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, continue to the next qualifying day under FRAP 26(a)(1). Do not add service days to an entry- or filing-triggered period.

FRAP 26(a)(6) includes its listed federal holidays and holidays declared by the President or Congress. For forward periods, also check state holidays where the challenged district court or the circuit clerk’s principal office is located. Final-day clerk inaccessibility has its separate Rule 26(a)(3) treatment unless the court orders otherwise. The national calendar does not establish those court-specific facts.

Fictitious example

Assume an authorization motion under section 2244(b)(3)(A) is legally filed in the appropriate court of appeals July 6, 2026. This count describes the court’s action period.

Fictitious established facts. These examples do not establish eligibility, effective service, relief or a direction.

Prior authorization required

Before filing a second or successive application permitted by this section in district court, the applicant must move in the appropriate court of appeals for an authorization order.

Actual grant, not elapsed time

Subsection (C) permits authorization only on the specified prima facie showing. The date alone does not establish that the court authorized filing.

Consequences of judicial delay not determined

The statute directs court action within thirty days. This page does not characterize that direction as jurisdiction-stripping or hortatory, and does not decide remedies under controlling circuit law.

Different limitation and review provisions

Section 2244(d) addresses a separate one-year applicant limitation with its own accrual and tolling. Subsection (b)(3)(E) separately restricts review of a grant or denial.

• The stated court-action period under section 2244(b)(3)(D), after actual authorization-motion filing is established. The page does not calculate section 2244(d) limitations or decide whether an application is second or successive.
• The court’s authorization-decision period is distinct from a prisoner’s application limitation and from any later district merits determination.

• Confirm the actual section 2244(b)(3) authorization procedure.
• Preserve the motion, filing evidence and appellate docket entry.
• Identify the court as the responsible actor.
• Keep the applicant’s separate limitation and any district filing obligation outside this clock.
• Read the actual authorization order rather than treating expiry as approval.
• If the court has not acted, review controlling authority before claiming any procedural consequence or remedy.
• Check FRAP 26 computation, applicable holidays and any material court-specific facts.
• This output identifies the statutory court-action period, not an applicant filing cutoff. The applicant’s trigger filing must already be legally established, including any applicable special inmate or transfer facts. Preserve the actual grant or denial and review any delay consequence separately.