Which events start and end Texas Level 1 discovery?

Establish Level 1 eligibility from the actual pleadings and controlling orders.

For a non-Family Code case, establish the first initial-disclosure due date. Do not substitute actual late disclosure performance.

For a qualifying Family Code case, establish suit filing and the first discovery request of any kind served on a party. Preserve service evidence, not merely a draft or filing date.

1. Establish Level 1 eligibility from the actual pleadings and controlling orders.
2. Use the current Rule 190.2(b)(1)(A) non-family branch or subparagraph (B) Family Code branch. The latter begins at filing but measures its ending interval from first discovery service. A shared 180-day number does not make those events interchangeable.
3. The existing broad single-date Level 1 preset does not select the different Family Code and non-Family Code events or establish eligibility and the controlling order. It cannot represent the complete procedure.

Rule 4 excludes the triggering event and generally moves a final Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next permissible day. Its five-day-or-less intermediate-day exclusion does not govern these longer intervals. Establish the actual applicable holidays and court orders. This guide applies no automatic rollover to a comparison limb or backward trial interval, and supplies no computed endpoint.

The existing broad single-date Level 1 preset does not select the different Family Code and non-Family Code events or establish eligibility and the controlling order. It cannot represent the complete procedure.

Current expedited-action eligibility

Rule 169(a) currently requires all claimants other than counterclaimants to plead only monetary relief aggregating $325,000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, attorney fees and costs. Read its exclusions and applicable amendment provisions. Older comments use historical thresholds.

Qualifying divorce

Rule 190.2(a)(2) covers a divorce not involving children where a party pleads a marital estate greater than zero and no more than $250,000, unless the parties agree to Level 2 or the court orders a Level 3 plan. This test is not Rule 169’s monetary-relief test.

Court-ordered plan

Rule 190.4 permits a tailored discovery control plan that changes time or amount limits. Read which Level 1 limits remain and which the signed order changes.

Removal and reopening

Under Rule 190.2(c), removal from Rule 169 or a divorce pleading that makes Level 1 inapplicable reopens discovery under the applicable Level 2 or Level 3 limits. Previously deposed people may be redeposed. On motion, the court should continue trial if needed to complete discovery.

Modification and agreements

Rule 190.5 permits discovery-plan modification. Rule 191.1 addresses permissible agreements and good-cause orders, including Rule 11 enforceability. Do not assume an informal agreement automatically changes the controlling period.

Excepted discovery

Rule 190.6 separately addresses presuit discovery and judgment enforcement. Presuit discovery cannot circumvent this plan.

Final approval and effective date

The Supreme Court’s October 2, 2026 final order, Misc. Docket No. 26-9079, approved the Rules 47 and 169 amendments effective immediately. It establishes the reviewed $325,000 expedited monetary threshold. The October 1 consolidation date alone does not establish that amendment’s effective date, and historical proceedings still require their applicable law and orders. Rule 190.2’s separate qualifying-divorce estate test is not changed to $325,000 by this order.

• This review does not establish the actual case classification, disclosure due date, discovery service, court calendar or contents of a signed order.

• Establish Level 1 eligibility from the actual pleadings and controlling orders.
• For a non-Family Code case, establish the first initial-disclosure due date. Do not substitute actual late disclosure performance.
• For a qualifying Family Code case, establish suit filing and the first discovery request of any kind served on a party. Preserve service evidence, not merely a draft or filing date.
• Rule 169(a) currently requires all claimants other than counterclaimants to plead only monetary relief aggregating $325,000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, attorney fees and costs. Read its exclusions and applicable amendment provisions. Older comments use historical thresholds.
• Rule 190.2(a)(2) covers a divorce not involving children where a party pleads a marital estate greater than zero and no more than $250,000, unless the parties agree to Level 2 or the court orders a Level 3 plan. This test is not Rule 169’s monetary-relief test.
• Rule 190.4 permits a tailored discovery control plan that changes time or amount limits. Read which Level 1 limits remain and which the signed order changes.
• Under Rule 190.2(c), removal from Rule 169 or a divorce pleading that makes Level 1 inapplicable reopens discovery under the applicable Level 2 or Level 3 limits. Previously deposed people may be redeposed. On motion, the court should continue trial if needed to complete discovery.
• Rule 190.5 permits discovery-plan modification. Rule 191.1 addresses permissible agreements and good-cause orders, including Rule 11 enforceability. Do not assume an informal agreement automatically changes the controlling period.
• Rule 190.6 separately addresses presuit discovery and judgment enforcement. Presuit discovery cannot circumvent this plan.
• Discovery must actually be conducted within the controlling period. Preserve disclosures, requests, responses, deposition completion and service evidence. Filing a request with the clerk does not establish completed discovery. Rule 21a governs service separately from electronic filing under Rule 21(f)(5). Check the signed discovery plan and any specific time, method or recipient requirements.