When must the court rule on a Texas Rule 91a motion to dismiss?

Identify the operative dismissal motion and actual filing date.

Check timely nonsuit, withdrawal, cause amendment, party agreement and any valid amended motion.

Read the court’s actual ruling and docket rather than inferring its decision from the passage of time.

1. Identify the operative dismissal motion and actual filing date.
2. Rule 91a.3(c) states forty-five days after filing. The 2013 comment confirms a valid .5(b) amended motion starts a new forty-five-day ruling period. Preserve the separate hearing minimum and notice. This guide applies no automatic determination or fixed court result.
3. Read the actual order and confirm every stated condition.
4. Complete the act required by the rule, not merely a date calculation.

Rule 4 excludes the actual event and counts intermediate calendar days for these periods longer than five days. A final Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next eligible day. Establish the legally relevant holidays and actual court calendar. A nominal period does not complete a party filing or a court act.

The court duty and motion-history conditions do not establish a calculated party deadline or automatic dismissal outcome.

Actual amended motion restarts periods

After a timely amendment of the challenged cause under Rule 91a.5(b), the movant may withdraw or file an amended motion directed to it before the hearing. An amended motion filed in accordance with that subdivision restarts Rule 91a’s periods under .5(d). The respondent’s amendment alone is not an automatic restart.

Qualifying nonsuit or withdrawal prevents ruling

Under .5(a), the specified nonsuit or withdrawal filed at least three days before hearing prevents ruling. Under .5(c), the court otherwise must rule except by party agreement and the stated withdrawal or nonsuit branches.

Pleading decision and fee evidence differ

Rule 91a.6 permits submission without an oral hearing and decides dismissal from the challenged pleading and permitted Rule 59 exhibits, without other evidence except as required for Rule 91a.7. For actions commenced on or after September 1, 2019, .7 permits an evidence-based prevailing-party costs and reasonable necessary trial-court fee award, subject to its governmental-action exception. Earlier actions require the applicable prior fee rule.

• This guide does not establish the actual pleadings, service, calendar, legal entitlement or terms of a signed order.
• The current consolidation date does not decide historical applicability of an individual amendment.

• Identify the operative dismissal motion and actual filing date.
• Check timely nonsuit, withdrawal, cause amendment, party agreement and any valid amended motion.
• Read the court’s actual ruling and docket rather than inferring its decision from the passage of time.
• After a timely amendment of the challenged cause under Rule 91a.5(b), the movant may withdraw or file an amended motion directed to it before the hearing. An amended motion filed in accordance with that subdivision restarts Rule 91a’s periods under .5(d). The respondent’s amendment alone is not an automatic restart.
• Under .5(a), the specified nonsuit or withdrawal filed at least three days before hearing prevents ruling. Under .5(c), the court otherwise must rule except by party agreement and the stated withdrawal or nonsuit branches.
• Rule 91a.6 permits submission without an oral hearing and decides dismissal from the challenged pleading and permitted Rule 59 exhibits, without other evidence except as required for Rule 91a.7. For actions commenced on or after September 1, 2019, .7 permits an evidence-based prevailing-party costs and reasonable necessary trial-court fee award, subject to its governmental-action exception. Earlier actions require the applicable prior fee rule.
• The court must actually grant or deny the operative motion under the applicable Rule 91a.5 conditions. Preserve the ruling, docket and motion history. A party’s midnight filing receipt is not a court ruling or proof that dismissal occurred.