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4.1. Computing Time
(a) In General. The day of an act, event, or
default after which a designated period
begins to run is not included when computing
a period prescribed or allowed by these rules,
by court order, or by statute. The last day of
the period is included, but if that day is a
Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period
extends to the end of the next day that is not
a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
(b) Clerk's Office Closed or Inaccessible. If the
act to be done is filing a document, and if the
clerk's office where the document is to be
filed is closed or inaccessible during regular
hours on the last day for filing the document,
the period for filing the document extends to
the end of the next day when the clerk's office
is open and accessible. The closing or
inaccessibility of the clerk's office may be
proved by a certificate of the clerk or counsel,
by a party's affidavit, or by other satisfactory
proof, and may be controverted in the same
manner.
4.2. No Notice of Trial Court’s Judgment in Civil
Case
(a) Additional Time to File Documents.
(1) In general. If a party affected by a
judgment or other appealable order
has not — within 20 days after the
judgment or order was signed —
either received the notice required
by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure
306a.3
or
acquired
actual
knowledge of the signing, then a
period that, under these rules, runs
from the signing will begin for that
party on the earlier of the date when
the party receives notice or acquires
actual knowledge of the signing.
But in no event may the period
begin more than 90 days after the
judgment or order was signed.
(2) Exception for restricted appeal.
Subparagraph (1) does not extend
the time for perfecting a restricted
appeal.
(b) Procedure to Gain Additional Time. The
procedure to gain additional time is governed
by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 306a.5.
(c) The Court’s Order. After hearing the motion,
the trial court must sign a written order that
finds the date when the party or the party’s
attorney first either received notice or
acquired actual knowledge that the judgment
or order was signed.
4.3. Periods Affected by Modified Judgment in
Civil Case
(a) During Plenary-Power Period. If a judgment
is modified in any respect while the trial court
retains plenary power, a period that, under
these rules, runs from the date when the
judgment is signed will run from the date
when the modified judgment is signed.
(b) After Plenary Power Expires. If the trial court
corrects or reforms the judgment under Texas
Rule of Civil Procedure 316 after expiration
of the trial court’s plenary power, all periods
provided in these rules that run from the date
the judgment is signed run from the date the
corrected judgment is signed for complaints
that would not apply to the original judgment.
4.4. Periods Affected When Process Served by
Publication
If process was served by publication and if a
motion for new trial was filed under Texas Rule of
Civil Procedure 329 more than 30 days after the
judgment was signed, a period that, under these rules,
runs from the date when the judgment is signed will be
computed as if the judgment were signed on the date
when the motion for new trial was filed.
4.5. No Notice of Judgment or Order of Appellate
Court; Effect on Time to File Certain Documents.
(a) Additional Time to File Documents. A party
may move for additional time to file a
motion
for
rehearing
or
en
banc
reconsideration in the court of appeals, a
petition for review, or a petition for
discretionary review, if the party did not—
until after the time expired for filing the
document—either receive notice of the
judgment or order from the clerk or acquire
actual knowledge of the rendition of the
judgment or order.
(b) Procedure to Gain Additional Time. The
motion must state the earliest date when the
party or the party's attorney received notice
or acquired actual knowledge that the
judgment or order had been rendered. The
motion must be filed within 15 days of that
date but in no event more than 90 days after
the date of the judgment or order.
(c) Where to File.
(1) A motion for additional time to file a
motion for rehearing or en banc
reconsideration in the court of appeals
must be filed in and ruled on by the court
of appeals in which the case is pending.
(2) A motion for additional time to file a
petition for review must be filed in and
ruled on by the Supreme Court.
(3) A motion for additional time to file a
petition for discretionary review must be
filed in and ruled on by the Court of
Criminal Appeals.
(d) Order of the Court. If the court finds that
the motion for additional time was
timely filed and the party did not—
within the time for filing the motion for
rehearing or en banc reconsideration,
petition for review, or petition for
discretionary review, as the case may
be—receive the notice or have actual
knowledge of the judgment or order, the
court must grant the motion. The time
for filing the document will begin to run
on the date when the court grants the
motion.
4.6. No Notice of Trial Court’s Appealable Order
on a Motion for Forensic DNA Testing
(a) Additional Time to File Notice of Appeal. If
neither an adversely affected defendant nor the
defendant’s attorney received notice or acquired
actual knowledge that the trial judge signed an
order appealable under Code of Criminal
Procedure Chapter 64 within twenty days after the
signing, then the time periods under these rules
that ordinarily run from the signing of an
appealable order will begin to run on the earliest
date when the defendant or the defendant’s
attorney received notice or acquired actual
knowledge of the signing. But in no event shall
such periods begin more than 120 days after the
day the trial judge signed the appealable order.
(b) Motion to Gain Additional Time.
(1) A defendant’s motion for additional time
must:
(A) Be in writing and sworn;
(B) State the defendant’s desire to appeal
from the appealable order;
(C) State the earliest date when the defendant
or the defendant’s attorney received
notice or acquired actual knowledge that
the trial judge signed the appealable
order; and
(D) Be filed within 120 days of the signing of
the appealable order.
(2) To establish the application of paragraph (a)
of this rule, the defendant adversely affected
must prove in the trial court:
(A) The earliest date on which the defendant
or the defendant’s attorney received
notice or acquired actual knowledge that
the trial judge signed the appealable
order; and
(B) That this date was more than twenty days
after the signing of the appealable order.
(3) If the defendant’s motion for additional time
meets the requirements set out in paragraphs
(b)(1) and (b)(2), the motion may serve as the
defendant’s notice of appeal.
(c) The Court’s Order. After hearing the motion for
additional time, the trial judge must sign a written
order that determines the earliest date when the
defendant or the defendant’s attorney received
notice or acquired actual knowledge that the trial
judge signed the appealable order and whether
this date was more than twenty days after the
judge signed the appealable order.
(d) The Clerk’s Duties. The trial court clerk must
immediately (as they are filed or entered in the
record) forward to all parties in the case copies of
the defendant’s motion for additional time, the
trial judge’s written order under subsection (c),
the order the defendant seeks to appeal, any
State’s response, and any exhibits and related
documents.