Tex. R. App. P. 24

Suspension of Enforcement of Judgment

sha256 d6771be2ab30576dbf7b35d70d9bb57e… · retrieved 7/15/2026, 8:29:27 PM · Supreme Court of Texas official rules PDF — txcourts.gov, verbatim · awaiting human verification flip (text is verbatim; the flip is the review gate)

Rule 24. Suspension of Enforcement of Judgment
Pending Appeal in Civil Cases
24.1. Suspension of Enforcement
(a) Methods. Unless the law or these rules
provide otherwise, a judgment debtor may
supersede the judgment by:
(1) filing with the trial court clerk a written
agreement with the judgment creditor for
suspending enforcement of the
judgment;
(2) filing with the trial court clerk a good
and sufficient bond;
(3) making a deposit with the trial court
clerk in lieu of a bond; or
(4) providing alternate security under Rule
24.2(e) or ordered by the court.
(b) Bonds.
(1) A bond must be:
(A) in the amount required by 24.2;
(B) payable to the judgment creditor;
(C) signed by the judgment debtor or the
debtor’s agent;
(D) signed by a sufficient surety or
sureties as obligors; and
(E) conditioned as required by (d).
(2) A bond is effective upon filing. On
motion of any party, the trial court will
review the bond.
(c) Deposit in Lieu of Bond.
(1) Types of Deposits. Instead of filing a
surety bond, a party may deposit with the
trial court clerk:
(A) cash;
(B) a cashier’s check payable to the
clerk, drawn on any federally
insured and federally or state-
chartered bank or savings-and-loan
association; or
(C) with leave of court, a negotiable
obligation of the federal
government or of any federally
insured and federally or state-
chartered bank or savings-and-loan
association.
(2) Amount of Deposit. The deposit must be
in the amount required by 24.2.
(3) Clerk’s Duties; Interest. The clerk
must promptly deposit any cash or a
cashier’s check in accordance with law.
The clerk must hold the deposit until the
conditions of liability in (d) are
extinguished. The clerk must then
release any remaining funds in the
deposit to the judgment debtor.
(d) Conditions of Liability. The surety or
sureties on a bond, any deposit in lieu of a
bond, or any alternate security under Rule
24.2(e) or ordered by court is subject to
liability for all damages and costs that may be
awarded against the debtor — up to the
amount of the bond, deposit, or security — if:
(1) the debtor does not perfect an appeal or
the debtor’s appeal is dismissed, and the
debtor does not perform the trial court’s
judgment;
(2) the debtor does not perform an
adverse judgment final on appeal; or
(3) the judgment is for the recovery of an
interest in real or personal property, and
the debtor does not pay the creditor the
value of the property interest’s rent or
revenue during the pendency of the
appeal.
(e) Orders of Trial Court. The trial court may
make any order necessary to adequately
protect the judgment creditor against loss or
damage that the appeal might cause.
(f) Effect of Supersedeas. Enforcement of a
judgment must be suspended if the judgment
is superseded. Enforcement begun before the
judgment is superseded must cease when the
judgment is superseded. If execution has
29
been issued, the clerk will promptly issue a
writ of supersedeas.
24.2. Amount of Bond, Deposit, or Security
(a) Type of Judgment.
(1) For Recovery of Money. When the
judgment is for money, the amount of the
bond, deposit, or security must equal the
sum of compensatory damages awarded
in the judgment, interest for the
estimated duration of the appeal, and
costs awarded in the judgment. But the
amount must not exceed the lesser of:
(A) 50 percent of the judgment debtor's
current net worth; or
(B) 25 million dollars.
(2) For Recovery of Property. When the
judgment is for the recovery of an
interest in real or personal property, the
trial court will determine the type of
security that the judgment debtor must
post. The amount of that security must be
at least:
(A) the value of the property interest's
rent or revenue, if the property
interest is real; or
(B) the value of the property interest on
the date when the court rendered
judgment, if the property interest is
personal.
(3) Other Judgment. When the judgment is
for something other than money or an
interest in property, the trial court must
set the amount and type of security that
the judgment debtor must post. The
security must adequately protect the
judgment creditor against loss or damage
that the appeal might cause. But the trial
court may decline to permit the judgment
to be superseded if the judgment creditor
posts security ordered by the trial court
in an amount and type that will secure
the judgment debtor against any loss or
damage caused by the relief granted the
judgment creditor if an appellate court
determines, on final disposition, that that
relief was improper. When the judgment
debtor is the state, a department of this
state, or the head of a department of this
state, the trial court must permit a
judgment to be superseded except in a
matter arising from a contested case in an
administrative enforcement action.
(4) Conservatorship or Custody. When the
judgment involves the conservatorship
or custody of a minor or other person
under legal disability, enforcement of the
judgment will not be suspended, with or
without security, unless ordered by the
trial court. But upon a proper showing,
the appellate court may suspend
enforcement of the judgment with or
without security.
(5) For a Governmental Entity. When a
judgment in favor of a governmental
entity in its governmental capacity is one
in which the entity has no pecuniary
interest, the trial court must determine
whether to suspend enforcement, with or
without security, taking into account the
harm that is likely to result to the
judgment debtor if enforcement is not
suspended, and the harm that is likely to
result to others if enforcement is
suspended. The appellate court may
review the trial court’s determination
and suspend enforcement of the
judgment, with or without security, or
refuse to suspend the judgment. If
security is required, recovery is limited
to the governmental entity’s actual
damages resulting from suspension of
the judgment.
(b) Lesser Amount. The trial court must lower
the amount of security required by (a) to an
amount that will not cause the judgment
debtor substantial economic harm if, after
notice to all parties and a hearing, the court
finds that posting a bond, deposit, or security
in the amount required by (a) is likely to
cause the judgment debtor substantial
economic harm.
(c) Determination of Net Worth.
(1) Judgment Debtor's Affidavit Required;
Contents; Prima Facie Evidence. A
judgment debtor who provides a bond,
deposit, or security under (a)(1)(A) or (e)
in an amount based on the debtor's net
worth must simultaneously file with the
30
trial court clerk an affidavit that states
the debtor's net worth and states
complete, detailed information
concerning the debtor's assets and
liabilities from which net worth can be
ascertained. An affidavit that meets
these requirements is prima facie
evidence of the debtor's net worth for the
purpose of establishing the amount of the
bond, deposit, or security required to
suspend enforcement of the judgment. A
trial court clerk must receive and file a
net-worth affidavit tendered for filing by
a judgment debtor.
(2) Contest; Discovery. A judgment creditor
may file a contest to the debtor's claimed
net worth. The contest need not be
sworn. The creditor may conduct
reasonable discovery concerning the
judgment debtor's net worth.
(3) Hearing; Burden of Proof; Findings;
Additional Security. The trial court must
hear a judgment creditor's contest of the
judgment debtor's claimed net worth
promptly after any discovery has been
completed. The judgment debtor has the
burden of proving net worth. The trial
court must issue an order that states the
debtor's net worth and states with
particularity the factual basis for that
determination. If the trial court orders
additional or other security to supersede
the judgment, the enforcement of the
judgment will be suspended for twenty
days after the trial court's order. If the
judgment debtor does not comply with
the order within that period, the
judgment may be enforced against the
judgment debtor.
(d) Injunction. The trial court may enjoin the
judgment debtor from dissipating or
transferring assets to avoid satisfaction of the
judgment, but the trial court may not make
any order that interferes with the judgment
debtor's use, transfer, conveyance, or
dissipation of assets in the normal course of
business.
(e) Alternative Security in Certain Cases.
(1) Applicability. Paragraph (e) applies only
to a judgment debtor with a net worth of
less than $10 million.
(2) Alternative Security; Required Showing.
On a showing by the judgment debtor
that posting security in the amount
required under (a)(1) would require the
judgment debtor to substantially
liquidate the judgment debtor’s interests
in real or personal property necessary to
the normal course of the judgment
debtor’s business, the trial court must
allow the judgment debtor to post
alternative security with a value
sufficient to secure the judgment.
(3) Earnings on Appeal. During an appeal,
the judgment debtor may continue to
manage, use, and receive earnings from
interests in real or personal property in
the normal course of business.
(f) Redetermination. If an appellate court
reduces the amount of the judgment used to
set the bond, deposit, or security, the
judgment debtor is entitled, pending appeal
of the judgment to a court of last resort, to a
redetermination by the trial court of the
amount of the bond, deposit, or security
required to suspend enforcement.
24.3. Continuing Trial Court Jurisdiction;
Duties of Judgment Debtor
(a) Continuing Jurisdiction. Even after the trial
court's plenary power expires, the trial court
has continuing jurisdiction to do the
following:
(1) order the amount and type of security
and decide the sufficiency of sureties;
and
(2) if circumstances change, modify the
amount or type of security required to
continue the suspension of a judgment's
execution.
(b) Duties of Judgment Debtor. If, after
jurisdiction attaches in an appellate court, the
trial court orders or modifies the security or
decides the sufficiency of sureties, the
31
judgment debtor must notify the appellate
court of the trial court's action.
24.4. Appellate Review
(a) Motions; Review. A party may seek review
of the trial court's ruling by motion filed in
the court of appeals with jurisdiction or
potential jurisdiction over the appeal from the
judgment in the case. A party may seek
review of the court of appeals' ruling on the
motion by petition for writ of mandamus in
the Supreme Court. The appellate court may
review:
(1) the sufficiency or excessiveness of the
amount of security, but when the
judgment is for money, the appellate
court must not modify the amount of
security to exceed the limits imposed by
Rule 24.2(a)(1);
(2) the sureties on any bond;
(3) the type of security;
(4) the determination whether to permit
suspension of enforcement; and
(5) the trial court's exercise of discretion
under Rule 24.3(a).
(b) Grounds of Review. Review may be based
both on conditions as they existed at the time
the trial court signed an order and on changes
in those conditions afterward.
(c) Temporary Orders. The appellate court may
issue any temporary orders necessary to
preserve the parties’ rights.
(d) Action by Appellate Court. The motion must
be heard at the earliest practicable time. The
appellate court may require that the amount
of a bond, deposit, or other security be
increased or decreased, and that another
bond, deposit, or security be provided. The
appellate court may require other changes in
the trial court order. The appellate court may
remand to the trial court for entry of findings
of fact or for the taking of evidence.
(e) Effect of Ruling. If the appellate court
orders additional or other security to
supersede the judgment, enforcement will be
suspended for 20 days after the appellate
court’s order. If the judgment debtor
does not comply with the order within that
period, the judgment may be enforced. When
any additional bond, deposit, or security has
been filed, the trial court clerk must notify
the appellate court. The posting of additional
security will not release the previously posted
security or affect any alternative security
arrangements that the judgment debtor
previously made unless specifically ordered
by the appellate court.
Notes and Comments
Comment to 1997 change: Former Rules 47, 48,
and 49 are merged. The rule is substantially revised.
Paragraph 24.1(a) now provides for superseding the
judgment by agreement. Paragraph 24.1(c) is taken
from former Rule 48 and provides for a deposit in lieu
of the bond, including specific provisions for the
release of the deposit. Paragraph 24.1(d) provides the
conditions for the surety to honor the bond and for the
deposit to be paid to the judgment creditor. In
subdivision 24.2, the provisions for determining the
amount of the bond or deposit are simplified. All
provisions regarding superseding a judgment for an
interest in property are merged into subparagraph
24.2(a)(2). The procedure for allowing security in a
lesser amount is moved to paragraph 24.2(b) and is
made applicable to all judgments. Subdivision 24.4 is
taken from former Rule 49. The procedure for
appellate review is more precisely stated.
Comment to 2008 change: Subdivision 24.2(c) is
amended to clarify the procedure in determining net
worth. A debtor's affidavit of net worth must be
detailed, but the clerk must file what is tendered
without determining whether it complies with the rule.
If the trial court orders that additional or other security
be given, the debtor is afforded time to comply.
Subdivision 24.4(a) is revised to clarify that a party
seeking relief from a supersedeas ruling should file a
motion in the court of appeals that has or presumably
will have jurisdiction of the appeal. After the court of
appeals has ruled, a party may seek review by filing a
petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court.
See In re Smith / In re Main Place Custom Homes, Inc.,
192 S.W.3d 564, 568 (Tex. 2006) (per curiam).
Comment to 2023 change: New Rule 24.2(e) and
(f) are added to implement section 52.007 of the Texas
Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Comment to 2024 change: Rule 24.1(b)(2) and
24.4(d) are amended to provide that a bond is effective
32
upon filing, though the bond is still subject to
challenge.

Verbatim from the official publication; the only normalization is removal of the publisher's page headers. Verify against the official source for filing-critical use — court publications change without notice.