The Texas Evidence Command Center
75/75 rules verified — live-countedAll 75 Texas Rules of Evidence serve here verbatim from the Texas Judicial Branch's own July 2, 2026 compilation — census-proven against the pinned artifact, with the 2026 amendments verified against the adopting orders themselves. This page shows the law and teaches how Texas structures it. It does not predict a ruling, weigh your facts, or select a strategy — where judgment is needed, a licensed Texas attorney is the right reader.
The Rule 101 hierarchy check
Texas wrote the reason this page exists into the rulebook itself: a Rules-of-Evidence answer standing alone is incomplete. The ladder below is walked before every gate, on every surface of this Command Center.
STEP 1 · Tex. R. Evid. 101(d)
The override command
Rule 101(d) is why a Texas Rules of Evidence answer is never complete by itself: the constitutions, statutes, and prescribed rules can command a different result, and the court must follow them.
“a court must admit or exclude evidence if required to do so by the United States or Texas Constitution, a federal or Texas statute, or a rule prescribed by the United States or Texas Supreme Court or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals”
STEP 2 · Tex. R. Evid. 101(e)–(g)
The forum check
Before any rule is applied, the forum decides whether the rules apply at all — Rule 101's own subdivisions carve out justice-court civil cases, military-justice hearings, and a list of miscellaneous proceedings, while statutes switch the rules back on elsewhere.
STEP 3 · Tex. R. Evid. 404, 2026 Comment
The statutory overlay
The 2026 Comment to Rule 404 is the court telling every reader the same thing this ladder does: check the statute before trusting the rule.
“In certain cases, different procedures may be required by statute. See, e.g., TEX. CODE CRIM . P. art. 38.37.”
STEP 4 · Tex. R. Evid. 101(c)
The privilege constant
One layer never switches off, in any forum, at any stage.
“The rules on privilege apply to all stages of a case or proceeding.”
The forum split
One "justice court evidence mode" would be legally wrong — Rule 101 carves forums out, and statutes switch the rules back on. Each card states what governs, from the loaded texts.
District and county-court civil cases
The Texas Rules of Evidence apply — subject always to Rule 101(d)'s override command and the privilege constant.
Justice-court civil cases
The rules generally do NOT apply — Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 500.3 says when they do.
“These rules do not apply to justice court cases except as authorized by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 500.3.”
Competency proceedings
A statute switches the rules back ON despite Rule 101's carve-outs — the hierarchy runs in both directions.
“Notwithstanding Rule 101, Texas Rules of Evidence, the Texas Rules of Evidence apply to a trial under Subchapter C or other proceeding under this chapter”
Military-justice hearings
A different code governs admissibility entirely.
“The Texas Code of Military Justice, Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 432.001-432.195, governs the admissibility of evidence”
Preliminary admissibility questions
While the judge decides whether evidence is admissible, the rules (except privilege) stand aside for that determination.
“the court’s determination, under Rule 104(a), on a preliminary question of fact governing admissibility”
Criminal proceedings in justice and municipal courts run on the criminal evidence rules by statute (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.004, loaded in the corpus) — and criminal evidence strategy is a defense lawyer's work: this Command Center teaches the civil lanes and routes criminal judgment to counsel.
The five independent gates
Every item of evidence runs each gate separately — passing one is never presented as admissibility, because a court rules and software does not.
GATE 1 · Tex. R. Evid. 401–403
Relevance and the Rule 403 balance
What fact of consequence does this tend to prove — and does a listed danger substantially outweigh it?
“The court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of one or more of the following: unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.”
GATE 2 · Tex. R. Evid. 901(a)
Authentication
Is there evidence sufficient to support a finding that this is what its proponent claims?
“the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is”
GATE 3 · Tex. R. Evid. 802
Hearsay — every layer
Is any out-of-court statement offered for its truth — and does every nested layer have its own route?
“Hearsay is not admissible unless any of the following provides otherwise:”
GATE 4 · Tex. R. Evid. 1002
Original contents (Article X)
Are the CONTENTS of a writing, recording, or photograph being proved — and if so, where is the original?
“An original writing, recording, or photograph is required in order to prove its content unless these rules or other law provides otherwise.”
GATE 5 · Tex. R. Evid. 101(c); 501–513
Privilege
Does a recognized privilege hold the evidence out — and who holds it?
“The rules on privilege apply to all stages of a case or proceeding.”
THE TEXAS TAIL
Unobjected hearsay counts
Texas states a consequence many readers first meet at trial:
“Inadmissible hearsay admitted without objection may not be denied probative value merely because it is hearsay.”
What changed, in the courts' own words
Rule 404 + article 38.37 — the comment IS the doctrine
On July 2, 2026, the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals jointly added a comment to Rule 404 (Misc. Docket No. 26-9058, effective immediately). It is one sentence, and it is this arc's whole hierarchy doctrine in the court's hand: the statute can change the procedure. Article 38.37 answers in its own words.
The 2026 Comment
“In certain cases, different procedures may be required by statute. See, e.g., TEX. CODE CRIM . P. art. 38.37.”
The statute's own opening
“Notwithstanding Rules 404 and 405, Texas Rules of Evidence”
The notice duty the overlays ride on
“the prosecutor must provide reasonable notice before trial that the prosecution intends to introduce such evidence—other than that arising in the same transaction—in its case-in-chief”
Criminal evidence strategy is a defense lawyer's work — this page shows the court's own overlay instruction and routes the decision to counsel.
Rule 412 — the replacement rule and the commencement gate
Former Rule 412 was repealed and replaced (Senate Bill 535, 89th Legislature); the interim rule took effect September 1, 2025, and the FINAL version took effect January 1, 2026 (Misc. Docket No. 25-9102). Which version governs a case is a date question the court answered itself — software must never silently apply the current rule to a proceeding the gate assigns to the former one.
The final rule's definition
“includes an alleged victim of the charged offense and an alleged victim of an extraneous offense or act described in subdivision (b)”
The in-camera step
“The court must then conduct an in camera examination of the evidence in the presence of a court reporter and determine whether it is admissible.”
The commencement gate — the order's own ¶4
“for criminal proceedings commencing before September 1, 2025, the rule in effect on the date the proceeding commenced governs”
Misc. Docket No. 25-9102 ¶4 (joint order, pinned sha256 668b2807…)
The rule's own comment also names article 38.872 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — a statute the Legislature's own publisher does not yet serve in its chapter file. That absence is stated here and pinned in the bench; the day the publisher serves it, the platform loads it deliberately.
The clocks the rules state themselves
Four deadlines live inside the evidence rules — each shown in the rule's own words. Computing them against your trial date belongs to the deadline engine; the words belong to the rules.
Business records — served at least 14 days before trial
“The proponent of a record must serve the record and the accompanying affidavit on each other party to the case at least 14 days before trial.”
An unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury may stand in for the affidavit, and a good-cause valve exists — both in the rule's own words on the unit page.
Translations — served at least 45 days before trial
“A translation of a foreign language document is admissible if, at least 45 days before trial, the proponent serves on all parties”
Translation objections — served at least 15 days before trial
“A party must serve the objection on all parties at least 15 days before trial.”
Silence has a price the rule states itself: absent a timely objection or conflicting translation, the court must admit the translation and may not allow an accuracy attack.
Foreign-law materials — supplied at least 30 days before trial
“at least 30 days before trial, supply all parties a copy of any written materials or sources the party intends to use to prove the foreign law”
The ruling is not preserved by wishing
Rule 103 states both duties — one for evidence let in, one for evidence kept out — and Rule 105 adds the limiting instruction that arrives only on request.
Admitted over objection
“timely objects or moves to strike; and (B) states the specific ground, unless it was apparent from the context”
Excluded — the offer of proof
“if the ruling excludes evidence, a party informs the court of its substance by an offer of proof, unless the substance was apparent from the context”
The limiting instruction
“the court, on request, must restrict the evidence to its proper scope and instruct the jury accordingly”
Articles I–X — the whole book, live-stated
Every chip below is the corpus's own review state, queried on this request — never a hardcoded claim. Article III is empty because the court says so, in its own line.
Article III — Presumptions
no rules adopted“Rule 301. [No Rules Adopted at This Time]”
The Command Center grows phase by phase — the deadline wiring, the evidence-type navigator, the case layer, the preservation desk, and the attorney War Room each arrive behind their own gates. What is not built yet is not shown.