--- name: tx-fact-check description: > Use this skill to fact-check a Texas court filing before it is filed. Triggers include "fact check Texas filing", "verify Texas Code citation", "is this Texas case real", "check my Texas brief", "Texas citation format", "verify the rule cites in my Harris County motion", "TRCP vs Tex. R. Evid. cite", "check the court of appeals district on my cite", "pet. denied parenthetical Texas", "audit this Texas pleading", "check that my numbers are consistent across the packet". Runs four passes: (1) citation verification against authoritative Texas sources (the Texas codes; TRCP / Tex. R. Evid. / Tex. R. App. P.; cases in Texas form — South Western Reporter with the court-of-appeals district and petition-history parenthetical — via the case-law tools); (2) internal consistency; (3) packet consistency; (4) sworn-versus-argued consistency. version: 0.1.0 --- # Fact-Check Texas Court Filings > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Fact-checking detects errors but does not > assess legal sufficiency. Verify substantive law independently > against current rules and case law before filing. Use this skill before any Texas court filing leaves the desk. It runs four passes. It is the deeper evidentiary-citation pass; `tx-quality-check` is the lighter format-and-content pass. This skill points at the canonical corpora rather than embedding statute text or section numbers — pull current text from `tx-law-references`. ## Pass 1 — Citation verification For every rule, statute, and case citation, verify: - **Rule cited**: exists in the correct Texas rule set and says what the brief claims. Confirm the subdivision against current text via `tx-law-references`. Texas uses Rule-number plus lettered / numbered subparts (e.g., TRCP 166a(i), TRCP 197.2, TRCP 93(10)). The civil rules are the **Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (Tex. R. Civ. P. / TRCP)**; evidence is the **Texas Rules of Evidence (Tex. R. Evid.)**; appellate rules are the **Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure (Tex. R. App. P.)**. - **Statute cited**: exists at the cited section, in the correct **code**. Texas statutes are organized into named codes — confirm the cite names the right one and the section exists: - **Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code** (e.g., § 16.004 limitations, § 31.002 turnover, § 132.001 unsworn declaration, § 34.001 dormancy) - **Tex. Fin. Code** (e.g., Ch. 392 Texas Debt Collection Act) - **Tex. Bus. & Com. Code** (e.g., Ch. 17 DTPA; the Texas UCC) - **Tex. Prop. Code** (e.g., Ch. 41 homestead, Ch. 42 personal property) - **Tex. Gov't Code** (e.g., § 662.003 holidays; court-organization chapters) - **Tex. Family Code** (e.g., Ch. 6 divorce, Ch. 153 conservatorship, Ch. 154 child support) Confirm against `tx-law-references`; flag any section the brief invented, mis-numbered, or placed in the wrong code. Confirm limitations periods against current text rather than memory. - **Federal statute cited**: exists at the cited subsection (e.g., FDCPA at 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.). Pull from the federal corpus. - **Case cited**: exists; the reporter citation is correct; the proposition stands for what the brief claims; the case has not been overruled or its petition history mis-stated. Use the connected **CourtListener** / case-law tools to confirm the case is real and read the holding (Supreme Court of Texas, the Courts of Appeals, and the Court of Criminal Appeals). ### Texas citation-format checks Texas abolished its official Texas Reports; cite the **South Western Reporter** in **Texas Rules of Form ("Greenbook")** style. Verify each against current usage via `tx-law-references`: - **Supreme Court of Texas**: `[Party A] v. [Party B], [###] S.W.[2d/3d] [###] (Tex. [YEAR])` — e.g., *In re Columbia Med. Ctr.*, 290 S.W.3d 204 (Tex. 2009). Keep the periods in `S.W.2d`, `S.W.3d`, `Tex.`, and `v.` - **★ Court of Appeals**: must include **both the district and the petition-history parenthetical** — `[Party A] v. [Party B], [###] S.W.3d [###] (Tex. App.—[District] [YEAR], [pet. history])` — e.g., *Doe v. Roe*, 123 S.W.3d 456 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2003, pet. denied). The **"pet. denied / pet. ref'd / pet. dism'd / no pet."** (or, for older cases, "writ ref'd / writ ref'd n.r.e. / no writ") subsequent-history parenthetical is a Texas signature. Flag a Court of Appeals cite **missing the district** (the em-dash "Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]" form) or **missing the petition-history parenthetical** as a format WARN. Confirm the district matches the deciding court. - **Court of Criminal Appeals**: `(Tex. Crim. App. [YEAR])` — verify a criminal cite is not mis-attributed to the Supreme Court of Texas (Texas has **two courts of last resort**). - **Statutes**: `Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004`; `Tex. Fam. Code § 154.125`; `Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.50` (keep the `§`). **Rules**: `Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a`; `Tex. R. Evid. 803(6)`. - Flag a missing `§` on statutes, dropped periods in reporter abbreviations, a wrong reporter series, a Court of Appeals cite with no district or no petition-history parenthetical, or a criminal cite attributed to the wrong high court as a format WARN. ## Pass 2 — Internal consistency Within a single document, verify: - **Party names**: each party named consistently throughout (and in `v.` form in any case caption); party **designations** match the forum (**Plaintiff/Defendant** in general civil; **Petitioner/ Respondent** in family law). - **Cause number**: appears identically wherever it recurs, and matches the court named in the caption (District Court / County Court at Law / Justice Court, and the correct county). - **Dates**: every date is consistent across all appearances (date of service, date of contract, date of last payment, date judgment was signed). A deadline that runs from a stated date must be supported by that date. - **Dollar amounts**: every amount is consistent and the totals add up (principal + interest + fees + costs = total demanded), and the pleaded **TRCP 47(c) relief range** is consistent with the amount demanded. - **Defined terms**: any term defined with `(the "Account")` is used consistently (no slipping into "the loan" or "the debt"). - **Cross-references**: every "see paragraph X" or "see Exhibit Y" resolves to a real location. - **Numbered paragraphs**: sequential without gaps or duplicates. ## Pass 3 — Packet consistency Across the multi-document packet (motion + supporting affidavit / unsworn declaration + Notice of Hearing or Submission + proposed order + certificate of service): - **Caption identical** in every document: court, county, party names, and cause number must match exactly. - **Document title** matches between the motion, its certificate of service, the Notice of Hearing / Submission, and the proposed order's title. - **Dates align**: the certificate-of-service date should match the signature date on the motion; an affidavit's jurat date or an unsworn declaration's execution date should align with when it was made; the hearing / submission date respects the applicable lead time (the local notice clock, or the **TRCP 166a 21-day** summary-judgment lead with the response due 7 days before). - **Relief sought matches**: the motion's prayer must mirror the proposed order's decretal language item by item. - **Exhibits** referenced in the motion are described in the affidavit / declaration and physically attached. - **Signature / bar number**: each signed document carries the signer's signature and, for an attorney, the **State Bar of Texas bar number**; a self-represented filer signs without one (TRCP 57). ## Pass 4 — Sworn vs. argued Compare what is sworn-to in the supporting affidavit / unsworn declaration against what is argued in the motion or response: - Every **factual assertion** in the argument should be (a) supported by a citation to a paragraph of the affidavit / declaration, (b) admitted in the pleadings, or (c) a matter of judicial notice. - Identify any factual claim in the brief **not** supported by the affidavit / declaration — a gap to fix before filing. - Identify any sworn fact **not used** in the brief — consider whether it belongs in the affidavit at all. - Verify the affidavit / declaration's **personal-knowledge foundation** and, for a business-records affidavit, that it satisfies the custodian / qualified-witness requirement of **Tex. R. Evid. 803(6)** and the self-authentication mechanics of **Tex. R. Evid. 902(10)** (the affidavit form and pre-trial notice/filing — verify the exact 902(10) sub-paragraph numbering against current text). In a debt case, scrutinize whether the affiant shows knowledge of the **original creditor's** records. Flag paragraphs that begin "I believe" or "I understand" without a foundation. - **Sworn-account / verified-denial check.** If the petition pleads a **sworn account (TRCP 185)**, confirm the verification is proper; if the answer contests it, confirm the **verified denial (TRCP 93(10) / 185)** is present and sworn (or carries a CPRC § 132.001 declaration). - Confirm an **unsworn declaration** carries the **Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 132.001** subscription "under penalty of perjury," including the declarant's **date of birth and address** and a date, or the affidavit carries a completed jurat. ## Output format When invoked on a packet, produce a structured verification report: ``` FACT-CHECK REPORT — [Document title / Cause number] Pass 1 (Citations) PASS Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(i) — exists; correct subpart WARN Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code — confirm 4-year debt § 16.004 limitations period against current code text FAIL Smith v. Jones, 999 S.W.3d 1 — not found; verify the case is real on CourtListener WARN Doe v. Roe, 123 S.W.3d 456 — Court of Appeals cite is (Tex. App. 2003) missing the district and the petition-history parenthetical (e.g., "Tex. App.—Dallas 2003, pet. denied") Pass 2 (Internal consistency) PASS Party names + cause number consistent WARN Pleaded relief range (Rule 47(c)) does not match the amount demanded in the prayer Pass 3 (Packet consistency) PASS Caption matches across motion, declaration, proposed order FAIL Summary-judgment hearing is only 14 days after service — short of the TRCP 166a 21-day lead Pass 4 (Sworn vs. argued) FAIL Motion p.3 asserts "the affiant reviewed the original creditor's records"; declaration shows no such foundation WARN Answer contests a TRCP 185 sworn account but the verified denial is not sworn (no jurat / no § 132.001 declaration) Summary: 5 PASS / 4 WARN / 3 FAIL — DO NOT FILE until FAILs resolved. ``` ## Composition - For format checks: `tx-statewide-format` + `scripts/format-check.py` on the generated document - For deadline arithmetic checks (TRCP 4 time computation, the TRCP 21a +3-day add-on, the TRCP 99 Monday rule, Tex. Gov't Code § 662.003 holidays): `tx-deadlines` - For the lighter pre-filing format-and-content pass: `tx-quality-check` - For canonical statute / rule text: `tx-law-references` - For venue caption + local-rule confirmation: `tx-hcdc`, `tx-dcdc`, `tx-county-courts`, `tx-family-court` - For pro se signature conventions (no bar number): `tx-pro-se` - For sworn-account / chain-of-title scrutiny in debt cases: `tx-consumer-debt` ## References to author - `references/texas-citation-format.md` — South Western Reporter case form, the "Tex. App.—[District] [YEAR], [pet. history]" parenthetical, the two-high-courts distinction, and the Tex. [Code] / TRCP / Tex. R. Evid. / Tex. R. App. P. cite forms - `references/courtlistener-lookup.md` — confirming Texas cases via the case-law tools (Supreme Court of Texas, Courts of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals)