The statute, in one sentence
A party who appeals as provided by this chapter must file a petition for review with the district court within 60 days after the party received notice that a final order has been entered from which an appeal may be had. Tex. Tax Code § 42.21(a).
Why "jurisdictional" matters
A jurisdictional deadline is not a statute of limitations that the defendant must affirmatively plead. It is a precondition to the court's power to hear the case at all. If the petition is filed on day 61, the district court has no jurisdiction — the suit must be dismissed, regardless of how strong the merits are, regardless of whether the appraisal district objects, and regardless of the equities. The owner has lost the right to challenge that year's appraised value.
When the clock starts
The 60 days run from the date the property owner received notice of the final order — not the date the ARB signed it, not the date it was mailed, and not the date it was placed in the owner's tax agent's office mail tray. The Comptroller and the courts have treated the receipt date as the operative trigger, and § 1.07 of the Tax Code presumes delivery on a specific date for certain mailings.
In practice this means: preserve the envelope, log the date, and treat the receipt date as fixed. Owners who rely on internal recollections of "sometime in late July" routinely cut the window dangerously close.
What "filed" means
The petition must be on file in the district court of the county where the ARB sits before midnight on the sixtieth day. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21 governs electronic filing through the eFileTexas portal. A petition uploaded and accepted before midnight is timely; one queued but not accepted may not be.
Other Chapter 42 deadlines worth knowing
- Prepayment of taxes (§ 42.08). The undisputed amount of tax must be paid before the delinquency date — generally February 1 of the year after the tax year at issue — to avoid forfeiting jurisdiction.
- Service on the appraisal district. Service should follow promptly after filing; while not strictly tied to the 60-day window, delayed service can create due-diligence problems.
- § 25.25 corrections. Motions to correct the appraisal roll have their own deadlines (generally before the delinquency date, or in some cases up to five years for clerical errors), and an ARB order on a § 25.25 motion has its own 60-day appeal clock.
Practical checklist when an ARB order arrives
- Calendar the receipt date the day the order is received.
- Calendar day 60 as a hard deadline; calendar day 45 as the no-later-than-this filing target.
- Preserve the envelope and any cover letter from the ARB.
- Confirm payment of the undisputed tax before February 1.
- Engage litigation counsel — not the protest agent — well before day 45.
If you have just received an ARB order, the single most valuable thing you can do is start the clock today rather than next week.