None.
None.
Office files of Insurance Board chairmen and members, Texas State Board of Insurance. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The history of state regulation of insurance in Texas dates from the Texas Constitution of 1876 when a bill creating the Department of Insurance, Statistics and History was passed on August 21, 1876. The Department had the responsibility to file and maintain insurance company charters. During the twentieth century, there have been several major reorganizations of the state regulatory agency charged with the regulation of the insurance industry. In 1909, Senate Bill 291, 31st Legislature, required insurance companies to file financial and other information with the new Commissioner of Insurance and Banking. By 1923, a separate office of a Commissioner of Insurance was established. In 1927, the Commissioner of Insurance was consolidated with the Fire Insurance Commissioner to create the Board of Insurance Commissioners. This board was abolished in 1957 and replaced with the State Board of Insurance.
The State Board of Insurance was composed of three members, appointed
by the Governor, with Senate approval. Members served six-year overlapping
terms. The Board was governed by the Texas Insurance Code, which was first
enacted in 1951 by S.B. 236 of the 52nd Legislature, Regular Session. From
1957-1991, the term
In 1991, the 72nd Legislature, 2nd Called Session, House Bill 62, revised the regulation of insurance and changed the agency's name to the Department of Insurance. The three-member State Board of Insurance was itself abolished by House Bill 1461 passed by the 73rd Legislature in 1993. The management and regulatory duties of the Board became the responsibility of the Commissioner of Insurance as of September 1, 1994. The Commissioner is now the overall authority in the enforcement of the Insurance Code and the regulation of the insurance industry in Texas.
Records consist of the personal office files of five Insurance Board chairmen and Insurance Board members. Files are from David B. Irons, Joe P. Gibbs, Ned Price, Charles D. Mathews, and William P. Daves. The files date from 1938 to 1979. Each Board member is listed separately.
Types of records include incoming and outgoing correspondence, original orders, internal memos, reports, studies, insurance claims, court opinions, legal briefs, copies of legislative bills, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles.
In each member's office file there is a wide range of subjects that cover the operations of the State Board of Insurance and its regulation of the insurance industry. These records reflect the Board's activities in setting insurance rates, licensing insurance agents, investigating consumer complaints, conducting financial examinations of companies, enforcing fire prevention regulations, and the other activities of the Board.
Broad subject categories found in each member's files include company files, topic files, rate hearings, and appeals. The files of each member are grouped roughly by subject, then chronologically or alphabetically.
Company files include the correspondence, legal and research records that a Board member might keep on individual insurance companies. Topic files contain records grouped together by subject to provide ready access on matters of current interest.
Annual rate hearings were held to set insurance rates on automobile, fire, homeowners, and other types of insurance. These hearings typically contain correspondence, studies, plans, and statistics to influence or support the Board's decision on rates for that type of insurance. The office files of Ned Price contain extensive records on rate hearings, especially on automobile insurance.
Each member's file contains appeal files of Board decisions over disciplinary or regulatory matters. For example, insurance agents may appeal the suspension of their license by the Board for improper advertising or sale techniques. An appeal file will typically contain correspondence and legal records from insurance agents or companies, their lawyers, and members of the general public. The files of David B. Irons and Ned Price both contain large blocks of appeal files.
Correspondents include other members of the Insurance Board, Commissioners of Insurance and deputy commissioners, Insurance Board employees, state officials, insurance companies, law firms, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and private citizens.
To prepare this preliminary inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
These records are organized into five series:
Paul B. Beck, May 1989
Accession number: 1989/066
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Records Management Division of the Texas State Library to the State Archives on December 6, 1988.
The records are arranged in a rough alphabetical order by folder title.
The records are arranged in a rough alphabetical order by folder title.
The records are arranged in a rough alphabetical order by folder title.
The records are arranged in a rough alphabetical order by folder title.
The records are arranged in a rough alphabetical order by folder title.