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Railroad Commission of Texas:An Inventory of a Docket Book at the Texas State Archives, 1891-1898
Agency HistoryThe Railroad Commission of Texas had its origin in the demands of the shipping public in the late 1880s which insisted that railroads be subject to regulation based on public interest. An advocate for governmental regulation, Attorney General James Stephen Hogg ran for Governor in 1890 with the issue of railroad regulation as the focal point of the campaign. Hogg was elected Governor in the general election and the voters also approved an amendment to Article X, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution that empowered the Legislature to enact statutes creating regulatory agencies. These elections paved the way for the Legislature to enact on April 3, 1891 "An Act to Establish a Railroad Commission of the State of Texas," that later was placed in the Texas Revised Civil Statutes under article 6444 et seq. (House Bills 1, 3, and 58, 22nd Legislature, Regular Session). The Commission originally consisted of three members appointed by the Governor for three-year terms. Governor Hogg appointed the first three Commissioners in 1891, including John H. Reagan, who resigned as U.S. Senator from Texas to serve as the first Chairman. The Texas Constitution, Article XIX, Section 30 was amended in 1894 to provide for elective six-year overlapping terms for the Commissioners. That same year John H. Reagan was elected and served until his retirement in 1903. The Texas Railroad Commission was the first regulatory agency created in the State of Texas and originally had jurisdiction over the rates and operations of railroads, terminals, wharves and express companies. The legal focus was on intrastate passenger and freight activities. Interstate jurisdiction fell under the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. For the first twenty-five years of its existence, the Railroad Commission was largely concerned with regulating railroads, setting rates, receiving complaints, and making investigations. As other controversies arose where the Legislature deemed that the public interest could best be served by regulation, additional duties were assigned to the Railroad Commission. In 1999, the agency had approximately 848 FTE (full-time equivalent) employees. Legal authority for the Railroad Commission is the Texas Constitution, Art. X, Sec. 2 and Art. XVI, Sec. 30; and the Natural Resources Code, Chapter 81. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the RecordsThe records consist of a single docket book of the Railroad Commission of Texas with entries dating from 1891 to 1898. The book lists forty formal compaints concerning railroad service or tariffs filed in that period. The complaints are in chronological order and each one lists an assigned docket number, the date, the plaintiff and defendant, the nature of the complaint, and a brief statement on the outcome. The complaint was considered closed if a satisfactory explanation had been given by the railroad agency or if no further complaint was received. If a judgment was against the railroad or if no further action was to be taken by the Railroad Commission then a full description was given in the Commission's minutes. A cite from the docket book to the individual page in the minutes provides access to the description of the Railroad Commission's decision. After 1898, though the nature of the complaints remained the same, they became part of the minutes. To prepare this 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. This finding aid describes a single series of the Railroad Commission of Texas records. See Railroad Commission of Texas: An Overview of Records for more records series. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsRestrictions on AccessNone. Restrictions on UseNone. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents Related Material
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation(Identify the item), Docket book, Records, Railroad Commission of Texas. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Accession InformationAccession number: 1978/152 These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Railroad Commission of Texas on August 16, 1978. Processing InformationDescribed by Paul Beck, April 1986 Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Records
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