Texas Court of Criminal Appeals:

An Inventory of Court of Criminal Appeals Records at the Texas State Archives, 1892-2005

Agency History

A constitutional amendment adopted September 22, 1891, followed by legislation approved April 13, 1892, created the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, thereby abolishing the Court of Appeals (which had been created by the Constitution of 1876). Or, to put it another way, all civil jurisdiction was removed from the Court of Appeals, whose name was changed to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court in the state, holding the same position in the area of state criminal law that the Supreme Court holds in civil law. The Court of Criminal Appeals has appellate jurisdiction in all criminal cases of whatever grade (i.e., for both felonies and misdemeanors). However, only appeals from state district or county courts are heard by the Court of Criminal Appeals, not appeals from justice courts, mayors' courts, or other inferior courts, or from county court cases imposing a judgment or fine of less than $100: in these cases, the judgment of the county court is final. The Court of Criminal Appeals also has original jurisdiction to investigate the detention of persons. It has the power to issue the writ of habeas corpus, and other necessary writs under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.

At first the court consisted of three judges elected by the voters, for terms of six years. (In 1966 the number was increased to five, and in 1981 to eight.) The three existing judges on the Court of Appeals in 1892 were to serve out their elected terms as judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The judges selected one of their number to be presiding judge. Like the Supreme Court at that time, the Court of Criminal Appeals held three terms annually, of three months each, at Tyler (October through December), Dallas (January through March), and Austin (April through June). The court appointed a separate clerk, and maintained separate records, for each geographical term.

Beginning in October 1909, the Court of Criminal Appeals met only in Austin, between October and June (House Bill 58, 31st Legislature, Regular Session). At that time the numbering of cases began all over, with Number 1.

Opinions were published beginning with Volume 31 of the Texas Criminal Reports: Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Criminal Appeals of the State of Texas (beginning with the Austin Term, 1892). The Archives and Information Services Division of the State Library has volumes 31 through 151 (1892-1946) and also volume 157 (1952).

In 1925, the 39th Legislature (in Senate Bill 370, Regular Session) created a two-member "Commission in aid of the Court of Criminal Appeals." Appointed by the court, these commissioners discharged duties assigned by the court and submitted opinions to the court for approval. The practical result was the operation of a five-member judicial body. The Commission was abolished in 1966 when the legislature expanded the number of judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals to five. At that point, the Commissioners serving became Judges, pending the next regular election.

In September 1981, by constitutional amendment, the courts of civil appeals received criminal jurisdiction for the first time, to relieve the backlog in the Court of Criminal Appeals. At that time they were renamed courts of appeals, totalling fourteen in number. The appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal Appeals remained exclusive, however, for cases involving the death penalty.

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Scope and Contents

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court in the state, holding the same position in the area of state criminal law that the Supreme Court holds in civil law. The Court of Criminal Appeals has appellate jurisdiction in all criminal cases (both felonies and misdemeanors). These records document the activities of the court. They consist of minutes, opinions, dockets, indexes, account books, correspondence, and case files that may include transcripts, briefs, exhibits, statements, memoranda, motions, warrants, questionnaires, writs, photographs, videotapes, audio cassettes, and floppy discs, dating 1892-2005.

Succinct documentation of the court's activities during the early years is found in the minutes (1892-1941), opinions (1892-1923), and opinion registers (1921-1954). There are gaps in the minutes before 1909, and many gaps in the opinions. The volume opinions should be supplemented by the published opinions or reports. The Archives and Information Services Division of the State Library has a complete set of Texas Criminal Reports: Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Criminal Appeals between 1892 and 1946.

Other opinions and orders handed down by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals range in date from 1925 to 1983 and are as brief as practicable while still addressing every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of the appeal. The court may affirm, modify, or reverse the judgment of the court below and dismiss the case, or render the judgment or decree that the court below should have rendered. It can also reverse the judgment of the court below and remand the case for further proceedings. Some opinions are filed by individual justices concurring or dissenting from the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Opinions for those cases ending in the upholding of a death penalty (and ultimately, execution) are also located in Execution case files, 1974-2005.

Orders primarily concern applications or petitions to file for writs of habeas corpus or writs of mandamus and date from 1953 to 1972. These applications are considered and either granted or denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Court terms were originally held between October of one year to June of the following year. Beginning in October of 1966, court terms were extended from October of one year to September of the following year.

The dockets (assignment dockets before 1909) provide one way (if the researcher knows the year) of determining the numbers assigned to the cases heard between 1892 and 1925, although there are many gaps. Another way to determine the number of a case, especially if the researcher only knows the appellant's name, is through the general indexes (for the Tyler and Dallas terms before 1909, and for all cases between 1909 and 1947). Of course probably a better, quicker, and surer means of discovering the number is through the published Texas Criminal Reports, which has an alphabetical table of contents at the beginning of each volume.

For the period 1892-1975, the activities of the court are most thoroughly documented in the case files, which contain the legal documents filed with and during an appeal (motions, briefs, arguments, orders, opinions, statements of facts, testimony, etc.). A major gap appears in the cases, between about 1899 and 1908. Two numbering systems were used for the case files: one for the period of the three geographically distinct terms (1892-1909), and one for the period of the centralized court (1909-1975). [Note that Centralized court case files through file number 25006 and Centralized court case files from file number 25007 are listed separately online and appear at the end of the printed finding aid in the Archives Reading Room.] To access a case, therefore, the researcher needs to know three things: the number of the case; whether it was heard before or after 1909; and if before 1909, in which geographical term it was heard (Tyler, Dallas, or Austin).

The execution case files date 1974-2005 and document the death penalty appeals heard by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal Appeals is exclusive for cases involving the death penalty and the appeals process in such cases is automatic. The appeals document the cases of all prisoners executed in Texas from 1999 to 2005; also included are a few cases of executions between 1993 and 1998. Additional earlier executions may be documented in the series Case files. If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at a separate divider within the binder. (Texas Court of Criminal Appeals execution case files)

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.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Execution case files have been found to contain documents sealed by the court according to Texas Public Information Act, 552.107(2). The same may possibly be true of regular Case files. When a researcher requests a case, the file will be reviewed by an archivist in order to remove sealed documents. The researcher will be informed that sealed documents have been removed from the file and it will then be up to the researcher to obtain permission from the Court to access the documents.

Execution case files have been found to contain personal information of jurors and prospective jurors. The same may possibly be true of regular Case files. According to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 35.29, information collected by the court or by a prosecuting attorney during the jury selection process about a person who serves as a juror, including the juror's home address, home telephone number, social security number, driver's license number, and other personal information, is confidential and may not be disclosed by the court, the prosecuting attorney, the defense counsel, or any court personnel except on application by a party in the trial or on application by a bona fide member of the news media acting in such capacity to the court in which the person is serving or did serve as a juror. On a showing of good cause, the court shall permit disclosure of the information sought. (Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 371, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993) The Court of Criminal Appeals has verified that juror information is to be withheld from the public according to the statute cited above. Therefore, when a case is requested, an archivist will review the case to ascertain whether or not juror information is present. If such information is found, the researcher will be informed and the documents will be removed from the file. If an individual wishes to access juror information, they will have to obtain permission from the Court. Because the judiciary is not covered by the Texas Public Information Act, the Archives cannot estimate how long it will take the Court to respond to a request.

Rarely, non-court documents have been found in the Execution case files. The same may possibly be true of regular Case files. Before a researcher is granted access to a case, an archivist will review the files and remove all such materials. The researcher will be informed if materials are removed. If the researcher wishes to access the documents, the Archives will contact the Court to determine the appropriate course of action on a case-by-case basis. Because the judiciary is not covered by the Texas Public Information Act, the Archives cannot estimate how long it will take the Court to respond to a request.

Restrictions on Use

None.

Technical Requirements

Researchers are required to wear gloves provided by the Archives when reviewing photographic materials.

Researchers wishing to access videotapes, audiotapes, or floppy discs must contact the Archives Preservation Officer to obtain the necessary equipment.

Letterpress books are extremely fragile; pages are tissue-thin and bindings are either broken already or ready to break. Therefore they may not be photocopied, and must be treated with great care.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Court of Criminal Appeals records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1991/139, 1993/088, 2001/083, 2002/080, 2002/160, 2003/004, 2003/078, 2003/123, 2004/153, 2005/142

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (via the Tarlton Law Library of the University of Texas at Austin), on April 24, 1991; June 9, 1992; and directly from the Court of Criminal Appeals on January 3, 2001; November 15, 2001; July 17, 2002; September 6, 2002; November 25, 2002; February 28, 2003; June 3, 2004; and April 27, 2005.

Processing Information

Lisa M. Hendricks, February 1992

Tony Black, August 1993

Nancy Enneking, March 2002, September 2002, December 2002, June 2003, August 2004

Tony Black, May 2005

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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