The
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Texas Courts of Civil Appeals were first established in 1891 by constitutional amendment (Article V, Section 6) to reduce the backlog of cases on the Texas Supreme Court docket. Courts of Civil Appeals are intermediate appellate courts between the trial courts and the Supreme Court. Their jurisdiction extends to those civil cases over which county or district courts have jurisdiction, when the amount in controversy exceeds $100.
Initially, in 1891, there were three courts of civil appeals, but the Fourth Supreme Judicial District was established in 1893 by the 23rd Texas Legislature (House Bills 361 and 362). Over the next century the judicial system has expanded to fourteen supreme judicial districts. Boundaries of geographic jurisdiction have been specified by statute and delineate the fourteen districts. Justices are elected by the voters of their districts for a term of six years.
In 1981 (following a constitutional amendment ratified by the November
4, 1980 election), all courts of appeals were given criminal jurisdiction
(except for death-penalty cases, which go directly to the Court of Criminal
Appeals). At this time, the number of justices on the 4th Court increased from
three to seven, and the court's name changed from
The 4th Court of Appeals has always met in San Antonio (although it now occasionally travels to hear cases in constituent counties). It originally encompassed the following 45 counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Brewster, Buchel, Crane, Crockett, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Encinal, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Jeff Davis, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Live Oak, Loving, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Schleicher, Sutton, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Ward, Webb, Wilson, Winkler, Zapata, and Zavala.
After a judicial reorganization in 1911 (Committee Substitute Senate Bills 10 and 86, 32nd Texas Legislature, Regular Session), the 4th Court of Civil Appeals lost twelve of its West Texas counties, which were transferred to the newly-created 8th Court of Civil Appeals in El Paso; but it gained another ten counties in South Texas. Thus in 1911, the 4th Supreme Judicial District was composed of the following 40 counties: Aransas, Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Calhoun, Cameron, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Victoria, Webb, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala.
Since the creation of the 13th Supreme Judicial District (Corpus Christi/Edinburg) in 1963 (House Bill 68, 58th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), the 4th Supreme Judicial District has encompassed the following 32 counties (its current extent): Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Brooks, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Real, Starr, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala.
(Sources include the
During the time period covered by these records, the Texas 4th Court of Appeals heard only civil appeals from county and district courts in the 4th Supreme Judicial District. The most important activities of this court are documented in these case files, which may contain any or all of the following: briefs and arguments, statements of fact, transcripts of proceedings from lower courts, motions, subpoenas, opinions, judgments, exhibits, and bills of cost. Records date 1891-1981. The court meets in San Antonio. The 4th Supreme Judicial District covered an area that originally included 45 counties (including counties in West Texas), then (in 1911) 40 counties (including some further south than currently), but now (since 1963) only 32.
Some case files are known to be missing in the first three boxes from 1893 and for the years 1975-1981. When a missing case has been identified, it is noted in the box listing of the case files. Missing case files for all the years in between are mostly unknown.
The case files have been arranged by the court in numerical order (which is also roughly in chronological order as the case numbers were assigned). However, there are thirty boxes of misfiles. Each misfiled case is noted in the box listing of the case files. Two boxes, 1982/101-M21 and 1982/101-M22, contain misfiled motions, #14411-16562 and #16754-19961, dating 1940-1960.
(Identify the item), Texas 4th Court of Appeals case files. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1982/101, 1983/014(LR), 1985/007(LR), 1988/010(LR), 1989/004(LR)
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the State and Local Records Division, Texas State Library, on September 20, 1993. These records had originally been accessioned by the Local Records Division, San Antonio Depository, on July 17, 1981; December 30, 1982; January 18, 1985; February 25, 1988; and March 1, 1989.
Paul Beck, April 1994
Tony Black, July 2007