Please note that the
Note: The following statements apply only to criminal cases found in these case files.
Rarely,
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District has intermediate appellate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases appealed from lower courts in seventeen counties of West Texas; in civil cases where judgment rendered exceeds $100, exclusive of costs, and other civil proceedings as provided by law; and in criminal cases except in post-conviction writs of habeas corpus and where the death penalty has been imposed. The court is composed of three justices (including a Chief Justice) and is held in the city of El Paso.
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 over the next century the judicial system 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.
The Eighth Supreme Judicial District was established in 1911 by the 32nd Texas Legislature (Senate Bills 10 and 86, Regular Session). The district was initially composed of the following 20 counties: Andrews, Borden, Brewster, Crane, Ector, El Paso, Gaines, Glasscock, Jeff Davis, Loving, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Ward, and Winkler. All but five of those counties had previously been in the Second Supreme Judicial District, meeting at Fort Worth. The counties of Brewster, El Paso, Jeff Davis, Pecos, and Presidio had formerly been in the Fourth Supreme Judicial District, meeting at San Antonio. In 1913, Culberson County was added to the district (Senate Bill 112, 33rd Legislature, Regular Session). In 1925, Hudspeth County was added to the district, and Borden County was removed to the newly created 11th District (Senate Bill 189, 39th Legislature, Regular Session). In 1927, Crockett, Dawson, and Howard Counties were added to the 8th district (Senate Bill 396, 40th Legislature, Regular Session). In 1929, Dawson and Howard Counties were removed to the 11th District (House Bill 231, 41st Legislature, Regular Session). In 2003, the counties of Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Martin, and Midland were removed to the 11th District (House Bill 2261, 78th Legislature, Regular Session), leaving the 8th District composed of the following 17 counties (current as of 2011): Andrews, Brewster, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Ward, and Winkler.
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 that time, the court's name changed from
(Sources include Article V, Sections 1, 6, and 7 of the Texas
Constitution
The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District has intermediate appellate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases appealed from lower courts in 17 counties of West Texas; in civil cases where judgment rendered exceeds $100, exclusive of costs, and other civil proceedings as provided by law; and in criminal cases except in post-conviction writs of habeas corpus and where the death penalty has been imposed. Records of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District consist of case files reviewed by the court as having historical value, and which likely include appeal briefs, opinions, transcripts, decisions, exhibits, motions, and correspondence, 1912-1991, 1997-1999. Because these case files were transferred by the 8th Court of Appeals directly to the C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library (UTEP), the contents of the case files have not been verified by State Archives staff.
Cases 1 through 173 were destroyed by El Paso County in 1974 (a list of these cases is available from State Archives staff). Cases not listed within the date spans of 1912-1991, 1997-1999 were reviewed by the court as lacking historical value and were destroyed. The court has not yet transferred to UTEP cases dating 1992-1996 and 2000 to the present. Cases 174 through 1716 were filed in the court from 1912 to 1922. Cases 1721 through 7160 were filed in the court from 1922 to 1981. Cases falling within the date ranges 1981-1982, 1983-1984, 1984-1985, 1986-1988, 1989-1991, and 1997-1999 are listed under those date headings.
These case files are referred to as MS 403 at UTEP.
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. The styles of the cases have been taken from lists provided by The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District. Dates are estimates.
(Identify the item), Texas 8th Court of Appeals case files, 1912-1991, 1997-1999, MS 403, housed at the C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library for the Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Corrections and further encoding to TARO project standards by Nancy Enneking, March 2001
Additions to list of case files by Nancy Enneking, August 2002, January 2003
Converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, July 22, 2003
Additions to list of case files by Nancy Enneking, March 2004
Restrictions statements revised, and corrections and further encoding to DACS standards by Tony Black, June 2008
Additions to list of case files, updates to overall description by Rebecca Romanchuk, August 2008, May 2010, September 2011
Accession numbers: 1999/187, 2002/004LR, 2003/001LR, 2004/001LR, 2008/001LR, 2009/001LR, 2010/001LR, 2011/002LR
These records were transferred by the Texas 8th Court of Appeals to the C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library, a Regional Historical Resource Depository of the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, on July 13, 1999; April 22, 2002; September 12, 2002; April 27, 2004; November 2, 2007; July 28, 2009; May 7, 2010; and August 5, 2011.
Additional case files selected by the 8th Court of Appeals as having historical value are transferred by the court to the C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library on a regular basis, at intervals of from one to four years.