Texas Court of Appeals (3rd):

An Inventory of 3rd Court of Appeals Records at the Texas State Archives, 1891-1998

Agency History

Texas Courts of Civil Appeals were first established in 1891 by constitutional amendment (Article V, Section 6). This expansion of the appellate system was designed to reduce the backlog of cases on the Texas Supreme Court docket. At a special session called to implement this amendment in 1892, the 22nd Texas Legislature, 1st Called Session (through Senate Bill 18) divided the state into three supreme judicial districts. Over the next century the judicial system expanded to fourteen supreme judicial districts. Boundaries of geographic jurisdiction have been specified by statute. Justices are elected by the voters of their districts for a term of six years.

The Third Supreme Judicial District originally included most of the counties of central, south, and west Texas, including the following 73 counties, but only for the two years 1892-1893: Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Brewster, Brown, Buchel, Burnet, Caldwell, Coke, Coleman, Comal, Comanche, Concho, Coryell, Crockett, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Encinal, Falls, Foley, Freestone, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hays, Irion, Jeff Davis, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Lampasas, LaSalle, Lee, Limestone, Live Oak, Llano, Mason, Maverick, McCulloch, McLennan, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Milam, Mills, Navarro, Pecos, Presidio, Robertson, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton, Tom Green, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Williamson, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala. (Buchel and Foley Counties were abolished in 1897.)

In 1893, the 4th and 5th Supreme Judicial Districts were created (Senate Bills 29, 36, 82, 126, 128, and 300, 23rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session). Thirty-eight of the counties originally assigned to the 3rd Court of Civil Appeals were transferred to the newly created 4th Court of Civil Appeals sitting in San Antonio; three were assigned to the 5th Court of Civil Appeals sitting in Dallas; and two (Bosque and Comanche) were transferred to the 2nd Court of Civil Appeals sitting in Ft. Worth. One county (Robertson) was transferred from the 1st Court to the 3rd Court of Civil Appeals. Thus, in 1893 the newly formulated 3rd Supreme Judicial District included the following 29 counties: Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Caldwell, Coke, Coleman, Comal, Concho, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, Hays, Irion, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, McCulloch, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Robertson, Runnels, San Saba, Sterling, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson.

In 1911 (Senate Bills 10 and 86, 32nd Texas Legislature, Regular Session), two counties were added to the 3rd Supreme Judicial District: Crockett and Schleicher, bringing the total number of counties to 31.

In 1923, when the 10th Supreme Judicial District (sitting in Waco) was created (Senate Bill 197, 38th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), the following five counties were transferred from the 3rd to the 10th Supreme Judicial District: Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, McLennan, and Robertson.

In 1927 (Senate Bill 396, 40th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), Crockett County was transferred from the 3rd to the 8th Supreme Judicial District (sitting in El Paso), created in 1911.

Finally, in 1941 (House Bill 188, 47th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), Brown and Coleman Counties were transferred from the 3rd to the 11th Supreme Judicial District (sitting in Eastland), created in 1925. This brought the total number of counties in the 3rd Supreme Judicial District to the present 24: Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Coke, Comal, Concho, Fayette, Hays, Irion, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, McCulloch, Milam, Mills, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher, Sterling, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson counties.

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 court's name changed from "Court of Civil Appeals for the Third Supreme Judicial District" to "Third Court of Appeals." In 1985 the name changed again to "The Court of Appeals for the Third Court of Appeals District" (Senate Bill 1228, 69th Texas Legislature, Regular Session).

The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and five justices and is held in the city of Austin. It has intermediate appellate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases appealed from lower courts in the twenty-four above mentioned counties of 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.

(Sources include Article V, Sections 1, 6, and 7 of the Texas Constitution; the enabling legislation (1892, 1893, 1911, 1923, 1927, and 1941); the Handbook of Texas Online article on the Judiciary by Paul Womack; and the websites of the 3rd Court of Appeals, the 4th Court of Appeals, the 10th Court of Appeals, and the 11th Court of Appeals (all accessed August 25, 2005).)

Scope and Contents

The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals has intermediate appellate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases appealed from lower courts in the 3rd Supreme Judicial District of Texas; in civil cases where judgment rendered exceeds $100, exclusive of costs, and other civil proceedings as provided by law; and (since 1981) in criminal cases except in post-conviction writs of habeas corpus and where the death penalty has been imposed. The records of the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals (previously the 3rd Court of Civil Appeals), are composed of indexes and registers, dockets, minutes, opinion records, case files, fiscal records, and motions that range in date from 1891 to 1998. Originally the 3rd Supreme Judicial District included all of south, west, and central Texas, but it eventually was reduced to 24 counties in central Texas; it meets in Austin. During the time period covered by most series of these records (that is, except for the selected case files dating 1981-1998), the Texas 3rd Court of Civil Appeals heard only civil appeals from county and district courts in the 3rd Supreme Judicial District.

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.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Most of the Case files are in off-site storage. Records requested before 10:00 a.m. will usually be available for review by an archivist by 4:00 p.m. the same day. Records requested after 10:00 a.m. and before 3:00 p.m will usually be available for review by an archivist by noon the next day.

Case files may possibly contain documents sealed by the court, and therefore excepted from public disclosure by the Texas Public Information Act, Section 552.107(2). 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 3rd Court of Appeals to access the documents.

Case files may possibly also contain personal information of jurors and prospective jurors. 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 3rd Court of Appeals. 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.

Case files may possibly also contain non-court documents. 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 3rd Court of Appeals 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

None.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas 3rd Court of Appeals records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1982/301, 1991/043, 1993/118, 1994/064, 1995/045, 1996/051, 1998/099, 2002/004, 2002/136, 2003/009, 2004/047, 2004/074, 2004/119, 2004/149, 2005/014

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, on May 19, 1982; December 19, 1990; February 3, 1993; February 3, 1994; December 27, 1994; February 1, 1996; April 24, 1998; September 6, 2001; May 23, 2002; September 12, 2002; November 3, 2003; December 16, 2003; April 2, 2004; May 5, 2004; and September 14, 2004.

Processing Information

Michael R. Green, March 1984

Tony Black, July 1991

Paul B. Beck, December 1994

Lisa M. Hendricks, March 1996

Tony Black, June 2001

Nancy Enneking, September 2001, February 2003, April 2004

Tony Black, September 2004, August 2005

Detailed Description of the Collection