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Historical Texas Cases

This legal research guide provides information on both official and unofficial case reporters from throughout Texas's history.

Case Reporters


*Notes in this research guide were derived from the resources listed on the Historical Resources page of this guide and The Greenbook: Texas Rules of Form, 14th edition.

Brief History of Texas Case Reporters

Texas has never had an easy time with court reporting. Its history has been plagued with numerous legislative missteps and fierce competition from private publishers. The short-lived Texas Republic dissolved before the government could print an official case reporter. Adding to the governmental tumult of the Civil War was a severe paper shortage that caused reporting anomalies. Reconstruction saw four separate versions of the state's highest court in a twelve year period. Throughout the years, private publishers such as J.W. Dallam, G. Paschal, and S.A. Posey helped fill the void of official case reporters. In 1846, the state began publishing Texas Reports as the official case reporter for the Texas Supreme Court. As other appeals courts were created, other case reporters sprung up to capture cases heard in those courts, either compiled by private publishers or by the state. In 1962, the state legislature ceased funding for Texas Reports and Texas Criminal Reports, halting the publication of those sets. Since then, South Western Reporter, a Thomson-Reuters (formerly West) publication, has been the sole source of published Texas cases. For more information, be sure to check out the Historical Resources tab of this guide for in-depth coverage of the history of Texas case reporters.

Below you will find a chronological listing of all the case reporters available here at the Library, either digitally or in print. If you would like to see the case reporters that cover cases for a specific court, see the corresponding tabs.

Case Reporters

Digests & Compilations

Journals