Texas Supreme Court

*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 the Supreme Court of Texas

The Supreme Court of the Republic decided no cases until 1840.

The Congress of the Republic of Texas passed legislation implementing the constitutional mandate for a supreme court on December 15, 1836. The following day, a chief justice and four associate judges were elected. Yet, it was not until 1840 that the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas held its first session.

Case Reporters for the Supreme Court of Texas

1840-1844 — Dallam's Opinions of the Supreme Court of Texas (Part II of Dallam's Digest)
Access: Available online. Also available in print at the State Law Library (1st ed.). Several re-prints are also available at the Library.
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Other titles: A digest of the laws of Texas: containing a full and complete compilation of the land laws; together with the opinions of the Supreme court; Dallam’s Opinions of the Supreme Court of Texas; Dallam’s Decisions; Dallam’s Opinions; Texas Reports Dallam; Texas Reports 0
Notes: Originally published as the second part of Dallam’s Digest. Pagination of Opinions begins on p.357. The Greenbook states that the 1845 printing of Dallam's Digest should be used when citing. Later reprints do not have consistent pagination.
1845-1846 — "Missing Cases of the Republic" Texas Law Review vol. 65, no. 2 (December 1986)
Access: Available online (must have a library account). Also available in print at the State Law Library.
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Notes: "These decisions were issued too late for inclusion in Dallam's Digest and, as they were not decisions of the State of Texas, were not published by the government after annexation." - Reporter's introduction
1846-1962 — Texas Reports
Access: Available online (to 1923). Full set available in print at the State Law Library.
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Other titles: Reports of cases argued and decided in the Supreme court of the state of Texas; Cases argued and decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Texas
Notes: Publishing was delayed during the Civil War. Cases from 1860-1861 were published in 1882 as Volume 25 Supplement. Cases in Volume 66 onward are duplicated in South Western Reporter.
1862-1865 — Robards' Conscript Cases
Access: Available online (facsimile). Also available in print at the State Law Library (facsimile).
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Full title: Synopses of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the state of Texas : rendered, upon applications for writs of habeas corpus, original and on appeal, arising from restraints by conscript and other military authorities, during the terms in 1862, 1863, 1864, and the Galveston term, 1865
Notes: These cases dealt with the Confederate government's attempts to draft citizens into the Southern army against their will during the Civil War. Original copies of this publication are rare. The library has two facsimile editions, one of which is available to view online (see catalog records for details).
1886-present — South Western Reporter
Access: Available in print at the State Law Library. Many cases from the South Western Reporter can be found in the online case law databases Fastcase (remote access), Westlaw, or Lexis Advance (in-library access only).
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Notes: Texas Court of Appeals Reports V.22 et seq. as well as Texas Reports V.66 et seq. are repeated in the South Western Reporter. Texas Cases Reported in South Western Reporter is published by Thomson-Reuters as a separate set which is available at the library up to the present.
1957-present — Texas Supreme Court Journal
Access: Available in print at the State Law Library.
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Notes: As per the Greenbook (see 2.1.2(c)), cases not yet appearing in the South Western Reporter advance sheets can be cited to the Journal.

Texas State
Law Library

Historical Texas Cases

Texas Supreme Court

Brief History of the Supreme Court of Texas

Case Reporters for the Supreme Court of Texas