You can search Texas public court records online through re:SearchTX, which pulls case information from all 254 counties, or through the individual county clerk and district clerk websites for the county where the case was filed. A case number gets you to the file fastest; a full party name works if you also know the county and roughly when the case was filed.
What to Gather Before You Search
The single most useful piece of information is the case number. Every Texas case receives a unique number when it is filed, and entering it into any search tool pulls up that exact file with no guesswork. If you have a traffic citation, a letter from a court, or any earlier legal paperwork, the case number is almost certainly printed on it.
Without a case number, search by the full legal name of at least one party. Common names return long lists, so a few extra details help you narrow the results:
- The county where the case was filed. Texas has no single statewide database that covers every court, so you generally need to know where to look.
- The type of court. District courts, county courts, and justice of the peace courts are maintained by different clerks.
- The approximate year of filing or judgment, which filters out unrelated hits when a name is shared.
Where to Search Online
re:SearchTX
The broadest online tool is re:SearchTX at research.txcourts.gov. It covers case information from all 254 Texas counties, lets you view court documents, and allows real-time case alerts. You can search by party name, case number, or the text of filed documents. Access requires signing in with an eFileTexas account, and some features carry a fee, so check the platform’s pricing page before running heavy searches. Despite the txcourts.gov domain, the platform is operated by Tyler Technologies on behalf of the Texas courts.
County Clerk and District Clerk Portals
Many larger counties run their own free search portals. Bexar, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Harris, Tarrant, and Travis counties all offer online databases through both their county clerk and district clerk websites. Harris County, for instance, provides separate search tools for civil, criminal, and family cases through the District Clerk’s office, plus a civil-only portal through the County Clerk. These local systems typically let you search by case number, party name, or date range. Some require creating a free account before results will display.
Smaller and rural counties may not have a robust online search tool. For those, calling or visiting the clerk’s office is often the fastest route. The Texas State Law Library maintains a directory of county clerk websites that can tell you what’s available online for any particular county.
When You Have to Visit in Person
Older filings may never have been digitized. For those, the courthouse where the case was heard is the standard option. The clerk’s office will have public terminals or paper search forms that use the same inputs as digital searches: party name, case number, date, and court type. Staff can pull physical files from storage once the case is identified, though older archives may take longer to retrieve than current ones.
What You Can Actually See
Texas courts generate records across every area of law, and most become part of the public file once entered into the court’s system:
- Civil cases: pleadings, motions, and judgments from contract disputes, personal injury claims, landlord-tenant actions, and debt collection suits.
- Criminal cases: indictments, plea agreements, sentencing orders, and post-conviction filings for both misdemeanors and felonies.
- Family law: divorce decrees, custody orders, and property division agreements. Some exhibits in family cases are handled differently when they contain sensitive information about children.
- Probate: wills admitted to probate, estate inventories, guardianship proceedings, and orders appointing administrators.
- Appellate records: legal briefs, court opinions, and orders from the courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas.
Trial court records give you the raw filings and evidence. Appellate records focus on the legal arguments and the reviewing court’s written analysis.
Records You Won’t Find
Certain records will not appear in any public search, and knowing this up front saves time.
Juvenile records are confidential under Texas Family Code Section 58.007. The records of a juvenile court, its clerk, the probation department, and the prosecuting attorney can be inspected only by judges, probation officers, attorneys in the case, and agencies with a direct role. Anyone else needs permission from the juvenile court.1State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 58.007 – Confidentiality of Probation Department, Prosecutor, and Court Records
Sealed court records under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 76a are kept out of public view, though court opinions and orders can never be sealed.
Expunged and nondisclosed criminal records also drop out of public searches, and Texas treats these as two different processes. An expunction under Chapter 55A of the Code of Criminal Procedure destroys the record; it is available in limited situations such as acquittals, pardons, dismissed charges that never led to conviction, and certain completed diversion programs.2Texas State Law Library. General Information – Expunctions and Nondisclosure Orders An order of nondisclosure under Government Code Chapter 411, Subchapter E-1 leaves the record in place but bars courts, clerks, law enforcement, and prosecutors from sharing it with the public, though some state agencies and licensing boards still have access.3Texas Office of Court Administration. Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure Nondisclosure is more widely available than expunction and covers completed deferred adjudication and certain conviction categories, including some misdemeanor convictions and qualifying DWI offenses.
If you believe a record should have been removed but it still appears, the order may not yet have been processed, or it may not cover that specific offense. Each order applies to a particular arrest or offense, not to a full criminal history.
Fees for Copies
Viewing case information on a county portal or a public terminal is generally free. Fees apply when you want copies of actual documents. Texas Local Government Code Section 118.011 sets standard rates that county and district clerks follow:
- Paper copies: $1.00 per page, whether printed at the courthouse or mailed.
- Electronic copies of electronic documents: $1.00 for up to 10 pages, plus $0.10 for each page beyond 10.4Fort Bend County. Fees
- Paper documents converted to electronic format: $1.00 per page.
- Certification and seal: $5.00 per document, on top of the per-page copying fee.5Harris County District Clerk. Purchase Copies
You need a certified copy when submitting a court document for official legal or government purposes, such as immigration applications, out-of-state filings, and some licensing requirements. For personal research or attorney review, an uncertified copy works and costs less. If you have a court-approved Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs on file under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, you may be entitled to copies at no charge.5Harris County District Clerk. Purchase Copies
Federal Cases Use a Different System
If the case was filed in federal court rather than a Texas state court, none of the state tools above will find it. Texas is divided into four federal judicial districts (Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western), with major courthouses in cities including Dallas, Houston, Tyler, and San Antonio.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 124 – Texas Federal filings include bankruptcy, civil rights lawsuits, federal criminal prosecutions, and disputes involving federal law.
The federal search platform is PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) at pacer.uscourts.gov. After registering for a free account, you can search by party name or case number within a specific district or across all federal courts nationwide using the PACER Case Locator.7PACER. Find a Case PACER charges $0.10 per page for documents and search results, with a $3.00 cap per document. If you spend $30 or less in a quarter, the fees are waived entirely, which effectively makes casual research free.8PACER. Public Access to Court Electronic Records
Sensitive Personal Data in Public Files
Even in public court files, some personal data has to be masked before filing. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21c requires parties filing documents in civil cases to redact Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank and credit card account numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, and the names of anyone who was a minor when the suit was filed. The filing party must label any document containing this data and keep an unredacted version while the case is pending.
When you pull a public court document, you should see these identifiers redacted rather than full account numbers or birth dates. The obligation falls on the filer, not the clerk, and compliance is imperfect. Older cases filed before the rule and self-represented filings by parties unaware of the requirement are the usual gaps. If your own sensitive data appears unredacted in a public court file, contact the clerk’s office about correcting the document.