How to Get Court Records
Where a Travis County court file lives depends on the court that handled it. The Travis County District Clerk holds District Court civil, family, and adult felony records. County Courts at Law civil and misdemeanor files sit with the County Clerk. Probate records do too. Justice of the Peace and municipal courts keep their own files in house. Try Odyssey or re:SearchTX first. An unofficial docket view is often enough for your needs.
- Identify the court, clerk, cause number, and exact document.
- Check the online Register of Actions and available redacted image.
- Choose plain or certified form and email, mail, pickup, or counter delivery.
- Ask for a quote when the file is large, old, or on microfilm.
- Use the court reporter for a transcript and the clerk for filed documents.
To request District Clerk records by mail, write to P.O. Box 679003, Austin, TX 78767. Civil and family filings go through district.civilrecords@traviscountytx.gov or 512-854-9457. Felony records use districtcriminalrecords@traviscountytx.gov or 512-854-9420 option 3. Plan around the counters. Both are open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Travis Docket, Document, Certification
Three different products come out of a Travis County case file. Mixing them up causes real problems. The docket, sometimes called the Register of Actions, is the running list of what got filed and scheduled. A document is the paper itself: the petition, answer, motion, order, judgment, verdict, citation, or return. A certified copy is different again. It is made and sealed by the custodian with the proper certificate attached.
| Item | What it provides | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Docket | Chronological event and setting index | Portal or clerk |
| Filed document | The actual public pleading, order, or judgment | Portal image or clerk request |
| Certified copy | Clerk-authenticated reproduction | Responsible clerk for a fee |
Printing a page from your browser does not make it certified, even without a watermark. In fact, the County Clerk has warned that its watermarking work is not finished. The safest move is simple: ask the court or agency receiving your Travis County court records exactly which form it needs.
Types of Court Records
A Travis County court file can hold many kinds of papers. The docket sheet sits near the front. It tracks each filing and hearing. Behind it may come an original petition, an answer, a criminal charging paper, and a return of service. Later items include motions, signed orders, a final judgment or decree, a dismissal, a jury verdict, a writ, an abstract, and any appeal filing. The District Clerk request form lets you name a single item from that list. You can also ask for the entire court record.
Transcripts are a different matter. Each assigned District Court lists its own court reporter. Transcript cost varies, so contact that reporter directly. Exhibits raise their own questions too. Ask whether an exhibit stays with the clerk, the court reporter, or a recording system. A protective order may limit access too. Ordering "everything" can cost more and still leave out sealed parts or reporter material.
Travis One-Case Request
The District Clerk's form is built around one case number per request. It posts a processing notice of 7 to 10 business days. Be precise when you fill it out. Name the cause number, the document type and date. Add your certification choice and delivery method. Need a final judgment? Asking for that one signed item is often clearer than ordering the whole court file.
The official District Clerk page shows the entry points for records and copies.
That office can only supply the court records it holds. A County Clerk, JP, city, or federal record belongs to its own custodian, so send the request there instead.
What a Court Record Contains
The file adds substance behind the short event labels shown on a docket.
| Identity | Cause number, style, court, filing date, type, status, and judge. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Public party roles and attorneys of record. |
| Pleadings | Claims, answers, motions, service, and returns that are public. |
| Orders | Signed rulings, judgments, decrees, and dismissal papers. |
| Settings | Hearing date, time, courtroom, docket type, and assignment. |
| Financial entries | Costs, fines, bonds, judgment sums, and writ fees when public. |
Redaction strips out Social Security numbers, financial accounts, and other sensitive data before a court record goes public. When an image is missing, the cause could be a restriction, the document's age, a processing lag, or simply a paper that has to be ordered.
Travis County Image Lag
Electronic case data at the Travis County Clerk reaches back to June 1986. Images are another story. Redacted civil images start in December 2005. Probate images date to November 2009, and some misdemeanor images are on hand too. The system refreshes every 24 hours. A newly filed image can lag about 72 hours behind its docket entry. The County Clerk civil fee page lists copy and certification services for anyone who needs the paper itself.
So the docket shows the event but no image. If the filing is new, wait out the stated lag. Older files may live only on paper or microfilm, and a request to the clerk can pull the exact document.
Certified Copies and Fees
Always check the current division page before paying. The District Clerk's 2026 page controls the quote and supersedes the older amounts printed on its request PDF.
| Service | Current published amount |
|---|---|
| District Clerk search | $5 per cause, name, or item |
| Paper copy | $1 per page |
| District electronic copy | $1 through 10 pages, then $0.10 each |
| Certification | $5 per document plus copy cost |
| District exemplification | $5 plus certified-copy cost |
| County self-service copy | $0.20 per page |
The 2026 District Clerk schedule displays the current amounts.
Card processing fees are nonrefundable, and the docket offices commonly list them at 3 percent with a $3 minimum. Ask for the final quote before you pay.
Travis Division Fee Differences
Fees at the Travis County Clerk depend on which division handles the record. Civil certification runs $5 per document on top of copy costs. Civil exemplification adds $2. Probate is different: an exemplified or authenticated copy is $7 per document plus copying. Over in misdemeanors, a clerk copy is $1. Copy it yourself and it is $0.20. Certification costs $5, and older-record searches carry extra charges. The misdemeanor fee page lays out those court costs and copy charges in full.
The probate fee page separately lists its copy, search, and issuance fees.
Each fee schedule above comes from a different division. So treat one table as a quote for that division only, not for every Travis County record you might request.
Travis Data Request Routes
Where you route a request matters. A routine pleading or judgment goes to the case-file clerk. Bulk data does not. Subscriptions, subpoenas duces tecum, and administrative records belong to the District Clerk Public Information Act route instead. The District Clerk PIA accepts an online form, email to districtclerkPIA@traviscountytx.gov, mail at P.O. Box 679003, or hand delivery at the Civil and Family Court Facility.
County Clerk public-information requests work through official email, mail to P.O. Box 149325, Austin, TX 78714, or drop-off at listed offices. Describe the existing information clearly enough for staff to locate it. Chapter 552 does not force the office to build a new report. It does not cover legal research questions either. Nothing in this path overrides sealed-file rules.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Civil sealing in Texas runs through Rule 76a of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 21c steps in to shield sensitive data. Judicial records that are not case records fall under Rule 12 of the Rules of Judicial Administration. Government Code section 552.0035 keeps the judiciary under its own access rules. For ordinary case files, ask the clerk first rather than filing a sweeping open-records demand.
Juvenile, sealed, expunged, protected family and adoption content, and sensitive identifiers may be absent or redacted. A public request does not undo the governing restriction.
Travis County District Clerk Records
Civil and Family Court Facility, 1700 Guadalupe, Room 3.200, Austin, TX 78701
512-854-9457
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
With a case number in hand, pull it up through the Travis County case search. Then ask the court listed on it for the file itself.
Travis Older Court Record Searches
The online archive only goes back so far. District Clerk records open to the public from 2006 for civil and family cases. Criminal cases start from 2008. County Clerk data stretches further. Civil filings go back to June 1986, misdemeanors to January 1981, and probate to July 1992. Scanned images often start even later than the index.
Anything older may live on paper or microfilm. A general older search by the County Clerk costs $10 per name for each ten-year span. Probate searches work differently. Cause and status requests after July 1992 are free. Probate microfilm before that runs $5 per name per decade. Include a narrow date range, the party name, the court, and any cause number you already have.