Texas. Court of Appeals (4th)

Texas Courts of Civil Appeals were first established in 1891 by constitutional amendment (Article V, Section 6) to reduce the backlog of cases on the Texas Supreme Court docket. Courts of Civil Appeals are intermediate appellate courts between the trial courts and the Supreme Court. Their jurisdiction extends to those civil cases over which county or district courts have jurisdiction, when the amount in controversy exceeds $100.

Initially, in 1891, there were three courts of civil appeals, but the Fourth Supreme Judicial District was established in 1893 by the 23rd Texas Legislature (House Bills 361 and 362). Over the next century the judicial system has expanded to fourteen supreme judicial districts. Boundaries of geographic jurisdiction have been specified by statute and delineate the fourteen districts. Justices are elected by the voters of their districts for a term of six years.

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 number of justices on the 4th Court increased from three to seven, and the court's name changed from Court of Civil Appeals for the Fourth Supreme Judicial District to Fourth Court of Appeals. In 1985 the name changed again to The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Court of Appeals District (Senate Bill 1228, 69th Texas Legislature, Regular Session).

The 4th Court of Appeals has always met in San Antonio (although it now occasionally travels to hear cases in constituent counties). It originally encompassed the following 45 counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Brewster, Buchel, Crane, Crockett, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Encinal, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Jeff Davis, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Live Oak, Loving, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Schleicher, Sutton, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Ward, Webb, Wilson, Winkler, Zapata, and Zavala.

After a judicial reorganization in 1911 (Committee Substitute Senate Bills 10 and 86, 32nd Texas Legislature, Regular Session), the 4th Court of Civil Appeals lost twelve of its West Texas counties, which were transferred to the newly-created 8th Court of Civil Appeals in El Paso; but it gained another ten counties in South Texas. Thus in 1911, the 4th Supreme Judicial District was composed of the following 40 counties: Aransas, Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Calhoun, Cameron, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Victoria, Webb, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala.

Since the creation of the 13th Supreme Judicial District (Corpus Christi/Edinburg) in 1963 (House Bill 68, 58th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), the 4th Supreme Judicial District has encompassed the following 32 counties (its current extent): Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Brooks, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, McMullen, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Real, Starr, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala.

(Sources include the Texas Almanac, various editions; Article V, Sections 1, 6, and 7 of the Texas Constitution; the enabling legislation (1893, 1911, 1963, and 1985); the Handbook of Texas Online article on the Judiciary by Paul Womack; the websites of the 4th Court of Appeals, the 8th Court of Appeals, and the 13th Court of Appeals (all accessed June 23, 2005).)

From the guide to the 4th Court of Appeals case files, 1891-1981, (Texas State Archives)