Texas law authorizes the Governor of Texas to requisition the return of fugitives from Texas justice who have fled to other states and territories, and also requires that the Governor of Texas cooperate in the apprehension of fugitives of justice from other states who have fled to Texas. Rewards are offered by the governor of Texas to aid in the apprehension of accused criminals who are evading arrest. Each constitution of the State of Texas has required the Texas Secretary of State to keep a fair register of all official acts and proceedings of the Texas Governor and to provide these to the legislature when required. The Secretary of State maintained both the extradition records and the reward records for the governor, to document the following things: requisitions of fugitives of justice on other states, warrants issued on requisitions from governors of other states, extraditions, and rewards offered for the capture of fugitives from justice. Dates covered are 1837-1965 (the bulk covering 1875-1915). These records consist of registers and indexes of requisitions, extraditions, and rewards; extradition case files; applications requesting that a reward be issued; reward proclamations issued by the governor; and also executive record books containing records about fugitives from justice. There are nine volumes that constitute registers and indexes created by the staff of the Secretary of State's office, recording four types of action by the Governor: requisitions on other states, warrants issued on requisitions from governors of other states, extraditions, and rewards offered for the capture of fugitives from justice, dating 1883-1965. Extradition case files, dating 1837-1901, bulk 1875-1900, typically contain a requisition form, which is a formal demand by a state and its governor for apprehension and return of a fugitive from that state. The requisition gives the name of the fugitive, the alleged crime, the court and county where the charges were filed, the location where the fugitive was presently thought to be, the agent appointed to bring the fugitive back, and the date of the requisition. Case files may also contain supporting documents such as correspondence or a copy of the grand jury indictment. These case files contain requisitions both to the governor of Texas from other states for fugitives hiding in Texas, and from Texas governors to other states for the extradition of fugitives from Texas justice. Reward application files, which date 1856-1936 (the bulk covering 1875-1915), usually consist of correspondence that gives details of the crime, in order to convince the governor to issue a reward. The correspondence came from sheriffs, judges, district attorneys, juries, relatives of the victim, and members of the community. An application might also contain a copy of an indictment by a jury or other legal documents. For each application, a form was filled out by the Secretary of State and the accompanying correspondence placed inside. This form included such vital information as name of the applicant, date of the request, name of the fugitive, the criminal offense, where and when the alleged crime occurred, the amount of reward, and the date of the reward offer. Reward proclamations are occasionally found in these files. Reward proclamations issued by the governor date 1849-1942. The original proclamations were issued on printed forms with the following information: amount of reward, name of fugitive, criminal charge, county, date, and signature of governor. The earliest reward proclamations are mixed in with other gubernatorial records in a series of executive record books kept by the Secretary of State, dating 1849-1887. Copies of later reward proclamations are in four volumes dedicated to that purpose (and often also called Executive record books), 1883-1938. The volumes have alphabetical indexes in the front. In addition, there are unbound proclamations dating 1937-1942 (#950-985). Executive record books containing records about fugitives from justice include a wide variety of other documentation, including correspondence (mostly outgoing) of the Governors of the State of Texas, primarily with other Texas and U.S. officials; inaugural and valedictory addresses; executive messages; proclamations; appointments; passports; pardons and remissions; extraditions; rewards; reports of state agencies; etc. These records comprise those executive record books maintained by the Texas Secretary of State dating 1849-1887. To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
