Did a district clerk have to create a separate criminal docket sheet when the same case history was safely maintained on the case file jacket?

Texas AG Opinion JM-358: Criminal Dockets on File Jackets

Plain-English summary

A criminal district attorney asked whether a district clerk had to maintain a separate docket sheet in each criminal case when all pertinent information was already recorded on a preprinted case file jacket and preserved by microfilming. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Article 33.07 required a criminal docket containing each action's style and file number, the offense, counsel, proceedings, and the date of each proceeding. JM-358 interpreted that statutory docket as a docket indexing all cases rather than a file docket for each individual case. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Because article 33.07 did not prescribe how the individual file docket had to be kept, the clerk could use the case file jacket itself when that method safely and efficiently preserved the necessary information. The clerk did not have to type the same entries onto a separate sheet placed inside the jacket. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1985. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

What information did article 33.07 require?

The docket had to state the style and file number, nature of the offense, names of counsel, proceedings in the case, and the date of each proceeding. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Was article 33.07's docket the same thing as the file docket?

No. The opinion treated article 33.07 as requiring a docket indexing all cases, not prescribing the physical format of the case-specific file docket. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Could the clerk record the case history directly on the file jacket?

Yes. A safe and efficient jacket-based record satisfied the file-docket need without a duplicate sheet. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Did the opinion discuss preserving the entries?

Yes. The request stated that all entries on the file jackets were being microfilmed to ensure preservation. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Background and statutory framework

Code of Criminal Procedure article 33.07 specified the information in the criminal docket, while article 33.08 addressed courts' control of their dockets for setting criminal cases. The opinion contrasted those provisions with Rules of Civil Procedure 25 and 26, which separately described civil file dockets and court dockets. Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Citations and references

• Code Crim. Proc. arts. 33.07, 33.08
• Tex. R. Civ. P. 25, 26
• Ballentine's Law Dictionary 366 (3d ed. 1969)

Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0358
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1985/jm0358.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain. The linked PDF is authoritative.

The Attorney General of Texas

October 1, 1985

Honorable Tim Curry
Criminal District Attorney
200 West Belknap Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76196

Opinion No. JM-358

Re: Whether a separate docket sheet is required for the criminal docket kept by district clerks

Dear Mr. Curry:

You inquire whether a district clerk's duty to keep a criminal docket requires the clerk to maintain a separate docket sheet in criminal cases if the information is also kept on the file jacket. You advise us that, during the pendency of criminal cases, your district clerk records on the preprinted file jacket of each case all pertinent information regarding the style and file number, names of counsel, nature of the case, and subsequent actions and, on the disposition of the case, the information from the preprinted file jacket is typed on a separate docket sheet which is placed inside the jacket. In addition, all entries on the file jacket are being microfilmed to insure their preservation.

You inquire about the docket described by article 33.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It provides:

Each clerk of a court of record having criminal jurisdiction shall keep a docket in which shall be set down the style and file number of each criminal action, the nature of the offense, the names of counsel, the proceedings had therein, and the date of each proceeding.

See also Code Crim. Proc. art. 33.08 (courts control their dockets for setting of criminal cases).

The word “docket” has numerous meanings. It may be an index of all cases filed in numerical and alphabetical order, a list or calendar of pending judicial matters that are set for specific action, and a record or history of all proceedings and actions taken in a particular matter or case. See Ballentine's Law Dictionary 366 (3d ed. 1969).

For civil cases, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure require the district clerks to keep a file docket “in convenient form,” showing the number of the suit, names of attorneys and parties to the suit, the nature of the suit, the officer's return on the process, and all subsequent proceedings in the case. Rule 25. The clerks must also keep “a court docket in a well bound book” that includes the pleas, motions, and rulings of the court in each action. Rule 26.

The Code of Criminal Procedure specifies only the information to be kept for the docket that is mandated by article 33.07, which is, in our opinion, a docket indexing all cases, not a file docket. Consequently, it has no bearing on the manner in which the file docket is to be kept. We conclude that a clerk who maintains a criminal docket on a case file jacket in a safe and efficient manner complies with the statutory requirement and that your clerk may use the preprinted file jacket as the record of the necessary information.

SUMMARY

A district clerk may use the case file jacket to maintain a file docket without maintaining the same information on a separate sheet inside the jacket.

Very truly yours,

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

TOM GREEN
First Assistant Attorney General

DAVID R. RICHARDS
Executive Assistant Attorney General

ROBERT GRAY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Nancy Sutton and Sarah Woelk
Assistant Attorneys General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

Rick Gilpin, Chairman
Susan Garrison
Jim Moellinger
Jennifer Riggs
Nancy Sutton
Sarah Woelk
Bruce Youngblood