Search Houston County Court Docket

Searching the Houston County Court Docket

Both clerk offices link the same front door for Houston County record searches. That door is the LGS Online Records Search. Searching is free. No subscription is needed to look. A guest session can open the index and preview eligible public images. Buying full images, though, requires more than guest status. Before you type any criteria, know which office holds the case and which record type you need. The portal asks for both first.

1. Read the court name from the notice, citation, pleading, or docket heading.
2. Choose the District Clerk, County Clerk, justice court, or municipal court route.
3. Use LGS for county clerk indexes, or the correct court's published docket or page.
4. Record the cause number, status, event, setting, and search date exactly.
5. Ask the clerk for a document or certified copy when the public screen is not enough.

The District Clerk's official portal FAQ walks through every step, from logging in and choosing an office and record type to browsing result pages and using the More Information or Images links. It also covers cart checkout, downloads, and receipts. Search criteria shift with the record type, so do not assume fixed name or number fields will appear on the live screen.

Houston County LGS Search Workflow

The official LGS portal landing page shows the online shell Houston County uses for record access.

Treat this screen as a doorway. It does not promise that every Houston County court docket, future setting, municipal citation, or restricted image lives inside. Once an office and record type are chosen, the workflow itself changes.

Under the FAQ, a user may buy up to five images before a subscription becomes required. Subscription terms run monthly or annual and vary by county and record count. Keep your receipt. Jot down the date you searched, too. A Houston County docket shifts each time new filings and settings land in the record.

Inside a Houston County Court Docket

Think of a Houston County court docket as a structured register of case activity. It can name the cause, court, case type, parties, attorneys, filings, settings, and disposition. One caution: an entry is not always the underlying paper. A setting is not an outcome. Read entries in date order. Then check whether a later reset, order, or disposition changes anything written earlier.

Published docket PDFs leave private names out of this explanation. Even so, their field structure still teaches a lot. One calendar row might show a defendant, offense, attorneys, date or start time, and event. The full file can hold far more. A transcript, exhibit, motion, or signed order must be opened or requested separately when it is public.

Houston County Index Docket Document Layers

Three access layers keep things clear. An index tells you whether a matching entry exists at all. A docket or calendar reports activity and settings. A document layer supplies an eligible filed image. Pay a clerk for a certified copy and you get formal authentication on top. None of these layers equals the complete Houston County case just because it is public online.

Index

A searchable pointer with selected case data.

Docket

The dated register of filings, events, settings, and outcomes.

Calendar or setting report

A schedule generated at a stated time, which may later change.

Document image

A digital copy of one filing or order when available.

Certified copy

A clerk-authenticated copy ordered through the custodian.

Match the document to the job. A quick hearing check may call for nothing more than the latest settings report and a call to the clerk. Digging into a filed order means reading the order itself. For a formal submission, get a certified copy. A printout you pull yourself will not carry the same weight.

Courts That Keep Dockets in Houston County

Houston County splits its court work by subject, offense level, and jurisdiction. The 3rd Judicial District Court serves Anderson, Henderson, and Houston Counties. The 349th Judicial District Court serves Anderson and Houston Counties. Below those sit the constitutional County Court, the County Court at Law, two justice courts, and city courts. Each keeps its own dockets or case records.

Appeals land at the Twelfth Court of Appeals in Tyler. The judges there weigh the trial record. They weigh the legal argument too. No new trial happens there. Track the appellate cause number apart from the trial-court case number used in Houston County.

Houston County Uses Two Clerks

Houston County splits its record-keeping between two offices. The District Clerk handles the docket for district proceedings, felony cases, and any identified civil or family matters filed through the County Court at Law. A felony-level criminal docket starts there.

For everything else, check the County Clerk. That office keeps court records for the constitutional County Court. It also covers the listed County Court at Law categories. The categories cover Class A and B misdemeanors, Class C appeals, probate, guardianship, mental-health matters, and civil claims. The county states the $500 to $200,000 range.

The District Clerk's official page displays the county's local court-record links and office information for anyone doing a Houston County docket search by phone or in person.

Send district court and felony questions to that office. It does not handle every matter just because the name says "Houston County." The official County Clerk page covers its own separate route to county-level court records.

Both clerk pages link the same LGS portal, but their custody never merges. Know the case category before you call or visit.

How to Find Court Dates and Settings

The District Clerk posts dated future-settings PDFs. One report was generated September 1, 2026. The time was 7:57 a.m. It covered settings through March 31, 2027 for the 3rd District Court criminal docket. Its fields include cause number, defendant, offense, attorneys, date and time, and event. That generation time matters. Later orders can reset or cancel any setting. The County Court at Law page posts separate dated civil and criminal docket PDFs. The County Judge page links a constitutional County Court criminal docket, though its July 2026 file was unavailable. City schedules run on their own clocks. Crockett states a first-and-third-Wednesday session pattern, and Kennard publishes court calendar and procedure pages. For setting fields and missed-date steps, use the full Houston County Court Dates reference. Always compare the event label against the run timestamp before trusting it. A status hearing is not a trial. An arraignment is not a disposition. A reset does not dismiss the case.

Houston County Future Settings Can Age

A settings PDF freezes one moment. Keep the run date and the range printed in its heading. That tells you how old it is. The County Court at Law criminal sample lists 12 dockets. It shows an error notice too. If a row clashes with a later notice, save the report and call the clerk. Event labels mean something. Motion to Proceed, Status Hearing, Status Conference, Motion to Revoke, Pre-Trial, Arraignment with Attorney, Arraignment Translator, and Bench Warrant appear on the docket. Each label describes a different procedural step. A label on a calendar is a scheduled event. It is not a finding of guilt and not a final result.

Public Access to Court Dockets

No single rule covers Texas court access. The Texas Courts Open Records Policy splits court case records from judicial administrative records. For the public, that means docket entries and case papers still pass through rules, orders, redaction, confidentiality, and whatever access process the clerk sets.

A docket search that turns up nothing is not proof no record exists. The file may be sealed, confidential, expunged, restricted, redacted, or simply not posted online. Ask the clerk what status applies, since expunction and nondisclosure are two different legal paths.

Houston County Portal and State Search

LGS is Houston County's practical index and image portal. Meanwhile, re:SearchTX serves as a statewide companion for cases and documents that are present. Its official materials describe searching by party name, docket number, case category, and case type, with tabs for cases, filings, text, and hearings. Advanced access may require a subscription.

A 2024 data report from the Texas Judicial Council described roughly 150 million documents, cases dating to 2016, and dynamic searches across cases, filings, and hearings. Public documents cost $0.10 per page. A $1 minimum applied. The report also noted that criminal case records were left out of that collection. That gap matters here. When a Houston County criminal docket is missing from re:SearchTX, go back to the District Clerk and local channels.

eFileTexas handles statewide filing of eligible papers. It is not a public Houston County docket search. Filing, searching, buying an image, and ordering a certified copy are four separate tasks.

Docket Records at Clerk's Office

District Clerk Laura Goolsby's office sits at 401 East Houston Avenue, Suite E, Crockett, Texas 75835. The number is (936) 544-3255 extension 235. A separate fee document lists extension 222 and districtclerk@co.houston.tx.us. Confirm current contact details before mailing any request. County Clerk Terri Meadows' office occupies Suite D in the courthouse and shares the county number. Public hours run 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., though general filing hours list an earlier Friday close.

Put four things in any written request: the court, the cause number, the exact record, and the date range. Say whether you want inspection, electronic delivery, paper copies, or certification. The County Clerk's PIA form collects requester details, a description, date range, redaction choices, and delivery preference, but it does not publish one universal submission or fee method.

Houston County Docket Copy Costs

Under the District Clerk's schedule effective January 1, 2024, copies cost $1 per page. Certification adds $5 on top of copies. A record search runs $5 per name, while an abstract costs $8 and a writ costs $8. No separate docket-sheet fee appears on the schedule. Filing or service charges listed elsewhere should not be treated as routine copy costs.

LGS adds a mandatory $0.30 checkout transaction fee. Confirm all current costs and page totals before you pay. A free index search, a preview, a purchased image, a plain copy, and a certified copy are all different products.

Houston County Courthouse Docket Hub

The Houston County Courthouse at 401 East Houston Avenue in Crockett is the main physical hub. It houses the District Clerk, County Clerk, and court offices. The County Court at Law sits in Suite H on the second floor. The County Judge page lists a different address, 401 East Goliad Avenue, Suite 201. Keep the two addresses distinct.

The Texas Historical Commission marker credits the courthouse as a 1938 Public Works Administration project with Moderne and Art Deco design. That history helps you recognize the building. It says nothing about current parking, security, public Wi-Fi, transit, or a complete ADA route.

Call before you travel. The County Clerk page mentions an entrance notice and a handicap entrance. No full access map exists online. Clerk pages remain the safer source for current hours and counter details.

Houston County Court Dockets by City

City courts matter. Municipal traffic and ordinance cases can stay outside the county clerk's docket. Crockett maintains an official municipal-court page. Grapeland offers a named payment form plus an OCA directory row. Kennard publishes a court page and a written-record path but no online case search. Lovelady and Latexo post no official public municipal portal. Read the citation or notice to learn which court holds the case.

Population figures come from 2020 Census profiles and rank the five incorporated cities covered here. A city payment page is not a full docket. For a city record, use the municipal court or the written city route; for a JP citation, use the county justice-court office named on the notice.

Map and Directions to the Houston County Courthouse

District and county docket files sit inside the same 1938-39 Moderne/Art Deco courthouse at 401 East Houston Avenue in Crockett. District Clerk Laura Goolsby's office is Suite E (first floor per the fee schedule), and County Clerk Terri Meadows' office is Suite D. County Court at Law is Suite H on the second floor. The constitutional County Judge's office is listed separately at 401 East Goliad Avenue, Suite 201, so confirm which Crockett address a county-judge matter needs.

No parking, security-screening, or ADA-entrance map is published for the courthouse beyond a general notice that one entrance, including a handicap entrance, is open; call the clerk before traveling to confirm current access.