re:SearchTX re:SearchTX logo. Photo: Tyler Technologies

It's taken a lot longer than expected, but Texas has launched full public access to its own statewide court records system, which is similar to the federal courts' PACER portal.

Since 2017, Texas judges, court clerks and attorneys have been able to use re:SearchTX to search for and view court documents that were e-filed in any of the state's 254 counties. However, up until this point, lawyers were limited to viewing only cases in which they were attorneys of record.

Now, the public launch gives lawyers access to every case in the state, except for criminal cases.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, who's been using re:SearchTX for two years to check trial court records that appellate attorneys cite in their briefs, said it's saved his clerks from the cumbersome process of calling trial court clerks to request court documents.

"This way, you push a few buttons, and there it is," he said. "We are proud of the greater transparency. We want people generally to see what's going on in their courts. This just enhances that. You've been able to do that for years with the federal courts, but Texas is such a big state, and so diverse, it's been hard to get it done. But we are finally there."

Registering for an account to search for court cases is free, but viewing and downloading documents cost 10 cents per page, up to a $6 maximum. That money goes to the court clerk where the document originated. The system offers a free account, and premium and pro levels for monthly fees that come with additional searching, saving, organizing and case alerting functions.

There are some limits on the documents available in re:SearchTX. Lawyers can see filings back to January 2016, and the public can see records from November 2018. Anything that a party has e-filed in any court statewide will be there. However, unless that court has chosen to fully integrate its case management system with re:SearchTX, it won't have final orders and judgments, nor filings by unrepresented litigants who paper file directly with a court clerk.

Right now, among the state's 254 counties, only the courts in Burnet and Collin counties are fully integrated, while courts in Denton and Fort Bend counties are in the process of integrating. El Paso and Grayson County courts are planning to integrate with re:SearchTX, but no timeline has been established.

Tyler Technologies, the same company that runs eFileTexas, the statewide e-filing system that the Supreme Court requires lawyers to use, also powers re:SearchTX. The company runs similar systems in Georgia, Illinois and New Mexico.

"Tyler and the state of Texas share ambitious goals for expanding access to justice," said a statement by Mitchell Spence, senior vice president of eSolutions for Tyler's Courts & Justice Division. "Re:SearchTX helps the legal community easily access the information and documents they need to be successful."

Related stories:

Brace Yourselves, PACER-Like Systems Are Coming This Winter

Texas Lawyers Now Have Access to Online Court Record System That Might Eventually Resemble PACER

Texas Launches Its Own Version of PACER, But Only a Few Lawyers Will Have Access