Access Comanche County Court Records

Comanche County Court Record Requests

Pick the right clerk first. The Comanche County District Clerk keeps the 220th Judicial District Court's civil, felony, and family files. The Comanche County Clerk holds County Court, probate, and county-level civil and criminal records. Justice of the Peace and municipal courts keep their own lower-court files. Online, the Tyler Odyssey portal indexes district matters, and the county docket archive posts County Court schedules. re:SearchTX adds a statewide layer. Neither portal promises every image or old file. Protected records stay out. And eFileTexas handles filings, not public copies.

1. Identify the court and case number from the docket, citation, pleading, or notice.
2. Check the responsible clerk’s official portal or posted archive for an index entry.
3. Call the clerk to confirm the record, current fee, and whether the desired document can be released.
4. Visit the proper counter or mail a focused request with approved payment and return materials.
5. Ask for a plain or certified copy, and state the exact filing or date needed.

Mail a District Clerk request to Comanche County District Clerk, Records Request, PO Box 206, Comanche, Texas 76442. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope plus a check or money order. The office also serves walk-ins at the courthouse. It answers the phone at 325-356-2342. Hours run 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office closes for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. County sources list more than one courthouse or office address. Confirm the entrance before you drive over.

Comanche County Records Offices

There is no catchall records counter in Comanche County. Probate starts with County Clerk Ruby Lesley at 204 E Oak Avenue, 325-356-2655. For felony, district civil, and family cases, go to District Clerk Brandy Jones. Her office sits at 215 N Houston. Justice of the Peace matters countywide also use 215 N Houston, at 325-356-3543. A city citation may belong elsewhere. Check the City of Comanche or De Leon municipal clerk instead.

Name the court, not just the county. A County Clerk criminal calendar is not the 220th District Clerk felony register. A city payment screen is not a County Court file. Starting at the wrong office slows you down. It can also leave you with a partial answer.

Kinds of Court Records

Comanche County court records run from bare index entries to full case files. A district file may hold pleadings, motions, notices, orders, judgments, settings, and appellate material. County Court files can include misdemeanors and probate papers. Justice Court files may cover citations, evictions, small claims, service returns, hearings, and judgments. Municipal records can include the citation, plea, and payment receipt. They may also hold an order, dismissal or compliance record, and warrant entries. A transcript is its own product, separate from the clerk's document file. The 220th Judicial District Court directory names a court reporter. Confirm scope, availability, and rates with that reporter or the clerk. No transcript fee is currently published. Federal district and bankruptcy records sit with federal clerks and PACER. They are not held by any Comanche County office.

Docket

An event or calendar index that helps locate activity in a case.

Plain copy

A reproduction without the clerk’s formal certification.

Certified copy

A copy carrying the clerk’s certification as an official reproduction.

Transcript

A court reporter’s record of spoken proceedings, when one exists and can be released.

Comanche County Mail Requests

A tight written request saves time. Include the case number if you have it, the court, the document or date, and a return address with a phone. For a District Clerk copy, mark it "Records Request," send it to PO Box 206, and enclose the self-addressed stamped envelope with a check or money order. Never mail cash. The County FAQ runs a separate criminal name search. It wants a full name, a date or starting point, and any other identifiers. The charge is $5 per name. With no date given, the search starts at 1992 and runs to the present. A written search also needs a cashier's check or money order and return contact details. Those rules govern that local search path alone. No turnaround time is promised. Call ahead if a deadline looms, the file is old, or another agency sets the certification standard. Asking for "the whole file" can raise copy costs and drag in pages you never needed.

Court Records: What They Contain

A Comanche County case file usually holds more than its posted schedule shows. Treat the public docket as a map to the pleadings, orders, notices, and outcomes the clerk keeps. The county's Civil/Criminal Dockets Archives offers dated calendar documents. Coverage varies by court and record type. Some details sit in clerk accounting. Others live in a reporter's transcript, an exhibit record, or an appellate file.

The County Court Criminal Docket List tracks case number, court date, setting, time, bond, attorney, arresting agency, offense, disposition, and narrative. That list is not the template for every District, probate, JP, or municipal file. A blank field does not prove the event never happened; it may simply live elsewhere.

Comanche County Probate Archives

Comanche County probate records reach back to 1856, according to the official County FAQ. That span matters. A search covering the earliest decades may rely on a physical index rather than a digitized one. Not every series is indexed from day one. Before hunting an old estate file, ask which index covers your date span. Ask also whether the clerk must pull the original volume at the office.

Name searches in probate cost $5 per name. The clerk wants a date or starting point. Without one the default range runs from 1992 to the present. Keep the department's scope straight: it handles wills, guardianships, and related cases, not probation. A will held in safekeeping is not a probated will. The FAQ states a will is not recorded until probate. It lists safekeeping as a separate $15 service, subject to current confirmation.

For schedules and probate contacts, the Comanche County Clerk page is the official route. It displays the County Court information visitors rely on.

Use the archive links to find a docket date. When you need the underlying record itself, turn to the clerk's search and copy process.

Copy Fees and Certification

Copy fees in Comanche County vary by office and file type. The District Clerk page sets $1 per page for official or certified copies. The County FAQ gives its own figures: $1 per page plus an additional $5 per case for a certified criminal copy, and $5 per name for criminal and probate name searches. The County Clerk recording schedule effective January 1, 2024 lists $1 per copied page. It adds $5 in addition for certification. Check the current amount before ordering. How a fee applies depends on the record you request.

Some charges sit outside court-record copying. Municipal transaction fees and federal document charges are separate matters. No fixed JP copy fee, De Leon portal fee, current transcript rate, or set re:SearchTX transaction price applies to a Comanche County file.

Comanche County Portal Fallbacks

A blank portal is a prompt, not a verdict. Keep the case number handy and confirm the court actually participates in that system. Then call the clerk responsible for the record. District files can move to a phone, mail, or counter request. County Court and probate matters can go through the County Clerk's written search. JP and municipal records stay with the court that issued them.

Ask whether a public terminal exists. Ask which years it covers; Comanche County posts no separate terminal policy. For indexed cases across the state, re:SearchTX can surface case, filing, document, text, or hearing data. That screen still cannot certify a copy. The Comanche County docket search lays out how name, number, local portal, and statewide routes fit together.

Note: an online index can locate a record. But only the responsible clerk can certify the source file.

Access Rules for Court Records

Texas treats case records and administrative judicial records differently. Government Code Chapter 552 §552.0035 sends judiciary access questions to Supreme Court rules or other law. The Texas Judicial Branch open-records policy explains that adjudicative case records are not simply Rule 12 administrative records. Any clerk request must follow the rule, statute, and local process for that case type.

Expect limits too. Sealed documents, confidential family filings, child information, protected addresses, and sensitive guardianship or probate details may be withheld or redacted. A docket line can be public while its attached document stays offline. A search field may accept a birth date, driver license, or Social Security number. That does not make those values safe to publish.

Comanche County Historic Records

Comanche County formed in 1856, and the county seat moved to Comanche in 1859. Several courthouses came and went. The current native-stone building was finished in 1941 with Art Moderne and Art Deco features and a WPA-era construction history. That past shapes record access. Older files may sit in bound indexes, storage, or preservation work. They may not sit in a new portal.

Texas Historical Commission material describes courthouse rehabilitation covering masonry, windows, building systems, and access work. None of it changes court jurisdiction. Before a records visit, call the office and verify the entrance. For an older search, give a narrow record type, a name, and a date span. Also ask whether the clerk must consult a physical index. Preservation and records-management work also shows up in county budget material. The lesson for requesters is simple. Absence from an online index is not proof an old case or probate file never existed.