Haskell County Court Records

Haskell County Courts, TX *

Established in 1858, Haskell County is situated in northwest Texas in the Rolling Plains region. The county has the city of Haskell as its county seat and also covers 901 square miles of open plains along tributaries of the upper Brazos River, with elevations ranging from 1,416 to 1,681 feet above sea level. Among many other counties in the state of Texas, Haskell is a small county with a tight-knit community spread across nearly a thousand square miles.

Haskell County has a well-defined county court system that has handled the full spectrum of legal cases experienced by county residents. These include cases such as felonies, civil cases, and minor traffic violation cases, all the way down the ladder. And to achieve this, the county has different types of courts responsible for different categories of legal hearings.

Overview of the Haskell County Court System

Haskell County has a lean court structure with fewer offices and staff. This means that knowing exactly which court handles your matter and where to go is even more critical to avoid wasted trips and unnecessary delays. It has a single District Court, a constitutional County Court, a Justice of the Peace Court, and a Municipal Court covering the entire county. The county is within the 39th Judicial District, which means the county District court is shared among three other counties, namely Kent, Stonewall, and Throckmorton counties.

When filing your case within Haskell County, you are required to select the court with jurisdiction over your case clearly, and to do that, you need to understand the legal responsibility of each of these courts.

Types of Courts in Haskell County, TX

The Haskell County Court system comprises the 39th District Court, the Constitution County Court, and the Justice of the Peace Court, located within the county courthouse, and the Municipal Court located at the Haskell City Hall. All these courts are responsible for different legal hearings.

District Court

Within Haskell County's court system, the 39th District Court is the highest trial court serving the county's residents and is located at the Haskell County Courthouse. The court is responsible for handling:

Felony criminal legal hearings
Divorce cases
Child custody and family legal matters
Title to land legal cases
Election contest cases
Civil cases
Juvenile legal hearings

The Haskell County District Clerk's Office is the administrative office of the court and manages all court filings, maintains all court records, and processes certified document requests for the court. The clerk's office is located within the same county courthouse building.

Constitutional County Court

From the first level of courts in the Haskell County court system comes the second level: the Constitutional County Court, a mid-level trial court. The court is also located within the same building as the 39th District court, the Haskell County Courthouse. The court has a number of cases that fall under its jurisdiction:

Class A and Class B misdemeanor criminal legal hearings
Probate and guardianship cases
Civil cases that have a range of $200 and $10,000 as the amount in dispute
Forcible entry and detainer legal hearings
Foreclosure of mortgages and enforcement of liens on personal property law
Mental health hearings
Juvenile legal cases
Appeals from the Justice of the Peace Court in the county
Appeals from the Haskell Municipal Court

The court has the Haskell County Clerk's Office, which manages the court filings, records, and certified document requests. The office is also responsible for probate and guardianship records, misdemeanor criminal case files, civil court records, and marriage and birth records going back to the 1880s.

Justice of the Peace Court

Within the Haskell County Court system, the Justice of the Peace Court Precinct 1, Place 1, is the most accessible entry point into the county's judicial system. Below is a list of these legal cases presided over by the court.

Class C misdemeanor offenses are only punishable by fines
Small claims and civil suits with a dispute of $20,000 or below
Eviction suits and writs of re-entry
Debt claim legal hearings
Truancy proceedings
Animal cruelty and littering violations
Arrest warrants and search warrants
Magistrate hearings, including bail settings
Coroner inquests
Marriage ceremonies

Haskell County Justice of the Peace Court is not a court of record. For the residents of the county, it means that if anyone wishes to appeal a Justice of the Peace Court decision, they are entitled to a completely fresh trial at the Constitutional County Court level rather than a review of the original proceeding.

Haskell Municipal Court

Haskell Municipal Court is part of the city-level court system and serves residents within Haskell's city limits. It is also the only court located away from the Haskell County Courthouse, but instead located within the Haskell City Hall. The court is presided over by the municipal judge, an appointed, not elected judge. This court presides over the following legal matters:

Class C misdemeanor offenses punishable by fine only
City ordinance
Minor traffic offenses
Equipment violations
Public intoxication
Zoning and public health ordinance violations
Fire safety ordinance violations

Similar to the Justice of the Peace court, the municipal court is not a court of record. And for the resident wishing to appeal the court's decision, they are entitled to a completely fresh hearing at the Constitutional County Court level rather than a review of what happened in the original proceeding.

How to Access Haskell County Court Records

The majority of Haskell County court records are public and accessible to anyone. The county also has sealed records on specific cases. For example, juveniles, mental health proceedings, or certain sensitive family matters. Sealed records are typically used when privacy protection outweighs the public interest in access. Haskell Court records can be accessed online mainly via re:SearchTX or in person at the clerk's offices, a process that normally incurs a small fee, ranging from $1 to $5 or more, depending on the records accessed.

Online Access

When you access the Haskell County court records online, you will need to use the re:SearchTX portal, as the county does not have a standalone online case search database. The county's lean court structure means digital access goes through statewide tools rather than a county-specific portal. re:SearchTX will give you a free subscription that covers civil cases from the district, county, and probate courts in Haskell County.

Alternative Online Options

Alternatively, there are other online options that you can use to access Haskell's County Court records. For example, CourtCaseFinder aggregates public records from multiple sources into a single location, covering court cases, arrests, and other public filings. The platform's simple, use-case-oriented design makes it easy to trace different case records within the county court records.

In-Person Requests

You can also access Haskell County court records in person. This can be done by physically visiting the court clerk's offices and requesting the different court records. To get access to the District Court records, you need to visit the District Clerk's office at the Haskell County Courthouse, and if you want to access the county court records, you need to visit the County Clerk's offices.

Archived Records

Haskell County court records date back to 1885 and have been preserved on microfilm. These microfilms can be accessed from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin. To access these archived records, you can physically visit the library or arrange for an interlibrary loan if visiting Austin physically is not possible. County and district courts can also point you in the right direction.

For Attorneys and Legal Professionals

The single biggest practical challenge for an outside attorney coming into Haskell County is that the 39th District Court judge rotates across four counties. An outside attorney who is used to a fixed, predictable court calendar will quickly discover that hearing dates in Haskell depend on a rotation schedule that does not follow big-county logic.

Missing a scheduled date is not a minor inconvenience here; the next available window may be weeks away. To avoid this, before touching a filing, an outside attorney should call the District Clerk or the County Clerk to confirm the current court calendar, understand any local procedural expectations, and verify which clerk's office handles the specific case type.

How to File a Case in Haskell County

With a single courthouse, a rotating 39th District Judge, and clerk offices that perform different activities, getting the case filing basics right before you file, for example, the right court, the right forms, the right fees, can help save you from delays or case dismissal.

Step 1: Choose the Correct Court

The dollar amount and nature of the dispute are the deciding factors when you are determining the right court for your legal matter. Claims under $20,000 go to the Justice of the Peace Court. Misdemeanor criminal charges, probate matters, and civil disputes between $200 and $10,000 go to the Constitutional County Court. Felonies, divorces, land disputes, and large civil claims go to the 39th District Court. City ordinance violations within Haskell city limits go to the Municipal Court.

Step 2: Complete Required Forms

Having selected the correct court, selecting the correct forms for the case becomes easier and clearer. Forms are available directly from the clerk's office at 1 Avenue D or through eFile Texas, which has a guided interview tool that walks self-represented filers through building their forms step by step without needing a lawyer.

Step 3: File Your Case

Once the forms are filled out, you now need to file the case, which can be done in person at the appropriate clerk's office at 1 Avenue D, or electronically through eFile Texas for attorneys and self-represented filers alike. Either way, the clerk assigns a case number on acceptance. Keep track of the case number because everything from that point forward depends on it.

Step 4: Pay Filing Fees

While filling the case, you need to expect a filing fee that varies depending on the type of case being filed. Justice of the Peace Court small claims start around $46, with an additional service fee per defendant. District Court and County Court civil matters carry clerk filing fees plus citation service fees on top. If you are not able to pay the filing fees, you will need to fill out a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, which waives all filing, service, and copy fees if approved. The form is available at TexasLawHelp and should be submitted at the same time as the original filing.

Step 5: Serve the Other Party

Once you have filed your case, you need to serve the defendant, and in Haskell County, civil process is handled by the Sheriff's office. For defendants living outside the county, the sheriff or constable of the county where that person resides takes responsibility for delivery. The court should be notified when service has been successful.

Step 6: Monitor Your Case

In the completion of the file casing process, the clerk's office issues you a case number. The case number assigned at filing is the one piece of information that connects everything. It helps you monitor the case hearings, documents, and rulings. To monitor the case, you can check the 39th District Court hearing schedule posted on the Haskell County website for District Court matters. For civil case information across all court levels, re:SearchTX and CourtCaseFinder both allow case tracking without needing to contact the clerk directly.

Haskell County Courthouse Directory

Haskell County Courthouse

The main courthouse for Haskell County. It houses the 39th District Court, the Constitutional County Court, and county administrative offices that handle a variety of civil, criminal, probate, and family law matters.

Haskell

Address: 1 Avenue D, Haskell, TX 79521

39th District Court Phone: (940) 864-2661

Constitutional County Court Phone: (940) 864-2851

Website: haskellcountytx.gov/page/haskell.Home