Search Clay County Court Dockets

Searching the Clay County Court Docket

Start with the right court, not a broad name search. In Clay County, a felony, family case, or major civil matter usually belongs to the 97th District Court. The Clay County District Clerk holds that docket. Misdemeanors, probate, guardianship, and county-level civil files run through the Clay County Clerk. Its iDocket route covers those. For traffic, Class C, small claims, debt claims, evictions, and repair-and-remedy cases, check the countywide Justice Court. Henrietta Municipal Court works too.

Type the cause number with every character, including punctuation. Clay records use forms like 24-039-DCCR-0050, 23-005-DCCV-0103, and 2023-0082A-CV. Those are examples, not a single rule. Try the full number first. Then ask the clerk whether to drop a prefix, year, or court code.

1. Read the citation, notice, or filing and identify the named court.
2. Search the responsible local system by cause number or party name.
3. Try re:SearchTX for a statewide Cases, Filings, Text, or Hearings search.
4. Open the newest setting and check the court, date, time, and hearing type.
5. Call or write the custodian for a missing docket or certified document.

Clay County iDocket Coverage

The Clay County Clerk names iDocket as its case-management system. The public iDocket tables cover criminal, civil, and probate records cumulatively. The starting dates matter. Misdemeanors begin March 1, 2003. Civil starts January 1, 2007. Probate begins March 1, 2005. Felony and family coverage are marked N/A. Those are database coverage dates, not the court's legal retention period.

The tables list 10,283 criminal, 726 civil, and 3,436 probate matters. The total is 14,445. Treat that as a vendor count, not annual filings and not active cases. A Clay County felony or family docket may be missing from the tables. Go to the District Clerk rather than assuming no case exists.

The county's landing page shows how court offices and online services are routed.

That local directory helps when a case number does not make clear which office holds the record.

Inside a Clay County Court Docket

A docket is a chronological index. It is not always the whole case file. Entries identify the case, show who filed an item, list settings, and record results. The petition, motion, order, judgment, exhibit, or transcript behind an entry sits in a separate record. Even when the linked image is unavailable, restricted, or sold for an extra fee, the public docket entry may still show.

Read entries by date. A setting followed by a reset or continuance is not the current court date, and a setting alone never proves a hearing happened.

Clay County re:SearchTX Fields

re:SearchTX adds a statewide layer for docket research. Its official guide covers registration or eFileTexas sign-in, a keyword box, advanced filters, and four main views. Coverage depends on the court, case type, clerk integration, and access rules. The portal supplements the local clerk, never replaces it.

Registered controls may allow saved searches and exports. Confirm image availability and price before assuming a pleading or order comes with the result. Cases, filings, text, and hearings are separate search paths there.

Courts That Keep Dockets in Clay County

Clay County splits its records among offices. The District Clerk keeps 97th District Court felony, district civil, and family records. The County Clerk holds constitutional County Court misdemeanor, civil, probate, and guardianship files. Each Justice Court or municipal office maintains its own lower-court register. State appeals generally move through the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, though you should confirm the filing route with the trial clerk.

Clay County's Three-County Court

The 97th District Court serves Archer, Clay, and Montague Counties. Any search or phone inquiry must name Clay County along with the cause number. Its dockets and schedules page is the official calendar entry point. It posts no stable public daily docket form, though. District records stay with the Clay County District Clerk. For a live setting, the court coordinator is the stronger source.

Reach the coordinator at 940-894-2066 or admin@97thdistrictcourt.com. For an index check or record copy, use the District Clerk at 940-538-4561. Court staff can confirm when a matter is set. The clerk maintains the filed register and case record. Because of the three-county structure, county selection is essential in any district case lookup.

How to Find Court Dates and Settings

A court date can surface in several places. Try the case register, the 97th District Court calendar route, an iDocket calendar view, re:SearchTX Hearings, or the citation. Always check the newest event. Labels vary, including appearance date, pretrial, trial, plea, sentencing, motion hearing, review, and docket call. A reset, pass, or continuance means the old date is dead.

For a district setting, call the coordinator. County Court dates can be checked with the County Clerk at 940-538-4631. Justice and Henrietta municipal questions go to 940-538-6531. The Justice Court closes to the public on the first Friday each month for staff work. Documents or citations due that day extend to Monday. The full process is laid out under Clay County Court Dates.

Clay County Docket Terms

Short labels can hide a major case change. These terms separate a planned event from a final act, but the newest signed order beats shorthand every time.

Notice of setting

A notice stating when and where a hearing, trial, or docket call is set.

Continuance or reset

An event moving the matter to another date; find the later setting.

Disposition

The outcome or closing event, such as dismissal, judgment, plea, or conviction.

DWOP

Dismissal for want of prosecution, often used when a civil claim is not pursued.

Certified copy

A clerk-authenticated copy, usually with an added certification charge.

Clay County publishes no full local code book. Read MOT, ORD, CONT, RESET, and DISP as common shorthand only when the live docket uses them.

Public Access to Court Dockets

Texas law leans toward openness. But the rules differ for case records, judicial administration records, and general county records. Some content stays off limits. Sealed filings, juvenile matters, adoption files, certain family data, and protective-order information can all be withheld by statute or by court order. Even so, a public index may still show the case exists.

When you write to a clerk, spell out the basics: county, court, cause number, record type, date range, copy format, and how you want it delivered. Vague requests slow everything down. Also note that the Texas Office of Court Administration keeps no individual Clay County case records, so it cannot fill your request.

Clay County Copy Fee Ladder

The County Clerk fee schedule draws a hard line. A lookup is not a copy order. Paper-to-paper and electronic-to-paper copies run $1 per page. A non-OPR electronic copy of one through ten pages is also $1. Added pages cost $0.10. Certification adds $5 per document. An OPR electronic copy can carry an extra $3 per document for labor and overhead.

Justice Court works from its own lines. The first page costs $1. Each added page is $0.25. The District Clerk publishes no stated public copy rate, so confirm that cost before mailing any money. Do not confuse filing fees with copy fees. The $350 County Court civil base and the $360 probate or guardianship base are filing fees. Neither is the price of a docket.

The online County Clerk payment page covers County Court and copy fees only. It does not take traffic tickets, Justice Court fees, or District Clerk charges. Check the office, the fee line, and the payment route before you pay.

Docket Records at the Clerk's Office

Online access is just one channel. You can visit the right counter or mail a specific request. You can also call to confirm which office holds the file, or email for instructions. Whatever the route, include the cause number, the style if you know it, the docket or document you need, and plain or certified format. Add a return address and contact details. Clay County sets no posted turnaround time and no blanket ID rule for ordinary copies, so ask the clerk what applies.

The official County Clerk screen identifies its local records and iDocket channels.

Its contact and fee links keep County Court copies separate from District and Justice Court requests.

Clay County Justice Court Access

One countywide Justice Court serves all of Clay County from 214 North Main Street. It takes traffic and other fine-only matters. It also hears small claims, debt claims, evictions, and repair-and-remedy suits within its authority. If your citation names Henrietta Municipal Court, call 940-538-6531 instead. Clay County publishes no standing traffic-case form. The practical chain runs through the citation, the phone, the counter, a mail response, and the records-request form.

A new citation usually reaches the court in seven to ten days. The printed on-or-before date still controls either way. A not-guilty plea normally triggers a pretrial first. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Friday hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All hours are subject to holidays and the first-Friday closure.

The official Justice Court page gathers its rules, forms, ticket instructions, and record request route. It puts them in one spot.

It is the main local start for a lower-court matter missing from iDocket.

Clay County's Historic Record Center

The courthouse at 100 North Bridge Street is more than a mailing address. Official sources describe the building as red brick and sandstone. They call it an 1884 structure. The courthouse and jail joined the National Register on October 3, 1978. On the first floor, east side, the District Clerk handles current district records inside a much older record tradition.

The county timeline notes an early Henrietta house at Main and Commerce. It once served as both post office and District and County Clerk office. The County Clerk also keeps historic Commissioners Court books. They date to the 1870s. So an old docket may live in a bound book, a paper index, an archive, or a scan rather than a modern portal. A blank online result is not the end of the search. Ask the clerk about archive status before giving up.

When Clay County Searches Fail

A failed search has many explanations. It may be the wrong court, thin portal coverage, a case too new to post, an old paper file, a restricted matter, or a session glitch. None of these proves the docket is gone. Start by confirming the court on the source document. Then try the responsible clerk system and re:SearchTX. Turn to the official Texas citation and notice search when a public citation or notice is the goal.

Next, call the District Clerk, County Clerk, Justice Court, or 97th coordinator. At the counter or by mail, ask for the docket itself, separate from any named filed document. For a transcript, go to the court reporter. A clerk docket is not a verbatim hearing record. If access is restricted, ask which public index facts can be released and what order or authorization would open the rest.

Note: Keep the source citation or cause number handy. Its court label controls every later Clay County search and records request.

Clay County Court Dockets by City

Official state sources list four incorporated cities in Clay County. So there is no fifth card. Henrietta is the only one with a separate municipal-court entry in the state directory. For Bellevue, Petrolia, and Byers, start with the court printed on the citation. Then route to Justice Court, County Clerk, or District Clerk as the case requires. Population figures come from the official 2020 Census-based Texas Legislative Council report.

City lines do not decide custody. A matter tied to any city can belong to municipal, Justice, County, or District Court, depending on the charge, claim, or filing.

Map and Directions to the Clay County Courthouse

The 97th District Court's felony, family, and district civil records are kept by the District Clerk on the first floor, east side, of the Clay County Courthouse, 100 North Bridge Street, in Henrietta. The 1884 red-brick and sandstone building sits on the National Register and remains the county's main record center, though the actual district judge and coordinator serve Archer, Clay, and Montague Counties from Montague. The County Clerk and Justice Court keep separate offices a few blocks away at the courthouse annex, 214 North Main Street.

The District Clerk's split lunch hour can catch a walk-in visitor off guard, so call ahead for a same-day copy request. No parking, security-screening, or accessibility policy is published for the courthouse, so confirm entry procedures with the clerk before traveling.