Search the Knox County Court Docket

Searching the Knox County Court Docket

Start with the papers. A notice, citation, petition, indictment, or court order will name the court. It will also carry the cause number. That pairing is what makes a Knox County docket search work. Without it, a name alone is a weak match. The same person can show up in a County Court case, a Justice of the Peace matter, a municipal ticket, or the 50th District Court. So the court name sorts out which docket holds the record.

The state's re:SearchTX portal is one place to look. It reaches electronic case data that courts file with the state. Its coverage is not complete, though. Knox County's Local Government Solutions system may not feed into it either. So treat any online hit as a lead, not the last word. Before you rely on a court date or a docket entry, confirm it with the clerk of the court that holds the case.

1. Read the court name and exact cause number from the newest case paper.
2. Search re:SearchTX under Cases or Hearings when the source is indexed.
3. Compare the court, style, filing date, case type, and parties.
4. Review public filings and hearing entries without assuming the index is complete.
5. Contact the correct clerk for missing details or an official copy.

Knox County Court Docket Starting Point

Knox County court docket records sit with several different offices. The 50th District Court takes felony criminal cases plus major civil and family matters. The Knox County Constitutional County Court keeps county-level civil, criminal, probate, juvenile, and mental-health clerk categories. The countywide Justice of the Peace handles eligible civil, eviction, fine-only Class C, and traffic matters. Knox City and Munday Municipal Courts each keep their own ordinance and Class C cases.

Whatever court is printed on your paperwork is your first call. District and county cases go through the combined Knox County & District Clerk. A JP case means the JP clerk. A municipal citation means the issuing municipal court. Searching on

alone can miss this split. A municipal record never moves to the county clerk just because the case arose inside the county.

Inside a Knox County Court Docket

A Knox County court docket is the ordered record of case activity. It is not the full case file. You can spot the parties, the court, filings, settings, orders, and the disposition. Read the entries with care, though. An entry marked

only shows the clerk received a document. It does not mean the judge granted anything. A setting is a scheduled event, not a ruling. For the court's actual action, read the signed order or judgment.

Searching may be free while document images carry a separate charge. Expect gaps, too. Protected identifiers, sealed filings, confidential material, and some exhibits may not appear at all. The public index and the clerk's official case file are related records. But they are not always identical.

re:SearchTX for Knox County Dockets

re:SearchTX works with a free account. It offers four main search categories: Cases, Filings, Text in Documents, and Hearings. Enter a keyword, then filter. You can sort by newest case filed, oldest case filed, or case number. Then open Case Details when available. The official guide also describes saved searches and export controls. Case Details may list parties, attorneys, judicial officers, filings, documents, and hearings.

The OCA public-access report describes a large statewide document collection, but it also notes exclusions and a clerk-integration effort still underway. Knox County runs on LGS. That fact alone does not prove every historical or current record appears. eFileTexas is a different tool entirely: it submits filings and is not, by itself, a public docket viewer.

Courts That Keep Dockets in Knox County

Texas assigns court work by jurisdiction. Knox County adds a local wrinkle. The 50th District Court serves four counties. Knox, meanwhile, has one combined County & District Clerk office. Records from the lower courts stay with the relevant JP or municipal clerk. Treat the table as a starting point. It is not a ruling on jurisdiction in any specific dispute.

Appeals from the 50th District Court go to the Eleventh Court of Appeals at Eastland. Federal matters are separate. They do not belong in a Knox County clerk search, so always follow the court named on the filing or notice.

Two Floors for Knox County Records

Need Knox County court records in person? The courthouse at 100 W Cedar St. in Benjamin is the hub for that. The combined Knox County & District Clerk sits on the first floor. That office lists (940) 459-2441, fax (940) 459-2005, cdclerk@knoxcountytexas.org, and P.O. Box 196, Benjamin, TX 79505-0196. County hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The countywide Justice of the Peace is upstairs on the second floor. Reach that office at (940) 459-3181, fax (940) 459-4191, knoxjp@knoxcountytexas.org, P.O. Box 76, Benjamin, TX 79505.

When you visit or write, bring the court, cause number, and style. Also name the item you want and the copy type. Call ahead about holidays and counter availability before you travel. The county promises no specifics on a public terminal, parking, security, elevators, or hearing-room layout. Its accessibility statement addresses the website's WCAG 2.1 AA commitment only. It does not promise any particular physical accommodation, so confirm access needs by phone.

How to Find Court Dates and Settings

A Knox County court date may show up in re:SearchTX. That depends on whether hearing data is available. The newest case-specific notice or order still controls. For district and county matters, confirm through the combined clerk or the court coordinator. For a lower-court matter, call the JP or the issuing municipal court. The county posts no live countywide Knox calendar.

Read each setting by court, cause number, date, and time. Note the setting type and any jury or non-jury designation. A reset request or agreement does not prove the date moved. Look for an approved order or direct confirmation instead. The full Knox County court dates resource covers settings, resets, and missed-date checks in more depth.

Setting

A scheduled court event, not the result of the case.

Reset

A new setting that should be confirmed by order or clerk.

Submission

Review of filed papers without a routine live hearing.

Docket call

A calendar event when listed cases are called or announced.

Knox County's Second-Tuesday Pattern

Knox County's regular non-jury day is the second Tuesday, at least under the 50th District Court local rules. That is planning help, nothing more. Plenty of settings ignore it. Arraignments, pleas, pretrial matters, jury trials, civil submissions, final pretrials, special settings, and dismissal follow-up each move on their own notices. The local rules also hand the court firm control of its calendar. Written setting requests are required. A civil scheduling order can lay out discovery, mediation, summary judgment, and trial deadlines in one document. Criminal rules add timing for pretrial issues, plea agreements, and trial readiness.

One docket can therefore show several dates. Only the current notice says where to appear. If a portal entry clashes with the latest paper, call. The 50th District Court serves Baylor, Cottle, King, and Knox Counties, so the judge's administrative contact may sit outside Benjamin while the Knox record stays with the combined local clerk.

Public Access to Court Dockets

Texas has no single request law covering everything. The Texas Public Information Act reaches many non-judicial records, yet the judiciary is excluded from the law's usual governmental-body definition. Case files answer instead to common law, statutes, court rules, orders, and clerk practice. Send the request to the custodian holding the record.

Public does not mean fully visible online. A docket may withhold protected identifiers, confidential family information, juvenile data, sealed exhibits, or restricted documents. Those limits are part of the design. Ask the clerk whether inspection or a redacted copy is available rather than hunting for a workaround.

Knox County Dockets by the Numbers

The OCA's FY2024 justice-court report offers countywide JP context. It counted 803 active pending matters at year end across combined categories. That total names no one. It cannot prove any matter stayed active later, and it never replaces a case lookup. In a small county with a broad countywide JP route, that is exactly why court and cause number matter. That is why they matter here.

Statistics and docket entries answer different questions. A report measures workload across categories. A docket traces one case, so treat the annual figure as court-system context and pull the actual clerk record for any specific matter.

Docket Records at the Clerk's Office

One office handles it all here. The combined Knox County & District Clerk keeps district case records and performs the County Court clerk functions. A request might seek a docket sheet, a specific filed instrument, an order, a judgment, a plain copy, or a certified copy. Certification is a separate service. Published county charges cover filing and recording items. No single local docket-copy rate applies to every request.

Mail requests work best with details. Include the court, cause number, style, precise document, copy type, return contact, and a request for the current fee and payment instructions. The clerk's fax and email are published. Neither channel states it accepts court-record requests. The clerk offers no online copy form, processing time, public terminal, or drop box. The general county contact form has no cause-number field and cannot substitute for a clerk request.

Verify the Knox County Clerk Name

Who runs the combined clerk office? Official sources currently disagree. The Knox County webpage displays Jeannie Clark. The OCA County Clerk Office Verification dated May 23, 2025 instead identifies Lisa Cypert, and recent official Knox County documents agree with that name. The published address and main office phone stay consistent across the core sources.

Do not resolve the conflict from an undated web label. Address mail to the “Knox County & District Clerk” and verify the current officeholder by calling (940) 459-2441. The office title and the case details matter more than a possibly stale personal name. Email deserves the same care. Confirm current addresses before sending documents or anything sensitive.

Knox County Court Dockets by City

The Texas Comptroller counts Knox County's incorporated cities. There are four. By 2020 Census ranking, they run Munday, Knox City, Benjamin, then Goree. A municipal case starts at the city court that issued the citation. County, district, and JP cases follow the paper. Only Munday and Knox City carry separate municipal entries in the current state directory.

The OCA Citations and Notices search offers a statewide lead for that document class. It is not a full municipal docket, though. No Knox County city runs a public case-search portal. Call the named court and quote the cause or citation number.

Federal Dockets Outside Knox County

Federal cases skip the county clerk entirely. A federal matter tied to Knox County never appears in the combined clerk's docket system. Those cases route to the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division. They run on PACER and CM/ECF rather than re:SearchTX, the combined county clerk, or a municipal court. Federal appeals go to the Fifth Circuit.

State appeals take a different road. A Texas appeal from the 50th District Court goes to the Eleventh Court of Appeals. That court sits at Eastland. Federal clerk offices also offer public terminals and mail requests. Microfiche and archived Federal Records Center channels cover records not readily online. That does not put a terminal at the Benjamin courthouse. Keep the state and federal custodians separate. Otherwise a Knox County request goes to an office that cannot supply the file.

Map and Directions to the Knox County Courthouse

The 50th District Court is Knox County's general-jurisdiction trial court, and its felony, major civil, and family case files are kept by the combined Knox County and District Clerk on the first floor of the Knox County Courthouse in Benjamin, the county seat. The countywide Justice of the Peace keeps its own docket on the second floor of the same building. County hours are posted as 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

No public terminal, parking instructions, security-screening procedure, or elevator details for the courthouse are published, so call before traveling and ask which floor holds the file you need. The 50th District judge's administrative contact is in Seymour, outside Knox County, but Knox's own case records stay at the Benjamin courthouse.