In our ongoing research for the Texas Legislators database, we often uncover interesting bits of Texas legal history. Recently, two early legislators stood out for their pioneering role in the history of the Texas Supreme Court. Brothers Oliver Cromwell Hartley (House of Representatives, 4th Legislature) and Rufus K. Hartley (House of Representatives, 8th Legislature; Texas Senate, 9th-10th Legislatures) not only had legislative careers, but were involved as reporters of Texas Supreme Court decisions.  In 1846, six years after the Supreme Court had its first term, the state began appointing court reporters to publish the decisions of the court. Oliver Cromwell Hartley was appointed that year as court reporter, and held the position until his death in 1859. Both brothers' names can be seen in early volumes of the Texas Reports, which were the only source of Supreme Court opinions until the appearance of the Southwestern Reporter in 1886. 

In addition to their work with the Texas Supreme Court, the Hartley brothers published Digest of Texas Laws in 1850.  The digest comprised "all the public laws of the republic and state of Texas, which are now in force, except Acts for the incorporation of cities and towns, and the establishment of counties…" This compilation of Texas statutes greatly aided lawyers and legislators at the time, since no official collection of Texas laws had yet been published.

If you're interested in learning more about Oliver Cromwell Hartley or Rufus K. Hartley, you can view their member records in our Texas Legislators: Past & Present database.

 

Oliver Cromwell Hartley			Rufus K. Hartley

This entry was posted on October 19, 2011 at 10:32 AM and has received 1946 views. Print this entry.

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

• Look into urban mobility. (Texas Transportation Institute, September 2011)
• Review the prevalence and danger of drinking and driving. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 2011)
• Examine the effects of texting while driving. (Texas Transportation Institute, August 2011, released October 5, 2011)
• Check out a chart of cell phone and texting laws. (Governors Highway Safety Association, October 2011)
• Find the latest Statistical Abstract of the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau, September 28, 2011)
• Consider a future without fossil fuels. (Christian Science Monitor, October 7, 2011)

This entry was posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1109 views. Print this entry.

The library has a new resource that provides access to scanned House and Joint committee minutes from the 63rd-74th Legislatures (1973-1995). You can find it on our website under Committees --> Committee minutes. Senate minutes for the 63rd-74th Legislatures (1973-1995) are currently being scanned and will be added as completed. More recent minutes for the 75th Legislature (1997) to the present are available from Texas Legislature Online Committees.
 
Minutes summarize committee proceedings and record the time and place of each meeting, members present, bills considered, witness lists, and votes taken. Minutes typically do not contain transcriptions of discussions or testimony.  For information on how to access that information, see the library's Legislative Intent Guide under Audio Recordings of Legislative Discussion.

This entry was posted on October 11, 2011 at 10:15 AM and has received 1110 views. Print this entry.

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.

• Check out the 2012 draft state water plan. (Texas Water Development Board, September 2011)
• Find out recent poverty and income trends. (Economic Policy Institute, September 14, 2011)
• Consider the high rate of childhood poverty among Hispanics. (Pew Hispanic Center, September 28, 2011)
• Read about why Hispanic students are leaving Alabama schools. (USA Today, September 30, 2011)
• Review a report on new state election laws and how the laws might affect the voting process. (report from Brennan Center for Justice, October 3, 2011; Jurist, October 4, 2011)
• Track the prevalence of cigarette smoking among working adults. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 30, 2011)

This entry was posted on October 6, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1043 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on October 4, 2011 at 10:54 AM and has received 845 views. Print this entry.

Are you wondering when the recent Texas wildfires were officially declared a state disaster? Or interested in a copy of Sam Houston's inaugural address? Take a look at the library's Texas Governors Database. It includes biographical information and dates of service for all of Texas' chief executives, from J. Pinckney Henderson in 1846 up to current Governor Rick Perry. In addition, each governor's page provides links to full-text copies of their speeches, executive orders, proclamations, vetoes, and other official documents. The searchable database indexes documents by type, session, and bill and lets you search across multiple governors. The database is a work in progress and we're still tracking down documents for some governors, so check with the library if you don't see a document you are looking for.

This entry was posted on October 4, 2011 at 10:15 AM and has received 1631 views. Print this entry.

• Examine the impact of Medicaid in Texas. (American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Lung Association, and Families USA, September 2011)
• Review a Medicaid managed care 50-state survey. (Kaiser Family Foundation, September 13, 2011)
• Read about the Texas Medicaid proposal. (Kaiser Health News and Politico, September 26, 2011)
• Explore the state of border security at the Texas–Mexico border. (Texas Department of Agriculture, Barry R. McCaffery, and Robert H. Scales, September 26, 2011)
• Check out how Texas saves money by enforcing child support orders with innovative strategies and programs. (Stateline, September 21, 2011)
• Note that a challenge to election monitoring in Alabama was dismissed by a federal judge. (Jurist, September 21, 2011)
• See that drug screening welfare recipients has been challenged in a federal court in Florida. (Jurist, September 27, 2011)

This entry was posted on September 29, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 1000 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on September 27, 2011 at 8:30 AM and has received 2114 views. Print this entry.

• Consider ways to reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 16, 2011)
• Review the quality and safety performance of hospitals. (Joint Commission, September 13, 2011)
• Map the average cost of individual health insurance premiums by state. (Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2011)
• Read testimony of H.B. "Trip" Doggett, president and CEO of ERCOT, related to the EPA's cross-state air pollution rule. (House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power, U.S. House of Representatives, September 14, 2011)
• View this summer's extreme heat records all over the country. (September 15, 2011)

This entry was posted on September 22, 2011 at 3:15 PM and has received 880 views. Print this entry.

The library has just released an interactive Texas state budget timeline. Using information from the drafting of the 2012-2013 biennial budget, this comprehensive guide presents a month-by-month overview of the budget process. The timeline begins in May 2010 with the Legislative Budget Board's instructions for agency appropriations requests and ends in December 2011 with the state comptroller's Annual Cash Report. Budget bills and related documents are mentioned within the timeline and are linked as they are released. The library will update the timeline when the 2013-2014 budget process gets underway, so be sure to check back.

This entry was posted on September 21, 2011 at 12:30 PM and has received 1268 views. Print this entry.