A fun story came to us from Emily Richardson, a reading clerk in the Texas House. She recently discovered that her great grandfather, George E. Adams, served in the Texas Legislature during the 1940s. At the urging of one of her co-workers, she looked him up in the library's Texas Legislators: Past and Present database, and was pleasantly surprised to find not only information about his terms of service and committee appointments, but also a resolution honoring her grandmother (George's daughter) that mentioned Emily and her sister!

We love to hear stories like these, especially when they involve our Texas Legislators database. Librarians have worked on this database for more than a decade, compiling a wealth of information on current and former Texas Legislators. Need to know the committees on which a particular member served during the 55th Legislature? Or who represented Zavala County in 1995? Texas Legislators: Past and Present is your one-stop shop for this information, and, as Emily's story demonstrates, is great for looking up family members who served in the Texas Legislature. Thanks, Emily, for sharing your story!

 

George E. Adams served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1945 to 1947. He represented Brazos County.

Emily Richardson, great granddaughter of George E. Adams, and currently a Reading Clerk in the Texas House of Representatives.

 

In this occasional post, we feature topics receiving widespread media coverage, tips for finding bills filed during the 84th legislative session, and related resources.

 

 

 

To cast a wider net, search for bills using the subject "Weapons."

 

 

 

"Open carry bills on fast-track in Texas Senate," Texas Politics blog, The Houston Chronicle, February 2, 2015.

 

"A week after dismissing open carry’s chances, Lt. Gov. Patrick puts it on the front burner," Trail Blazers Blog, The Dallas Morning News, February 2, 2015.

 

"While Texas holds out, majority of U.S. allows open carry," The Houston Chronicle, January 29, 2015.

 

"Open Carry Survives Despite Its Supporters," Texas Tribune, January 28, 2015.

 

"Map: Where Is ‘Open Carry’ Legal?" The Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2014.

 

 

 

"Growing Public Support for Gun Rights," Pew Research Center, December 10, 2014.

 

Guns on Campus: Overview, National Conference of State Legislatures, March 7, 2014.

 

 

 

Guide to Texas Legislative Information, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council for the 84th Legislature (2014).
"The purpose of this publication is to help legislators, other state officials and employees, and interested citizens in researching the work of past legislatures and in tracking the work of the current legislature."

"[This report] is intended to serve as a reference guide to issues facing the 84th Legislature. It is not a comprehensive list of issues, but rather an outline of broad categories and topics of concern that have arisen during the interim."

Research Spotlight: Legislative Lexicon, prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center (2015).
"[This publication] provides users with clear definitions of many of the words, terms, and phrases used in the Legislature."

Reading Statutes and Bills, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council (2014).
"The purpose of this publication is to provide a basic overview of Texas statutes and bills and tips for how best to read and understand them."

Topics for the 84th Legislature, by House Research Organization (2014).
"This report highlights many, although by no means all, of the issues the 84th Legislature may consider during its 2015 regular session."

 

The library has created a new research guide that provides an overview of the 1965 revision of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.  Included in the guide is a timeline and overview of the revision process, an annotated list of legislation that lead to the enactment of the new Code of Criminal Procedure in 1965, links to previous versions of the Code, and documents available for each year of the revision process. The guide serves as an excellent resource for discovering materials in the library collection that are relevant to the Code of Criminal Procedure's revision, and may aid researchers in tracing the reasoning and intent of specific statutory language.