How to Search Criminal Dockets
No single feed covers every criminal court in Dawson County. So start with the court printed on your citation, indictment, or notice. Felonies belong to the Dawson County District Clerk, which serves the 106th Judicial District Court. Class A and B misdemeanors usually open in the constitutional County Court. So the County Clerk is the first stop. Fine-only Class C cases might sit with the Justice Court. Lamesa Municipal Court and O'Donnell Municipal Court also hear them. The cause number is the strongest search key. Without it, a full name plus an approximate filing date, the charge, and the originating court can narrow things down. The statewide re:SearchTX portal pulls together cases, filings, documents, and hearings for some matters. Coverage and document access vary from county to county.
- Identify the court level from the case paper.
- Search by the complete cause number when known.
- Filter re:SearchTX by Dawson, court, category, and date.
- Compare parties, charge, and setting in likely matches.
- Contact the proper clerk for confirmation or certification.
Dawson Criminal Docket Routes
One criminal case can leave its trail across systems that share no common index. The court level guides you, not the county name on its own. Felony proceedings for Dawson County run through a four-county judicial district. Fine-only cases, by contrast, stay put. They remain in the justice or city court that filed them.
| Matter | Court | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| Felony | 106th District Court | District Clerk |
| Class A/B misdemeanor | Dawson County Court | County Clerk |
| Class C | Justice or municipal court | That court's clerk |
| Federal charge | Northern District of Texas | PACER |
Federal trial dockets use PACER, not a Dawson County clerk.
What a Criminal Docket Shows
Think of a Dawson County criminal docket as a running log of events, not the whole story of a case. Its public fields can name the court, the cause number, the parties, the charge, filed papers, settings, pleas, orders, and the disposition. Even so, an event can appear on the docket while its underlying document stays restricted or redacted.
| Cause number | The court identifier. Official 106th forms call it “Cause No.” |
|---|---|
| Charge | The alleged offense and, when shown, its level or statute. |
| Setting | An arraignment, pretrial event, trial, sentencing, or other matter. |
| Plea | The formal response, not the final result. |
| Disposition | The recorded outcome or current case status. |
Dawson County has no confirmed countywide number pattern. Treat a sample like YYYY-CR-##### as a format illustration only, never as a real case.
Dawson Criminal Setting Form
The official 106th Waiver of Arraignment shows what local docket practice actually asks of a defendant. Its blank fields call for the cause number, the defendant and attorney, acknowledgment of the indictment, and acknowledgment of the charge and punishment range. The form then waives formal arraignment, enters a not-guilty plea, and requests a docket setting. A judge-approval area closes it out.
Request is not result: A filed waiver requesting a docket setting does not show that a date was granted or that the charge was disposed.
A second form, the Request for Setting, flags whether a matter is Criminal, Civil, Jury, or Non-Jury. It also wants any existing date, the estimated time needed, the issues, and notice contacts. A coordinator may need more than a name to act.
Stages on a Criminal Docket
A Dawson County felony docket often opens with indictment and arraignment steps. From there it moves through pretrial settings and motions toward a plea or trial. Disposition and sentencing entries come later. Lower courts rely on different forms, but one distinction holds everywhere. A setting tells when or how a matter may be considered. A disposition records an outcome.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
A reset or continuance just means an event moved to a new date. It is not a dismissal. In the same spirit, the not-guilty plea on the local waiver is a procedural entry, not a final judgment.
Dawson Criminal Docket Terms
Short docket labels can hide key differences in meaning.
- Cause number
- The court's case identifier, distinct from a traffic citation.
- Docket setting
- A requested or scheduled event. A request still needs confirmation.
- Continuance
- An action moving an event to another date.
- Plea
- The formal response to a charge, not the outcome.
- Disposition
- The recorded result or current status.
Ask the originating clerk about any portal code you cannot decode, since Dawson County publishes no official list of these abbreviations.
Which Court Holds Criminal Dockets
Felony matters from Dawson County go to the 106th Judicial District Court. That court also serves Gaines, Garza, and Lynn Counties. Keep that identity in mind when picking a search filter. The District Clerk holds the filed district records for Dawson County. The coordinator answers setting questions. For Class A and B misdemeanors, Dawson County Court is the route under the general Texas structure. Its first contact is the County Clerk. Fine-only matters fall to the Justice Court and to city courts within their own jurisdiction. Whatever court your paperwork names, use that one.
Dawson Criminal Clerk Channels
A 106th filing starts with the District Clerk page. It lists 400 S. 1st Street, fourth floor, Lamesa, Texas 79331, P.O. Box 1268, and 806-329-3315. A 2026 state directory shows different clerk and phone details. So treat the page as a route, and confirm current contact data before you rely on it. The County Clerk takes county-level questions at the courthouse, by mail at P.O. Box 1268, by phone at 806-329-3311, or by email at clare.christy@co.dawson.tx.us. Posted hours run Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Friday closes at 4 p.m. Any mail request should name the court, the cause number, the document, and the date. Follow the clerk's instruction on sending a prepaid return envelope. The clerk offers online search, phone, counter, and mail as the working channels. No public-terminal directions or general criminal copy form are posted.
Dawson Municipal Criminal Dockets
A county clerk search will not automatically surface Lamesa or O'Donnell city cases. Lamesa Municipal Court sits at 601 S. 1st Street, listed at 806-872-4343. Current and older personnel sources conflict here, so check the live state directory. The city posts no current citation search form. The O'Donnell Municipal Court covers traffic, parking, Class C, ordinance, and listed school violations. Its official page gives 615 8th Street, 806-428-3239, and Friday counter hours. It also explains mail, drop-box, and payment instructions. Remember that a citation signature is a promise to appear, not a guilty plea. Neither Ackerly nor Los Ybanez has a separate current municipal court entry. Do not assume Dawson County Justice Court holds the case. Instead, check the issuing agency and city hall.
Dawson Criminal Hearing Checks
re:SearchTX Hearings mode works well once a Dawson County case is integrated. Write down the court. Jot the date, the time, the type of hearing, the status, and the location too. If a 106th setting is close, call the court at 806-872-3740. Setting requests can also go to djudge@co.dawson.tx.us. Fax works at 806-872-7810, and mail goes to P.O. Box 1268.
None of that makes a request a confirmed hearing. Ask the court directly about the setting. Was it granted, reset, canceled, or moved to a different process? The Dawson County court calendar page adds detail on confirming dates.
Note: A cached portal entry or an unsigned request never substitutes for confirmation. That confirmation must come from the court that controls the setting.
Dawson Criminal Search Gaps
A blank docket search can have several causes. The number may be mistyped, the case may sit in a city or justice court outside statewide integration, the file may be old, or a restriction may apply. Check the court level and the full identifier first. Only then broaden the name search.
When you contact the clerk who holds the file, ask for a specific public record by name. Give the court, the cause or citation number, the filing or event, and an approximate date, and ask about fees, redaction, and certification. A focused request beats asking for everything. It also spares you from sending private identifiers the clerk never asked for.
Public Access and Sealed Criminal Dockets
What you can see depends on several things. The stage of the case, the type of document, the statute, any sealing order, and integration all matter. A public Dawson County criminal docket can list an event yet withhold the underlying paper. Sealed, expunged, juvenile, nondisclosed, protected family, and sensitive records may be missing or redacted. Deferred adjudication, nondisclosure, and expunction are three different things. A public search result cannot decide eligibility or prove that anything was erased.
Access rules: The Texas Judicial Branch policy explains why court records are not ordinary Texas Public Information Act requests. Rule 12 governs access to many judicial records. Government Code Chapter 411 addresses nondisclosure.
The clerk who holds the record decides what may be inspected, copied, redacted, or withheld. A docket search result is only a lead toward that official record.
Dawson Criminal Copy Requests
What a portal shows is not automatically a certified Dawson County criminal record. Ask the clerk for a certified copy and name the exact item you need. Fee schedules carry dates, so confirm current charges before you send payment.
A strong request names the court and the cause number. Include the document or event, its approximate date, and whether you want inspection, a plain copy, or certification. Ask the office to flag any restrictions. The office can also reroute the request if another office holds the record. Requesting from a distance? Confirm postage, payment method, and return-envelope rules.