Searching Hood County Criminal Dockets
Start with re:SearchTX when you want an electronic window into an integrated Hood County criminal case. The portal offers Cases, Filings, Text, and Hearings searches. An eFileTexas account may get you in the door. What you can pull depends on which clerk takes part and what kind of case it is. Treat it as a starting point, not a full countywide register.
Know the court before you search. Felonies sit mainly in the 355th District Court. County-level misdemeanors go to the County Court at Law. Justice courts and municipal courts keep their own Class C files and local records, so their dockers stay separate from the district system. A cause number is the best key to a Hood County court docket. Without one, bring the name, the attorney, the rough filing date, and the court.
- Open re:SearchTX and select Cases or Hearings.
- Enter the cause number, or search the name with spelling variants and narrow by court and date.
- Open the matching Hood County description and record the court, number, status, and newest event.
- Compare charges, settings, plea events, and disposition lines without treating a charge as proof.
- Contact the responsible clerk for a missing record, signed judgment, or certified docket sheet.
Note: Widen any narrow date filters and double-check spelling before assuming a Hood County criminal docket is absent.
Hood Criminal Docket Search Fields
The statewide interface offers several ways to narrow an integrated Hood County criminal docket. The live portal controls its own options, so check there for the current search fields and any cause-number format.
| Field | Use | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Cause number | Best key for a known matter | Use the portal format |
| Party name | Tests a name and variants | Common names need filters |
| Attorney | Finds cases by counsel | Only where indexed |
| Court | Separates district and county results | Integration controls choices |
| Charge or filing term | Searches indexed text | Not every document is indexed |
| Hearing date or type | Finds plea, jury, or trial settings | Categories vary |
Filters can cut a broad result set down fast. Account features may let you save or export a docket search. Note the portal and the date you searched, since a clerk update can change a case's status or settings.
Inside a Hood County Criminal Docket
A Hood County criminal docket is a procedural index, not the whole file. Its lines show what was filed or scheduled and may link to an image. But gated, restricted, or unintegrated documents can be unavailable online.
| Cause Number | The court identifier, shown in the live system format rather than an assumed sample such as CR-CASE-NUMBER. |
|---|---|
| Charge Layer | Offense text, statute, classification, count, instrument, and public bond data where indexed. |
| Parties and Counsel | The State, defendant role, attorneys, and represented side where public. |
| Hearing Settings | Date, time, court, judge, setting type, and reset history when displayed. |
| Disposition | Outcome label and date, with a judgment link if accessible. |
The official Hood Tyler index likens itself to a library card catalogue. It points you to a record but is not the record itself, and it may change without notice. For exact sentence terms, costs, or conditions, read the signed judgment.
Hood Criminal Docket: Charge Versus Disposition
A charge, arrest reference, indictment, or information is an accusation or a procedural step. It establishes no conviction. Even a case marked disposed needs its disposition line and signed judgment before you know whether it ended by dismissal, plea, conviction, transfer, or something else.
Read the sequence, not one line. Match the charging event with later plea, hearing, judgment, and disposition entries. Obtain the signed order from the correct Hood County clerk when the exact result matters.
Read bond and magistration entries with care too. Hood County's indigent-defense plan supplies local procedure context, yet a docket may show only a terse bond or appointment event. The order controls.
How a Criminal Case Moves
A felony Hood County criminal docket often starts with a charging instrument. From there it moves through arraignment, counsel activity, motions, pretrial settings, plea or trial settings, and disposition. Misdemeanor practice runs on its own calendar in the County Court at Law. That court also has its own plea procedures. A reset can show up at several points in the court docket. The entry rarely states the full reason.
Docket flow: Charge Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial Settings › Plea or Trial › Judgment and Disposition.
- Indictment
- A felony charging instrument returned by a grand jury.
- Arraignment
- A proceeding addressing the charge, plea, and rights.
- Reset
- A setting moved to a later date; verify the newest entry.
- Disposition
- The outcome or closing status, checked against the judgment.
Note: A notice of setting proves a date was scheduled, not that the hearing occurred or stayed unchanged.
Hood Plea and Jury Dockets
Hood County Court at Law rules describe a distinctive plea-setting path. After a negotiated offer, counsel contacts the Court Coordinator to set the plea. A case still on the Jury Trial Docket after the Jury Announcement Docket must move to the plea docket by the stated Wednesday deadline preceding Monday's jury docket. Miss that deadline and the offer may be withdrawn. The plea then becomes open under the posted rule.
These labels mark calendar functions, not outcomes. A Jury Announcement Docket can signal a case heading toward a jury setting. A Plea Docket groups matters set for plea handling. Neither label proves a plea was entered or a trial happened.
Courts That Hold Criminal Dockets
The 355th Judicial District consists of Hood County and is the main felony lane. The District Clerk maintains district criminal records. County misdemeanors sit with the County Court at Law and County Clerk. Precinct justice courts keep justice cases. Municipal courts keep city Class C and ordinance matters.
| Matter | Court | Custodian |
|---|---|---|
| Felony | 355th District Court | District Clerk |
| County misdemeanor | County Court at Law | County Clerk |
| Precinct Class C | Justice Court | JP clerk |
| City Class C | Municipal Court | City clerk |
Federal criminal cases never appear in a Hood County state docket. Cases filed in federal court belong in PACER.
If a Hood Criminal Docket Is Missing
A missing result can mean limited clerk integration, an older case, restricted access, a spelling mismatch, or the wrong court filter. It is not proof that no case exists.
- Try the cause number and remove needless date filters.
- Check name variants and select the 355th District Court.
- Contact District Clerk Melanie Graft at 1200 W Pearl Street, Granbury, Texas 76048-2449, or (817) 579-3236.
- For a setting, contact coordinator Penny Weisend at (817) 579-3233 or pweisend@co.hood.tx.us.
- Ask about inspection, mail, a plain copy, certification, current fees, and turnaround.
The clerk sets the certified-copy fee and turnaround, so ask when you order. Name the court, cause number, case style, approximate year, and the exact record needed.
FY2024 Hood Criminal Docket Inventory
The Texas Office of Court Administration's FY2024 district summary gives workload context for the 355th District Court. It is aggregate reporting, not a list of people or case merits.
The ending inventory was 51 higher. "Added" does not mean convicted, and "disposed" does not say how a matter ended.
Sealed Dockets and Public Access
Public access to a Hood County criminal docket runs under Texas court-record law, statutes, and rules. Juvenile information, sealed material, restricted entries, and personal identifiers may be omitted or masked. A portal account does not override those limits.
Key Rules:
Texas Rule of Judicial Administration 12 governs judicial records, exemptions, and review, but does not replace the clerk’s case-record process.
Texas Judicial Branch Open Records Policy distinguishes judicial records from court case records and directs requests to the custodian.
Texas Government Code §552.147(d) supports the specific route to request redaction of a visible Social Security number.
Most requests for a Hood County court docket start with the clerk who keeps the case. That could be the District Clerk, County Clerk, a JP clerk, or a municipal clerk. Ask at the counter. Clerks can explain mail options, plain and certified copies, and how to pay. One thing to know. The Texas Public Information Act is not a route for asking a judge to open a court case file.