Thanks to Andy Porter for alerting us to the Casemail feature so that we can obtain Texas appellate opinions. By signing up in the last week, I have already received opinions from the 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th, 13th, & 14th Courts of Appeals.

When using Casemail, does anyone have an idea how to identify the published from unpublished opinions before opening up the individual opinions? If we cannot discriminate yet, will this be a feature in the future? It seems like a worthwhile refinement--at least in criminal cases.

Good idea, John. I'll pass your suggestion on to the Texas Office of Court Administration. (They are overseeing the redesign of the websites for all the state's appellate courts.)

I would also suggest you submit your own request that such a feature be added. (The sqeaky wheel gets the grease....) OCA can be contacted through their website at:
Texas Office of Court Administration

Andy,

Thanks for the feedback. I followed up on your suggestion to contact the OCA. Do you happen to know if there is a specific deadline by which all the appellate courts must be using Casemail, or can we expect a hiatus between the conclusion of the written opinion service and full implementation of Casemail?

Originally, OCA's redesign of all the appellate court websites was to be implemented by the fall of 2002. Obviously, that date has long since passed with a few courts still using the old self-designed website. (The Sixth and Twelfth Courts have been using OCA's casemail system for at least the past 3-4 years.)

I haven't heard a more recent deadline for implementation in the last few straggler courts.

Hopefully the Office of Court Administration can bring everyone into compliance soon. Like many of you, I like reading opinions within 1-2 days after they're issued.