Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas

Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas
Seal of the Republic of Texas
Established	1836
Country	Republic of Texas 1836-1839 1839-1845
Location	Austin, Texas
Composition method	Congressional election
Authorized by	Constitution of the Republic of Texas
No. of positions	Chief Justice, 7 District Judges (ex officio members)

Republic of Texas
1836-1839

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas was the court of last resort for legal matters in the Republic of Texas from the Republic's independence from Mexico in 1836 until its annexation by the United States of America in 1845.

The Court was established by the Constitution of 1836, which created the Supreme Court and such inferior courts as the Texas Congress might from time to time establish. The constitution also mandated that the Republic be divided into judicial districts, and that the district judges would serve as the associate judges on the Supreme Court, along with a Chief Justice. The judges were elected by Congress for a term of four years. The district judges rode the circuit in their district during the spring and fall, leaving only the summer and winter for the judges to sit as the Supreme Court.

The Court had unlimited appellate jurisdiction. In the first statute establishing the district courts, Congress set $300 as the minimum amount in controversy for the appeal of a decision from the district court to the Supreme Court. In 1841 the Court declared that limit unconstitutional in Morton v. Gordon and Alley, stating that all final judgments of the district courts were able to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The same district court enabling act did not provide for appeal to the Supreme Court of criminal matters, which the Court resolved in Republic v. Smith, stating that the constitution gave jurisdiction to the Court over all criminal appeals.

On December 15, 1836, the Texas Congress passed the implementing statute establishing the courts of Texas, and elected the chief justice and four district judges the next day. The four district judges covered 22 counties and were ex officio members of the Supreme Court. The court was to meet for one session a year, beginning on the first Monday in December, and required a majority of the judges to be present. The opinions of the court are collected in a private reporter, Dallam's Decisions, in only one volume.