Tarrant County District Attorney Collection

Historical Note

County Attorneys were appointed until the adoption of the 1876 Texas Constitution, which designated the office as an elected position. Tarrant County's first elected Attorney was Samuel Furman who served from 1876-1878. The state was initially broken up into large judicial districts by the state, but most districts today consist of a single county.

In 1919, Tarrant County established the Criminal District Attorney's Office, combining the offices of County and District Attorney into a single office to handle all matters brought by the county and those brought by the state. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office serves as the chief prosecutor for the county, and as such investigates and prosecutes criminal cases for the county or state. The Office's Civil Division provides legal advice and represents the county in civil matters.

Scope and Contents

Materials in the Tarrant County District Attorney Collection have been donated over the years by the Criminal District Attorney's Office and consist of items related to their work. These materials include grand jury photographs, city directories, and county maps. Materials date from 1948 through 2012, and some photographs are undated.

Materials in this collection consist of the following:

Directories

• Cole's Directory of Fort Worth, 1975, 1978 to 1987, 1989
• Texas Polk's Arlington City Directory, Including Pantego, 1979, 1982, 1984 to 1988
• Texas Polk's Fort Worth City Directory, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985 to 1988
• Texas Polk's Fort Worth Suburban Directory, 1979, 1981 to 1982, 1985, 1987

Maps

• Tarrant County Commissioner Precincts map, Steve Raborn Elections Administrator, Effective January 1, 2021
• Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Precincts map, Steve Raborn Elections Administrator, Effective January 1, 2021
• Wet / Dry Map of Tarrant County, showing Justice of the Peace precinct boundaries, Tarrant County Department of Public Works Planning Section, March 1973

Photographs

View the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney image gallery.

• Fifty-three photographs of Tarrant County Grand Juries
  • Photographs number 1-23: April 1949 to January 1975
  • Photograph number 24: July, August, September 1948, mounted on wooden plaque
  • Photographs number 25-55: undated

   

Tarrant County Grand Jury, December 10, 1954

Standing (from left to right): Bill Shelton, George Cochran, Stan Harrell, Sam Day, Conard Florence, Eugene Biddle, Howard M. Fender, Grady Hight, Fred Crusemann, George Thompson, Charlie Groce, Dusty Rhodes, Alvin Emery. Seated (from left to right): Gerald Murad, Vernon Mayfield, Annette Robinson, Vivian Collins, Vera McDaniel, Marie Corder, Elsie Bulmer, Grace Galloway, Hugh King, Grady Owen. (Not present: Fred Fick and Randell Riley).