CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE

TITLE 2. TRIAL, JUDGMENT, AND APPEAL

SUBTITLE B. TRIAL MATTERS

CHAPTER 19. LOST RECORDS

Sec. 19.001.  APPLICATION OF CHAPTER.  This chapter applies to:
(1)  a deed, bond, bill of sale, mortgage, deed of trust, power of attorney, or conveyance that is required or permitted by law to be acknowledged or recorded and that has been acknowledged or recorded;  or
(2)  a judgment, order, or decree of a court of record of this state.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.002.  PAROL PROOF.  A person may supply a lost, destroyed, or removed record by parol proof of the record's contents as provided by this chapter.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.003.  APPLICATION FOR RELIEF.  (a)  To supply a record that has been lost, destroyed, or removed:
(1)  a person interested in an instrument or in a judgment, order, or decree of the district court may file an application with the district clerk of the county in which the record was lost or destroyed or from which the record was removed;  or
(2)  a person interested in a judgment, order, or decree of a county court may file an application with the clerk of the court to which the record belonged.
(b)  The application must be in writing and must set forth the facts that entitle the applicant to relief.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.004.  CITATION.  (a)  If an application is filed to supply a record, the clerk shall issue a citation to the following, as applicable, or to the person's heirs or legal representatives:
(1)  each grantor of property, in the case of a record of a deed;
(2)  an interested party, in the case of an instrument other than a deed;  or
(3)  a party adversely interested to the applicant at the time of the rendition, in the case of a judgment, order, or decree.
(b)  The citation must direct the person to whom it is issued to appear at a designated term of the court to contest the applicant's right to record a substitute.
(c)  Process must be served in the manner provided by law for civil cases.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.005.  ORDER.  (a)  On hearing an application to supply a record, if the court is satisfied from the evidence of the previous existence and content of the record and of its loss, destruction, or removal, the court shall enter on its minutes an order containing its findings and a description of the record and its contents.
(b)  A certified copy of the order may be recorded in the proper county.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.006.  EFFECT OF ORDER.  The order supplying the record:
(1)  stands in the place of the original record;
(2)  has the same effect as the original record;
(3)  if recorded, may be used as evidence in a court of the state as though it were the original record;  and
(4)  carries the same rights as the original record, including:
(A)  preserving liens from the date of the original record;  and
(B)  giving parties the right to issue execution under the order as under the original record.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.007.  METHOD NOT EXCLUSIVE.  The method provided by this chapter for supplying a record is in addition to other methods provided by law.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.008.  RERECORDATION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENT.  Rerecordation of the original document within four years after the date a record of an instrument, judgment, order, or decree was lost, destroyed, or removed is effective from the time of the original recordation.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Sec. 19.009.  CERTIFIED COPY.  If the loss, destruction, or removal of an original county record is established, a certified copy of the record from the records of that county or from the records of the county from which that county was created may be recorded in the county.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.