Search Houston County Bankruptcy Records

Houston County bankruptcy records are filed and maintained through the Eastern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, Lufkin Division. The county seat is Crockett, TX, and this page covers Houston County as a political subdivision of Texas, not the city of Houston. All bankruptcy cases for Houston County residents and businesses are handled by the Lufkin Division, which is administered through the Beaumont and Tyler offices of the Eastern District. You can search filings through PACER or call VCIS at 866-222-8029 for free basic case data. Records are public under federal law.

Houston County Federal Bankruptcy Court

Houston County, Texas is served by the Eastern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, Lufkin Division. The Lufkin Division is an unstaffed division, meaning cases are administered through the Beaumont office at 300 Willow Street, Suite 104, Beaumont, TX 77701. The Deputy-in-Charge for Lufkin area matters is Mona Doyle, reachable at (409) 654-7064. Hearings in Lufkin Division cases are held in either Beaumont or Lufkin depending on the hearing notice.

It is worth noting that Houston County, with its county seat of Crockett, is a separate entity from the city of Houston in Harris County. If you are looking for records tied to someone living in Crockett or elsewhere in Houston County, this is the correct court division to search. The Lufkin Division serves Houston County along with Angelina, Nacogdoches, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Trinity, and Tyler counties.

Houston County falls under U.S. Trustee Region 6, with the Tyler field office at 110 N. College Avenue, Room 300, Tyler, TX 75702, phone (903) 590-1450. This office appoints and supervises trustees for Chapter 7, Chapter 12, and Chapter 13 cases from the region, and monitors all filings for completeness and compliance with the Bankruptcy Code.

Finding Houston County Bankruptcy Records

The primary tool for searching Houston County bankruptcy records is PACER. PACER covers all federal court records in the United States, including the Eastern District of Texas Lufkin Division. You register for a free account, and then pay a small per-page fee when you view or download documents. A basic case search by name or case number is fast and typically costs very little or nothing for just looking up whether a case exists.

Inside PACER, you can view the complete case file for any Houston County bankruptcy. This includes the petition, all financial schedules, the creditor list, any motions or court orders, trustee reports, and the discharge document if the case is closed. For cases filed before the Eastern District switched to electronic records, you may need to contact the Beaumont office directly or submit a request to the National Archives for older paper filings.

Bankruptcy records in Houston County are public under 11 U.S.C. § 107. Most documents filed in a bankruptcy case are accessible to anyone. The court may limit access to specific documents that contain particularly sensitive information, but public access is the default. Under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037, all filers must redact Social Security numbers, birth dates, financial account numbers, and names of minor children from any documents submitted to the court.

The Houston County Government website provides access to county-level records including property deeds, tax records, and other official documents maintained at the Crockett courthouse. County records are separate from the federal bankruptcy system but can be relevant when a case involves real estate in Houston County.

The Houston County Government website at co.houston.tx.us provides access to official county records maintained at the Crockett courthouse, including property deeds and other documents that may come up in bankruptcy proceedings involving real estate in East Texas.

Houston County property records and deed history from the Crockett courthouse can be important references in bankruptcy cases where the debtor holds real estate or has recorded liens in this East Texas county.

Filing Bankruptcy in Houston County

If you live or do business in Houston County and need to file for bankruptcy, you submit your case to the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division, through the Beaumont office. All filings must comply with Eastern District local rules, which are available on the Eastern District forms and procedures page. Key requirements include alphabetically sorted creditors on Schedules D and E/F, a Verification of Matrix form as the last page of your creditor list, and photo identification enlarged to 150% submitted to the trustee at least seven days before the 341 meeting of creditors.

Chapter 7 filing fee is $338. Chapter 13 is $313. Chapter 11 is $1,738. Fee waivers are available for individuals whose income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, applied for at the time of filing. If you cannot pay the full amount upfront, you may ask for installment payments. Payments must be by cashier's check or money order payable to "Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court." Cash is accepted at certain Eastern District locations.

Before filing, every individual debtor must complete a credit counseling course from a U.S. Trustee-approved agency within the 180 days before the filing date. After the case is filed, completing a debtor education course is required before a discharge can be issued. The list of approved providers is at justice.gov/ust. The Eastern District's Electronic Self-Representation portal is the preferred method for pro se filers to submit documents electronically.

Note: Hearings for Lufkin Division cases are held in either Beaumont or Lufkin, TX, so check your hearing notice carefully for the correct location.

Resources for Houston County Filers and Researchers

Several resources are helpful for anyone researching or filing bankruptcy in Houston County. The Houston County Clerk in Crockett maintains property deeds, recorded liens, and official county documents. These records are separate from the federal bankruptcy system but can come up during a case, especially when the debtor owns land or structures in the county. The trustee may request county records to verify ownership or check for existing encumbrances.

Key resources for Houston County bankruptcy matters:

• Eastern District Bankruptcy Court - Lufkin Division, case filings and docket search
• PACER - online search for all federal court records
• U.S. Trustee Region 6 / Tyler Field Office - trustee oversight, approved credit counselors
• Houston County Government - property records and county public records
• Eastern District Local Rules and Forms

The Federal Judicial Center publishes annual bankruptcy case statistics for all federal districts, including the Eastern District of Texas. This data can help you understand filing volumes and trends in the Lufkin Division and the broader East Texas region.

Counties in the Lufkin Division

These East Texas counties are served by the same Lufkin Division of the Eastern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court and follow the same local rules and filing procedures as Houston County.