§ 20.001.Persons Who May Take a Deposition on Written Questions

A single-section chapter, organised by where the witness is.

Inside Texas: a clerk of a district court; a judge or clerk of a county court; a judge or clerk of the business court; or a notary public of this state. The business court was added in 2023.

Elsewhere in the United States: a clerk of a court of record having a seal; a commissioner of deeds appointed under the laws of this state; or any notary public.

Outside the United States: a minister, commissioner, or charge d'affaires of the United States resident and accredited in the country; a consul general, consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, vice-commercial agent, deputy consul, or consular agent resident in the country; or any notary public.

Military personnel abroad get their own route. A deposition of a member of the United States Armed Forces or an Auxiliary — or a civilian employed by or accompanying them outside the United States — may be taken by a commissioned officer in the Armed Forces, an Auxiliary, or the Reserve.

That subsection carries a presumption worth noting. If the deposition appears on its face to have been taken as the subsection provides, it is presumed, absent pleading and proof to the contrary, that the person taking it was a commissioned officer on that date and that the deponent was within the authorized group. Proving an officer's commission status from a deployment abroad would otherwise be a serious obstacle, and the presumption removes it.

Note the recurring appearance of the notary public in all three geographic tiers — the one officer available almost everywhere.