§ 35.001.Definition

One definition, and it sets the boundary between this chapter and the next one.

"Foreign judgment" means a judgment, decree, or order of a court of the United States or of any other court that is entitled to full faith and credit in this state.

"Foreign" here means out of state, not out of country. A judgment from Oklahoma is a foreign judgment; a judgment from France is not covered by this chapter at all.

The operative words are "entitled to full faith and credit in this state". The federal constitution requires each state to give full faith and credit to the judicial proceedings of every other state, and this chapter provides the machinery for doing so.

That constitutional command is why the chapter’s procedure is so simple. Texas has no choice about honouring a sister-state judgment, so the statute supplies a filing mechanism rather than a recognition inquiry.

Three kinds of decision are covered — a judgment, a decree, or an order — so the chapter is not confined to money judgments in form.

"A court of the United States" covers the federal courts, whose judgments are enforceable in state courts through this route as well.

Everything else is left to the following chapter and to comity. A judgment from another country is dealt with under the foreign-country act, which asks whether recognition should be given rather than assuming it.

The contrast between the two chapters is the most useful thing to carry away. Here, a judgment entitled to full faith and credit is filed and becomes a Texas judgment; there, recognition is sought and can be refused on nine separate grounds.