Sec. 31.054.  PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND REMOVAL OF PAPERS.  (a)  Any person who desires to examine any paper, record, or file must make a written request on a form and according to procedures prescribed by the commissioner.  The commissioner may establish procedures as reasonably necessary to maintain the integrity of the records. 
(b)  No transfer or deed which may be a link in any chain of title to any certificate on file in the land office may be removed by any person, but the commissioner shall deliver to the interested person on demand certified copies which shall have the same force and effect as the originals.
(c)  If the genuineness of any original paper is questioned in a suit, the commissioner, on order of the court in which the suit is pending, shall deliver the original paper to the proper person and shall retain a certified copy of the paper which will have the same force and effect as the original if the original is lost.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2372, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1091, Sec. 8, eff. June 20, 2003.