The majority of the Thomas papers are court opinions, both criminal and civil, written while Thomas was on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth District of Texas at Waco, December 1982 to February 1996. The Finding Aid lists the Case Number, Appellant, Appellee, Trial Number, Court and County where the trial took place, and the Date for each opinion. Criminal trial opinions are filed first in chronological order, then civil trial opinions for that year are filed next. There are approximately 1,000 court opinions. A separate listing expands court abbreviations used in the finding aid. In addition to the court opinions, there are articles, biographical materials, and handwritten notes. One article dates from 1952 when Bob Thomas was a 15-year-old junior track star. Polio the next year took away his ability to run but not his competitive spirit. Biographical materials include several tributes to Thomas both before and after his death.