How many constitutions have governed texas

As momentous as were the Civil War and its aftermath, continuity outweighed change in the fundamental structure of Texas government provided for in the four constitutions from to Constitutionally speaking, Texas was ruled in Texas v. White never to have left the Union.

The Constitution of approved after secession and the charter drafted under presidential Reconstruction were in actuality amendments to the constitution. The amendments, which were never submitted to the voters, were minimal with respect to structure. A new provision expressly authorizing the legislature to call a constitutional convention had no lasting effect, but the requirement that amendments be proposed only at regular legislative sessions was not altered until The revisions introduced some important provisions, the most significant of which was the governor's power to veto items of appropriation bills, a reform that originated with the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.

The document was also the first to confer constitutional status on the county courts as integral parts of the judicial system and to set up the county commissioners' court in its present form. Moreover, the constitution for the first time directed the legislature to organize a university, to educate Black children in separate schools , and to include a constitutional structure for state administration of the public schools.

Although approved by the voters, the constitution was rejected within a few months by the newly elected Radical-dominated Congress. The Constitution of , drafted under congressional Reconstruction by a convention meeting in and , was within Texas constitutional traditions with some important exceptions unique to the document, among which were annual legislative sessions and six-year overlapping terms for senators.

Gubernatorial appointment powers, augmented considerably by the legislature and the necessity of filling numerous vacancies, were not without precedent in the and documents.

Four-year executive terms originated in It is of interest that the governor actually lost power in , the power to adjourn the legislature granted in the earlier charters. Although much of local government was retained, county courts were abolished and in general power was more centralized. The charter also gave unprecedented support for public education under centralized administration. The voters ratified the new constitution and elected officers to the new government at the same election in The Republican party won control of the legislature for the first and, to date, the only time.

A few months later, normal relations were restored between Texas and the United States. Although much of benefit occurred under the constitution and Republican leadership, particularly in education and other public services, the regime was unpopular with the White majority for many reasons, such as the establishment and deployment of the Texas State Police , martial law, high taxes and debt, and the new public-education system.

After the Democrats regained governmental control in and , it was a foregone conclusion that a new constitution would be adopted. Following rejection by the legislature of a proposed document prepared by a joint legislative committee in , a constitutional convention call was referred to and accepted by the voters, who elected delegates at the same election.

The Constitution of , drafted by the Constitutional Convention of , is still in effect. The convention, at which the Democrats dominated but the Grange was the most important interest group, restored most of the earlier structural features changed by the charter, such as biennial legislative sessions, four-year terms for senators, two-year terms for governor but without term limits , election of the attorney general and judges, and inclusion of a county court.

But there were new provisions as well. The House was scheduled to reach a maximum of members as population grew, and the size of the Senate was fixed at thirty-one. The governor could veto bills after the session ended and, during sessions, was given more time to consider bills before taking action.

Also, for the first time, the chief executive was empowered to specify legislation to be considered at special sessions. A new court, the Court of Appeals, vested with appellate jurisdiction in criminal and some civil cases, was established, and the Supreme Court's jurisdiction was limited to civil cases only. Municipalities with populations of 10, or fewer had to be chartered by general law, while larger cities might have their charters granted and amended by special local law.

Compensation for legislators, the governor, the attorney general, and certain other officers was set in the constitution and could not be changed without amending the constitution. The most attention has been paid to the onerous fiscal restrictions placed on the legislature by the new charter. Of enormous importance were limits on property-tax rates, the first in a Texas constitution, and the flat ban on financial assistance from state and local governments to individuals, associations, or corporations, exceptions to which required constitutional expression.

The limit on state debt, although severe, was not as restrictive as that of the charter. Other restrictions included a prohibition against state bank corporations, carried over from the first three constitutions, and a long list of subjects on which the legislature could not enact a special or local law. The convention even tried to turn the legislature into one of limited rather than plenary powers by enumerating subjects on which it could legislate Art.

III, Sec. The articles on railroads , the regulation of which was a major goal of the Grangers, and private corporations also contained some restraints on the legislature by mandates or prohibitions. Suffrage provisions were liberal, the convention having defeated the proposal for a poll tax. Aliens who had indicated their intention of becoming citizens were eligible to vote, a continuation from the charter.

But for the first time, voting in municipal tax and bond elections was limited to property owners. The Bill of Rights was retained, with some revisions and additions from preceding constitutions. Of particular significance were new provisions prohibiting appropriations for sectarian purposes and a requirement that officeholders "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being. In sharp contrast to all the other Texas constitutions, the amending article provided for an easy amending process.

A proposed amendment required a two-thirds vote of the legislature in regular session and the approval of a majority of voters. The process was used frequently in the years ahead. The most significant developments in governmental organization during the last quarter of the nineteenth century were in administration and the judiciary.

There were no constitutional changes by amendment in the legislature, the governorship, or cities and counties, only minor changes in the suffrage, and none in the Bill of Rights. The establishment of the Railroad Commission of Texas by the legislature in was a major event.

A constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to establish a railroad regulatory agency was the main issue in the gubernatorial election of Four years later another amendment changed the agency from an appointive to an elective body whose three members serve six-year staggered terms.

A second change of lasting importance was the restructuring of the state's appellate courts by an amendment ratified in The Court of Appeals was transformed into the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals , which has jurisdiction over criminal cases only; this arrangement left civil cases to the Supreme Court and established the bifurcated Texas judicial system with two courts of last resort.

The amendment also set up new intermediate courts of appeals with jurisdiction limited to civil cases only. The courts of civil appeals remained without criminal jurisdiction until A development at the lowest level of the judicial system was the establishment by statute in of corporation courts renamed municipal courts in in every incorporated municipality in the state.

During this period the state's system of higher education finally took shape. The University of Texas was established more than forty years after the Congress of the Republic of Texas had set aside land in for such an institution actually for two, one in the east and one in the west. In pursuance of a mandate in the Constitution, the legislature enacted laws in providing for a board of regents, fees, and other needs, and the university was formally opened in In an election in the voters had selected Austin as the site.

A primary source of funding was the Permanent University Fund , continued in the Constitution of from its origins but denied the rich railroad lands originally assigned. The legislature substituted arid lands in West Texas that in the next century proved rich in petroleum. The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, supported by land grants under the Morrill Act of and state funds, preceded the University of Texas by accepting students in The constitution also provided for a general college for "colored youth," but it was never built; in its stead the legislature established Prairie View State Normal School, which began operation in Texas State College for Women in Denton did not accept students until , after its establishment in At the public school level a constitutional amendment in authorized the legislature to form school districts empowered to levy property taxes for the support and maintenance of public schools.

The amendment also increased state funding for public education. During the first thirty years of the twentieth century there were virtually no significant constitutional changes in the three branches of state government, although serious attempts were made to revise the constitution by the convention method. The legislature, with Progressive support, adopted two resolutions to place on the ballot a convention call, but in the governor vetoed the first and in the voters rejected the second.

Also, though the governorship did not change by amendment, Governor James E. Ferguson was impeached and removed from office in , the first and only time that a Texas governor has been forced by this method to leave office. Legislative sessions took on a peculiar cast from to , explained largely by constitutional provisions that paid legislators five dollars a day for the first sixty days of a regular session but only two dollars thereafter, and five dollars a day for special sessions.

Regular sessions were short, all but one ending in March. The constitution also provided for precinct voting and mandated a poll tax, but not as a prerequisite for voting. It provided for homestead grants of acres to heads of families and eighty acres to single men eighteen or more years of age, and for protection against the forced sale of a homestead for debt.

It declared railroads to be common carriers, forbade their consolidation and further aid in grant of money or bonds, and authorized the legislature to enact regulatory laws, including maximum freight and passenger rates.

To promote the construction of new track, the document authorized the legislature to grant the railroads sixteen sections of public land for each mile of road constructed. It prohibited the state from chartering banks but mandated the legislature to enact general laws for the establishment of private corporations other than banks, that would provide fully for the adequate protection of the public and individual stockholders. Overall, the Constitution of complied with public opinion.

It provided for biennial sessions of the legislature, low salaries for public officials, precinct voting, abolition of the road tax, and a return to the road-working system; for a homestead exemption clause, guarantees of a low tax rate, a less expensive, locally controlled, segregated school system, and a less expensive court system; for county and justice of the peace courts; and for popular election of officers.

It also prohibited the registration of voters and grants of money or bonds to railroads. The document was adequate for a rural people engaged principally in subsistence farming, but not for an urban-industrial-commercial society. Very few changes were made during the first half century of the constitution's existence, but since then it has been changed at a steadily increasing rate.

Changes are made through amendments submitted to the voters by consent of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature and approved by a majority of those voting. Of ninety-nine amendments submitted by September , only forty-three were adopted, but by the voters had approved proposals. No provision was made in the constitution for calling another constitutional convention. On several occasions there has been considerable agitation for a new document, but the voters defeated a proposal for a constitutional convention in , and in they rejected an extensive revision prepared by the legislature.

The constitution's more than 63, words make it one of the most verbose of state constitutions. Its wealth of detail causes it to resemble a code of laws rather than a constitution. Its many requirements and limitations on both state and local governments make it one of the most restrictive among state constitutions. Some of its passages are so poorly drafted as to need clarification for understanding, and others have been declared by the Texas Supreme Court to be beyond interpreting.

Finally, since many of its provisions relating to the same subject are scattered widely throughout the text, a detailed index is necessary. Most of the numerous amendments have dealt with the legislature, the judiciary, public education, and state finances. Texas Democrats gained control of Congress in and decided it was time to draft a new constitution for Texas. The Texas Constitutional Convention of met in Austin with the purpose of replacing the Constitution of it was believed that the new constitution should restrict the state government and hand the power back to the people.

Some examples of how the government was restricted were [1] :. Article 10 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Railroads. Article 11 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Municipal Corporations" and consists of 13 sections, two of which have been repealed.

It recognizes counties as legal political sub-units of the state, grants certain powers to cities and counties and empowers the legislature to form school districts. Article 12 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Private Corporations" and consists of seven sections, five of which have been repealed. Article 13 of the Texas Constitution was repealed on August 5, Article 14 of the Texas Constitution is labeled as "Public Lands and Land Office" and consists of its eight sections, seven of which have been repealed.

Article 15 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Impeachment" and consists of nine sections. It lays out the rules under which Texas government officials can be removed from office and describes the process of impeachment. The Texas House of Representatives is granted the power of impeachment. Article 16 of the Texas Constitution is entitled "General Provisions" and consists of 73 sections, 27 of which have been repealed and one of which has been redesignated.

Miscellaneous provisions include limits on interest rates, civil penalties for murder, the punishment for bribery, prohibitions on garnishment of wages and provisions for the constitutional protection of a mechanic's lien.

Article 17 of the Texas Constitution is entitled "Mode of Amending the Constitution of This State" and consists of two sections, of which one has been repealed. It prescribes the procedure for amending the constitution.

On February 15, , the current Texas state constitution took effect. This version is the state's fifth document since Texas achieved statehood.

Prior to entering the United States, Texas had an additional two constitutions, the Coahuila y Tejas and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. The current constitution included sections organized into 17 articles when it was ratified in