Article XVII, Section 1, of the Constitution of 1876 provides that two-thirds of all members of each house of the Texas legislature may propose amendments at any regular biennial session and specify the date on which proposed amendments will be submitted to the voters. Members of the legislature may also propose amendments at special sessions as long as the subject of them have been included among the session's purposes for convening. Since the days of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas publicizing an amendment has been required. The proposed amendment must be published twice in all newspapers that print official notices. The first printing can appear no sooner than sixty and no later than fifty days before an election, and the second is published on the same day of the following week. The secretary of state's office is responsible for preparing explanatory statements and arranging for newspaper publication. Explanatory statements require approval by the attorney general. A copy of the complete text of each amendment is also posted in every county courthouse at least thirty days before the election. An amendment is adopted if it receives a favorable majority of the votes cast on it. Most amendments are voted on in the November general election or in a special election called by the legislature. The legislature prepares the ballot language for each amendment. In various Texas constitutions there has never been any limitation on the number of amendments proposed. By the end of 1950 the legislature had proposed 193 amendments, and 107 had been adopted by the voters. By the time of the Constitutional Convention of 1974, the legislature had submitted 343 amendments to the voters since 1876. Of this number, 219 had been approved. By the end of 1994, 521 amendments had been proposed, and 353 had been approved by Texas voters. The record number of amendments proposed in any one election year was twenty-five in 1987. In 1972 an amendment was passed that allowed proposed constitutional amendments to be considered and adopted during special sessions, the only time Section 1 has been amended. The new language in Section 1 allowed for the proposal of amendments for revising the constitution. This opened the door to the possibility of comprehensive revision. On November 7, 1972, voters approved the adoption of an amendment that called for the establishment of a constitutional revision commission and for the convening of the Sixty-third Texas Legislature as a constitutional convention at noon on the second Tuesday in January 1974, for the purpose of writing a new constitution to be submitted to the voters of Texas. Proposals to voters in the November 4, 1975, election included eight amendments that, except for the Bill of Rights, composed a new constitution for Texas. All were rejected by the voters.
We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. Every dollar helps.
Howard A. Calkins, "The Need for Constitutional Revision in Texas," Texas Law Review 21 (May 1943). James Dickson, "Erratic Continuity: Some Patterns of Constitutional Change in Texas since 1975," Texas Journal of Political Studies 14 (Fall-Winter 1991). Janice C. May, Amending the Texas Constitution, 1951–1972 (Austin: Texas Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 1972). Seth Shepard McKay, Seven Decades of the Texas Constitution (Lubbock, 1942). Practicing Texas Politics (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1971). L. C. Reithmayer, "Amendments to the Texas Constitution," Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 22 (September 1941). Irvin Stewart, "Constitutional Amendments in Texas," Southwestern Political Science Quarterly 3 (September 1922).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. Howard A. Calkins, “Constitutional Amendments,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 26, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/constitutional-amendments. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. TID: MHC10
FeaturesThe Texas Constitution describes the structure and function of the government of Texas. It consists of a preamble and 17 articles. BackgroundPreambleSee also: Preamble, Texas Constitution and Preambles to state constitutionsThe preamble to the Texas Constitution states:
Article 1: Bill of RightsSee also: Article 1, Texas ConstitutionArticle 1 of the Texas Constitution is entitled the "Bill of Rights" and consists of 34 sections. The article originally contained 29 sections; since 1876, five sections have been added. Most of the article's provisions concern specific fundamental limitations on the power of the state government and certain rights granted to citizens that cannot be ignored under any circumstances.[3] Every provision of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution has a counterpart in Article 1 of the Texas Constitution. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 2: Power of GovernmentSee also: Article 2, Texas ConstitutionArticle 2 of the Texas Constitution is labeled as the "Power of Government" and provides for the separation of the powers of the government. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 3: Legislative DepartmentSee also: Article 3, Texas ConstitutionArticle 3 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Legislative Department." It vests the legislative power of the state in the Legislature of the State of Texas and establishes that the legislature consists of the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 4: Executive DepartmentSee also: Article 4, Texas ConstitutionArticle 4 of the Texas Constitution is entitled "Executive Department" and consists of 26 sections. It describes the powers and duties the state's executive officials. Article 5: Judicial DepartmentSee also: Article 5, Texas ConstitutionArticle 5 of the Texas Constitution is labeled as the "Judicial Department" and consists of 32 sections, three of which have been repealed. It describes the composition, powers and jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court of Appeals, the District, County and Commissioners Courts and the Justice of the Peace Courts. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 6: SuffrageSee also: Article 6, Texas ConstitutionArticle 6 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Suffrage" and consists of five sections. This article defines classes of persons not allowed to vote including minors, persons convicted of a felony and people deemed mentally incompetent by a court. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 7: EducationSee also: Article 7, Texas ConstitutionArticle 7 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Education" and consists of 20 sections, two of which have been repealed. It establishes provisions for public schools, asylums and universities. This article also discusses the creation and maintenance of the Permanent University Fund and mandates the establishment of a "university of the first class" (the University of Texas) as well as an agricultural and mechanical university (Texas A&M University).[2] Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 8: Taxation and RevenueSee also: Article 8, Texas ConstitutionArticle 8 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Taxation and Revenue." It places various restrictions on the ability of the Legislature and local governments to impose taxes. Most of these restriction concern local property taxes and, in some cases, prohibits statewide property taxes). Texas does not have a personal income tax, and section 24, added by an amendment adopted in 1993, restricts the ability of the Texas State Legislature to impose such a tax. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 9: CountiesSee also: Article 9, Texas ConstitutionArticle 9 of the Texas Constitution is labeled as "Counties" and consists of 14 sections, three of which have been repealed and one of which is blank. It provides rules for the creation of counties and determining the location of county seats. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 10: RailroadsSee also: Article 10, Texas ConstitutionArticle 10 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Railroads." It originally consists of nine sections, eight of which have been repealed. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 11: Municipal CorporationsSee also: Article 11, Texas ConstitutionArticle 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. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 12: Private CorporationsSee also: Article 12, Texas ConstitutionArticle 12 of the Texas Constitution is labeled "Private Corporations" and consists of seven sections, five of which have been repealed. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 13: Spanish and Mexican Land TitlesSee also: Article 13, Texas ConstitutionArticle 13 of the Texas Constitution was repealed on August 5, 1969. It was labeled as "Spanish and Mexican Land Titles" and established provisions for Spanish and Mexican land titles. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 14: Public Lands and Land OfficeSee also: Article 14, Texas ConstitutionArticle 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. Its single section establishes the General Land Office and the office of commissioner of the General Land Office. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 15: ImpeachmentSee also: Article 15, Texas ConstitutionArticle 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. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 16: General ProvisionsSee also: Article 16, Texas ConstitutionArticle 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. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Article 17: Mode of Amending the Constitution of This StateSee also: Article 17, Texas ConstitutionArticle 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. Click here to read this article of the Texas Constitution. Amending the constitutionSee also: Amending state constitutions, Laws governing ballot measures in Texas and Article 17, Texas Constitution
HistoryOn February 15, 1876, 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 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas.[5] Once statehood was achieved, Texas adopted a constitution in 1845, 1861, 1866, 1869 and 1876.[6][7] The current constitution included 289 sections organized into 17 articles when it was ratified in 1876. Since then, 211 new sections have been added, and 66 of the original sections plus 49 of the added sections have been removed.[8] The Texas constitution is one the of longest and oldest still in effect.[8]
|