State Capital in Austin Houston City Hall Harris County Civil Courthouse.

State Capital in Austin

Houston City Hall

Harris County Civil Courthouse

Two Constitutions

• Texas has two Constitutions that rule over it. The Texas and the U.S. Constitution.

• This is called Federalism.

• Federalism is a strong federal government (in Washington DC) that shares power with the state governments.

• The state handles any government responsibilities not covered by the federal government. (10th Amendment to the US constitution)

• Examples might be: maintaining highways, prisons, supporting public schools and universities, and public health.

University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at Austin

Huntsville State PrisonHuntsville State Prison

• Texas’s first constitution was adopted in Texas’s first constitution was adopted in 1824 when Texas was part of Mexico and 1824 when Texas was part of Mexico and Mexico became a republic and wrote the Mexico became a republic and wrote the Constitution of 1824.Constitution of 1824.

• In 1827, Coahuila y Tejas wrote a state In 1827, Coahuila y Tejas wrote a state constitution that included Texas because it constitution that included Texas because it was part of Mexico.was part of Mexico.

• Both were written in Spanish.Both were written in Spanish.

ConstitutionTexas’ many ConstitutionsTexas’ many Constitutions

• Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836 and wrote its own constitution for the Republic of Texas.

• The writers based it on the US Constitution.• Looked much like the constitution of the southern

states of the U.S. and included a Bicameral legislature.

REVOLVING CONSTITUTIONSREVOLVING CONSTITUTIONS• 1845 - Texas was annexed by the

U.S. and had to write a new state constitution.

• 1861 - Texas joined the Confederate States of America and again wrote a constitution.

• 1866 - Texas wrote another constitution to rejoin the U.S. after the Civil War.

• 1869 - This constitution was written during Reconstruction by Republicans from mostly out of state. .

• The Constitution of 1876 is last and current constitution we use in the state of Texas

• It was heavily influenced by the administration of Governor E.J.Davis.

The Texas Constitution of 1876

• After the Civil War a “Radical Republican” named Edmund J. Davis was elected Governor.

• He was absolutely hated and despised by most Texans.• After he was run out of office in the election 1874, the

politicians of Texas wrote the Constitution of 1876 to make Texas have a “Limited Government” or a very weak state government so no one like E.J. Davis could ever “hurt” Texas again.

So how many is that?

• 8 in all!!!

• 1824

• 1827

• 1836

• 1845

• 1861

• 1866

• 1869

• 1876

• The State Government is the highest level of Government in Texas. These include the three branches we already talked about.

• The Capital is in Austin and that is where most of the State Government offices are located.

COUNTY COUNTY GOVERNMENTSGOVERNMENTS

Below the State government are Counties.

There are 254 Counties in Texas The most of any state.

IMPORTANT COUNTY OFFICIALS•Each county of Texas is made up of precincts that have a county commissioner. This group of commissioners makes up the County Commissioners Court. Though it’s not really a court, this group sets the tax rate and decides the budget for all county business.

•There are county treasurers and auditors that watch over county money. Some counties have a county attorney. (or Lawyer)

•The county clerk keeps county records including births, deaths, marriage certificates, and property ownership.

• The Sheriff is the top law officer of a county, and all counties have at least one constable which help keep the peace and serve court documents.

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia

Municipal (City) Governments: -The Texas Constitution sets up rules for what type of government a city can choose:

General - Law City

City of less than 5,000 people that must obey laws set up by the legislature.

Bastrop, TexasBastrop, Texas

Home-Rule City

City of more than 5,000 people that has the right to be self-governed.

Houston, TexasHouston, Texas

Most cities in Texas have a Mayor-Council form of government where the citizens of the city elect the Mayor and the Council.

-Some cities such as Dallas have a “Weak Mayor” which has limited authority, while the city council maintains most of the power.

-Houston has a “Strong Mayor”, which has full executive authority and has many more responsibilities.

Other city government forms:

•Council-Manager, like in San Antonio, has the council select a city manager, but maintains most policy making power.

•Commission Systems have the city counsel members each running different sections of the city government.

San Antonio maintains a Council – Manager form of

Government

•Cities in Texas generate most of their money from property and sales tax. Many cities have lower tax rates because they get more money from tourism.

•Cities also make money from business to buy licenses each year to operate and the city collects fees on new building constructions, and inspections.

SCHOOL DISTRICTSSCHOOL DISTRICTS

There are over 1,050 Independent School Districts in Texas. Each district is run by a school board that chooses a superintendent that administrates the whole district.

These ISD’s are funded by the local cities and the state.

Dr. Jim Cain