Article III, Section 57 of the Texas Constitution ("Notice for Local or Special Law")

Adopted February 15, 1876:

No local or special law shall be passed, unless notice of the intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the locality where the matter or thing to be affected may be situated, which notice shall state the substance of the contemplated law, and shall be published at least thirty days prior to the introduction into the Legislature of such bill and in the manner to be provided by law. The evidence of such notice having been published, shall be exhibited in the Legislature, before such act shall be passed.

Editor Comments

Note that Article III, Section 56(b) generally prohibits "local or special" laws.

A local bill proposes a local law that applies to a limited area of the state.

A bracket bill proposes a law that applies to a limited area based on criteria.

Depending on its wording and effect, a bracket bill may be judged a local bill.

A special bill proposes a special law that applies to a limited class of persons.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Connor v. City of Paris, 27 S.W. 88, 92 (Tex. 1894) ("That the legislature may empower a city to levy upon abutting property an assessment to pay a part of the cost for improving a street upon which such property fronts is too well settled by the decisions of this court to admit of argument. . . . It is claimed that the charter, so far as it authorizes the assessment, is void, because no notice was required to be given by the council before the ordinance was adopted; being in violation of article 3, § 57, of the constitution. This was not a special law, within the meaning of that section, which has reference alone to the acts of the legislature.")

Library Resources

• Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (this multi-volume and up-to-date resource is available at all law libraries and many municipal libraries)

• The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (this one-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

• The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (this two-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

Online Resources

• Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (this resource is published and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)

• Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)

• Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)