Article III, Section 6 of the Texas Constitution ("Qualifications of Senators")

As amended November 2, 1999:

No person shall be a Senator, unless he be a citizen of the United States, and, at the time of his election a qualified voter of this State, and shall have been a resident of this State five years next preceding his election, and the last year thereof a resident of the district for which he shall be chosen, and shall have attained the age of twenty-six years.

Editor Comments

This section has been amended once. The 1999 modification was part of a "constitutional cleanup amendment."

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Luna v. Blanton, 478 S.W.2d 76, 78-79 (Tex. 1972) ("It is settled, of course, that where the Constitution prescribes the qualifications for holding a particular office, it is beyond the power of the Legislature to change or add to these qualifications unless the Constitution gives that power. . . . The Legislature declared in plain terms that the requirements set out in the forepart of Article 1.05 'shall not apply to any office' for which the Constitution of Texas prescribes qualifications in conflict therewith. Article III, Section 6, of the Constitution prescribes the qualifications for the office of senator, and the qualifications there set out differ from and are in conflict with those found in Article 1.05.")

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)