Article V, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution ("Right of Trial by Jury in District Court")

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Adopted February 15, 1876:

In the trial of all causes in the district courts, the plaintiff or defendant shall, upon application made in open court, have the right of trial by jury; but no jury shall be empaneled in any civil case unless demanded by a party to the case, and a jury fee be paid by the party demanding a jury, for such sum, and with such exceptions as may be prescribed by the Legislature.

Editor Comments

This section is derived from Article IV, Section 16 of the Texas Constitution of 1845, which read: "In the trial of all causes in equity in the district court, the plaintiff or defendant shall, upon application made in open court, have the right of trial by jury, to be governed by the rules and regulations prescribed in trials at law."

Note that Article I, Section 15 also guarantees the right to a jury trial in the district courts for certain causes of action.

The requirement that a fee be paid by the party demanding the jury first appeared in the Texas Constitution of 1876.

In 1887, an amendment that replaced Article V was defeated. It did not include anything comparable to this section.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

  • Barshop v. Medina County Underground Water Conservation Dist., 925 S.W.2d 618, 636 (Tex. 1996) (citations omitted) ("We therefore hold that no right to jury trial under article I, section 15 of the Texas Constitution . . . . We next consider the right to trial by jury protected by article V, section 10 of the Texas Constitution. This provision protects the right to have a jury resolve fact questions in all 'causes' brought in the district courts. Appeals from administrative decisions, however, are not 'causes' within the meaning of this provision. Thus, no right to jury trial attaches to appeals from administrative decisions, and the Act does not violate article V, section 10 of the Texas Constitution.")

Historic Decisions

  • Texas Workers' Comp. Comm'n v. Garcia, 893 S.W.2d 504, 526-27 (Tex. 1995) (citation omitted) ("Article I, section 15 maintains a right to trial by jury for those actions, or analogous actions, tried by jury when the Constitution was adopted in 1876. Article V, section 10 protects the right to have a jury resolve fact questions in all 'causes' brought in the district courts. . . . Although the right to jury trial under the Judiciary article is potentially broader than under the Bill of Rights in that it covers all 'causes' regardless of whether a jury was available in 1876, it can also be narrower in that not all adversary proceedings are 'causes' within the meaning of the Judiciary Article.")
  • State v. Credit Bureau of Laredo, Inc., 530 S.W.2d 288, 292 (Tex. 1975) (citation omitted) ("Some decisions have mistakenly treated the Bill of Rights and the Judiciary Articles as identical in meaning, that is, as protecting the right of trial by jury only as it existed at common law or by statutes in effect at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. . . . [T]he present Judiciary Article protecting the right to a jury was added by the Constitution of 1845 because the Bill of Rights Article contained in the Constitution of the Republic did not extend to causes in equity. In other words, the Judiciary Article was intended to broaden the right to a jury afforded by Article I, Section 15.")
  • Walsh v. Spencer, 275 S.W.2d 220, 223 (Tex.Civ.App.–San Antonio 1954, no writ) (citations omitted) ("[T]he provisions of Art. 5, § 10, of our Constitution are much broader than those of Art. 1, § 15, insofar as the trial of causes in the district court is concerned. Art. 5, § 10, provides: 'In the trial of all causes in the District Courts, the plaintiff or defendant shall, upon application made in open court, have the right of trial by jury * * *.' The meaning of this section was . . . . There are a number of proceedings in the district courts, however, in which a trial by jury may be denied. However, none of the reasons or principle upon which these cases have been decided is involved here.")

Library Resources

Online Resources

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