Article V, Section 27 of the Texas Constitution

This section was repealed November 6, 2001.

Editor Comments

As adopted in 1876, the section read: "The Legislature shall, at its first session, provide for the transfer of all business, civil and criminal, pending in District Courts, over which jurisdiction is given by this Constitution to the County Courts, or other inferior courts, to such County or inferior courts, and for the trial or disposition of all such causes by such County or other inferior courts."

The former section, which was never amended, was a transition provision that became obsolete shortly after the adoption of the state constitution.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Hardeman v. Morgan, 48 Tex. 103, 106-07 (1877) ("Appellee's cross-action . . . was not asserted until the 19th of September, 1876. Jurisdiction over this case, as then presented, having been taken, by the adoption of the Constitution, from the District Court, and given to the Justices' Court, it could only be legally proceeded with thereafter in the latter tribunal. The only action which the District Court could subsequently take in the case, was to have an order entered upon the minutes of said court transferring it to the Justices' Court. All other or further proceedings had in the case by the District Court, after its jurisdiction had been revoked by the organic law, were absolutely null and void.")

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)