Article XIV, Section 3 of the Texas Constitution
This section was repealed August 5, 1969.
Editor Comments
The former section was adopted in 1876 and never amended.
It read: "The Legislature shall have no power to grant any of the lands of this State to any railway company except upon the following restrictions and conditions: First. That there shall never be granted in any such corporation more than sixteen sections to the mile, and no reservation of any part of the public domain for the purpose of satisfying such grant shall ever be made. Second. That no land certificate shall be issued to such company until they have equipped, constructed and in running order at least ten miles of road and on the failure of such company to comply with the terms of its charter, or to alienate its land at a period to be fixed by law; in no event to exceed twelve years from the issuance of the patent, all said land shall be forfeited to the State and become a portion of the public domain, and liable to location and survey. The Legislature shall pass general laws only, to give, effect to the provisions of this section."
Categorized as "deadwood," it and numerous other sections were repealed by the same ballot proposition in 1969.
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
None.
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)