Article XVI, Section 26 of the Texas Constitution

Adopted February 15, 1876:

Every person, corporation, or company, that may commit a homicide, through wilful act, or omission, or gross neglect, shall be responsible, in exemplary damages, to the surviving husband, widow, heirs of his or her body, or such of them as there may be, without regard to any criminal proceeding that may or may not be had in relation to the homicide.

Editor Comments

This section is self-executing.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Travelers Indem. Co. of Illinois v. Fuller, 892 S.W.2d 848, 851-52 (Tex. 1995) ("Thus, the reason for adoption of the constitutional provision was to allow for exemplary damages under the Wrongful Death Act because of an early interpretation that such damages were not authorized by the Act. See Hofer v. Lavender, 679 S.W.2d 470 (Tex.1984). It did not abrogate the common law requirement of actual damages and extend the remedy to those with no cause of action under the Act. The manifest purpose of the language of this constitutional . . . . Fuller's proposed interpretation would have us read the constitution to allow punitive damages without regard to whether the heirs have suffered a compensable injury.")

• Houston & T.C. Ry. Co. v. Baker, 57 Tex. 419, 424-25 (1882) ("There is another fatal objection to the judgment awarding exemplary damages, which is fundamental. By the terms of the constitution, only the surviving husband, widow or heirs of the body of the person whose death occurred by such willful act or omission are entitled to maintain actions for and recover exemplary damages for such homicide. It will not, we apprehend, be seriously claimed that the appellee, Spencer Baker, is heir of the body of his son, Lee Baker. That term has a well-defined meaning at common law . . . . It is only those persons to whom the right is given that can maintain the suit under the constitution for exemplary damages.")

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)