Article III, Section 30 of the Texas Constitution ("Laws Passed by Bill; Amendments Changing Purpose Prohibited")

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Adopted February 15, 1876:

No law shall be passed, except by bill, and no bill shall be so amended in its passage through either House, as to change its original purpose.

Editor Comments

Note that the Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. DM-263 (1993) (citation omitted), opined that: "More importantly, even if a court were to conclude that the intent of the Senate committee substitute was completely contrary to the original intent of H.B. 241, it is well-established that courts will not 'go behind [a] bill, signed, enrolled, and approved by the governor, to inquire into the changes which it underwent while passing the legislature.'"

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

Parshall v. State, 138 S.W. 759, 763 (Tex.Crim.App. 1911) ("Both this court and our Supreme Court, in well-considered opinions, have adopted that construction of the constitutional provision to the effect that where the Constitution does not affirmatively require the journals to show a given fact that the enrolled bill, properly attested by the presiding officer of each house of the Legislature, approved by the Governor, filed in the Secretary of State's office, and published under the authority of the state as a valid act of the Legislature, is absolutely conclusive of the validity thereof, in accordance with the construction first mentioned just above.")

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)