Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 56: Difference between revisions

Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 56 (view source)

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-This important section, adopted in 1876, generally prohibits the enactment of "local" laws and "special" laws. In addition, Article XII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XII, Section 1|1]] mandates that "[n]o private corporation shall be created except by general laws." Cf. ''Harwood v. Wentworth'', 162 U.S. 547, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9629641612988174310#p563 563-64] (1896) ("We are of the opinion that the territorial act is not a local or special law . . . . The act is general in its operation; it applies to all counties in the Territory; it prescribes a rule for the stated compensation of certain public officers; no officer of the classes named is exempted from its operation; and there is such a relation between the salaries fixed for each class of counties, and the equalized assessed valuation of property in them, respectively, as to show that the act is not local and special in any just sense, but is general in its application to the whole Territory and designed to establish a system for compensating county officers that is not intrinsically unjust, nor capable of being applied for purposes merely local or special.").
+This heavily litigated section generally prohibits the enactment of "local" laws and "special" laws. In addition, Article XII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XII, Section 1|1]] mandates that "[n]o private corporation shall be created except by general laws." Cf. ''Harwood v. Wentworth'', 162 U.S. 547, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9629641612988174310#p563 563-64] (1896) ("We are of the opinion that the territorial act is not a local or special law . . . . The act is general in its operation; it applies to all counties in the Territory; it prescribes a rule for the stated compensation of certain public officers; no officer of the classes named is exempted from its operation; and there is such a relation between the salaries fixed for each class of counties, and the equalized assessed valuation of property in them, respectively, as to show that the act is not local and special in any just sense, but is general in its application to the whole Territory and designed to establish a system for compensating county officers that is not intrinsically unjust, nor capable of being applied for purposes merely local or special.").
 Unfortunately, much of the jurisprudence regarding this type of restriction is rather indefinite. Cf. ''Henderson v. Koenig'', 168 Mo. 356, [https://texaslegalguide.com/images/Mo_356.pdf#page=17 372] (1902) ("The act in question is ''local'' as to the city of St. Louis, and ''special'' as to the incumbent of the office of judge of probate."); Charles Binney, ''Restrictions Upon Local and Special Legislation in State Constitutions'' [https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/lXQ1AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA25 25-26] (1894) ("(1) A general law is one which applies to and operates uniformly upon all members of any class of persons, places or things, requiring legislation peculiar to itself in the matter covered by the law. (2) A special law is one which relates either to particular persons, places or things, or to persons, places or things which, though not particularized, are separated, by any method of selection, from the whole class to which the law might, but for such limitation, be applicable. (3) A local law is one whose operation is confined within territorial limits other than those of the whole State or any properly constituted class of localities therein.").
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 This section has been amended once. The 2001 modification was part of a "constitutional cleanup amendment." It made several stylistic changes and transferred the substance of Sections [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 22|22]] and [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 43|43]] of Article XVI to this section. The local and special laws authorized by other sections, either expressly or by implication, include laws: (1) creating or affecting a conservation and reclamation district (Article XVI, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 59|59]]); (2) creating or affecting a hospital district (Article IX, Sections [[Texas Constitution:Article IX, Section 4|4]]-[[Texas Constitution:Article IX, Section 11|11]]); (3) creating or affecting an airport authority (Article IX, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article IX, Section 12|12]]); (4) concerning the court system (Article V, Sections [[Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 1|1]], [[Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 7|7]], [[Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 8|8]], [[Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 21|21]]); (5) creating or affecting a road or water district (Article III, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 52|52]]); (6) granting aid or a release from taxes in cases of public calamity (Article III, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 51|51]], Article VIII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article VIII, Section 10|10]]); (7) providing for consolidation of functions of political subdivisions (Article III, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article III, Section 64|64]]); (8) relating to stock laws (Article XVI, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 23|23]]); and (9) providing for road maintenance (Article VIII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article VIII, Section 9|9]]).
-As reflected by the decisions referenced below, the Texas jurisprudence in this area is within the national mainstream. The governing rule can be summarized as follows: A statute which relates to persons, places or things as a class, both in the present and in the future, which bona fide class is based upon a substantial difference which bears a reasonable relation to the purpose of the statute is a general law. An enactment which relates to particular persons, places or things of a class; to a class as it is constituted at a given time without allowance for changes in the future; or to a pretended class which bears no reasonable relation to the purpose of the relevant statute is a special law. A local law is a special law in which the places to which the enactment applies are territorial subdivisions. Note that the substance of the foregoing rule is routinely stated in different terms. More importantly, recognize that the rule is often ignored by Texas courts when necessary to reach a "fair and just" result.
+As reflected by the decisions referenced below, the Texas jurisprudence in this area is within the national mainstream. The governing rule can be summarized as follows: A general law is a statute which relates to persons, places or things as a class, both in the present and in the future, which "bona fide" class is based upon a substantial difference which bears a reasonable relation to the purpose of the statute is a general law. A special law is an enactment which relates to particular persons, places or things of a class; to a class as it is constituted at a given time without allowance for changes in the future; or to a "pretended" class which bears no reasonable relation to the purpose of the relevant statute. A local law is a special law in which the places to which it applies are territorial subdivisions of the state. Note that the substance of the foregoing rule is routinely stated in different terms. More importantly, recognize that the rule is often ignored by Texas courts when necessary to reach a "fair and just" result.
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