Article V, Section 29 of the Texas Constitution ("County Courts: Terms of Court; Probate Business")
As amended November 6, 2001:
The County Court shall hold at least four terms for both civil and criminal business annually, as may be provided by the Legislature, or by the Commissioners Court of the county under authority of law, and such other terms each year as may be fixed by the Commissioners Court; provided, the Commissioners Court of any county having fixed the times and number of terms of the County Court, shall not change the same again until the expiration of one year. Said court shall dispose of probate business either in term time or vacation, under such regulation as may be prescribed by law. Until otherwise provided, the terms of the County Court shall be held on the first Mondays in February, May, August and November, and may remain in session three weeks.
Editor Comments
This section, added in 1883 and amended once, concerns subject matter that could be dealt with solely by statute.
Note that the first sentence of Article V, Section 17 reads: "The County Court shall hold terms as provided by law."
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
- Henn v. City of Amarillo, 301 S.W.2d 71, 74 (Tex. 1957) ("In determining this issue of voidness, it is necessary to consider certain detailed constitutional provisions relating to the authority of commissioners courts to establish terms for county courts. Article 5, § 29 of the . . . . The Constitution does not restrict the authority of the Commissioners Court to actions taken at regular terms. In fact the clause relating to additional County Court terms, that is those in excess of four per year, contains no reference to 'authority of law' which is a phrase generally construed as relating to legislative action or control. It has been held that this constitutional provision is self-operative.")
- Kilgore v. State, 108 S.W. 662, 663 (Tex.Crim.App. 1908) ("Section 29 of article 5, provides that there shall not be less than four terms of the county court each year . . . . There seems to be some conflict in the language of sections 17 and 29, contained in article 5 of the Constitution. Section 17 requires that there shall be at least six terms a year, whereas section 29 requires that there shall be at least four terms a year; but it will be observed that section 29 was amended in 1891, which is later in point of time than section 17. In any event, we are of opinion that, as to the conflict between the two sections, the later will control as regards fixing the terms of the county court.")
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)