Article V, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution ("Juror Qualifications")

Added November 6, 2001:

(a) The legislature shall prescribe by law the qualifications of grand jurors and petit jurors.

(b) The legislature shall enact laws to exclude from serving on juries persons who have been convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes.

Editor Comments

The original Article V, Section 14, which was never amended, was repealed in 1985.

The former section became obsolete shortly after the adoption of the state constitution.

The current section was derived from Article XVI, Section 2 and Article XVI, Section 19.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Bass v. Allbright, 59 S.W.2d 891, 894 (Tex.Civ.App.–Texarkana 1933, ref'd) ("And the very ordinance here in question on appeal was undertaken to be submitted as a part of the Constitution, namely: Article 5, section 14. 'The judicial districts in this state and the time of holding the courts therein are fixed by ordinance forming part of this constitution, until otherwise provided by law.' Section 14, it is thought, declares, as was plainly intended it should do, that the 'Ordinance,' which fixed the terms of the district courts throughout the state, shall be a constituent part of the new Constitution . . . . An ordinance appended to the Constitution may be regarded as part of the fundamental law.")

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)