Article III, Section 51-c of the Texas Constitution ("Aid or Compensation to Persons Improperly Fined or Imprisoned")

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Added November 6, 1956:

The Legislature may grant aid and compensation to any person who has heretofore paid a fine or served a sentence in prison, or who may hereafter pay a fine or serve a sentence in prison, under the laws of this State for an offense for which he or she is not guilty, under such regulations and limitations as the Legislature may deem expedient.

Editor Comments

In 1937, a Section 51-c (which concerned assistance to the blind) was added to Article III.

In 1945, that section was repealed and its substance transferred to Article III, Section 51-a.

Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

  • Brown v. City of Houston, 660 S.W.3d 749, 755-56 (Tex. 2023) ("Over a century after Texas authorized state penitentiaries [], the People decided that those who had been wrongfully imprisoned should not bear the loss of such misfortune alone. That sovereign policy decision manifested itself in a constitutional amendment approved in November 1956, which authorizes the legislature to 'grant aid and compensation to any person' fined or imprisoned 'for an offense for which he or she is not guilty, under such regulations and limitations as the Legislature may deem expedient.' Tex. Const. art. III, § 51-c. The amendment was a cautious, aspirational step. It did not directly promise anything to anyone, for by its terms the amendment was not self-executing.")

Historic Decisions

  • State v. Clements, 319 S.W.2d 450, 452 (Tex.Civ.App.–Texarkana 1958, ref'd) ("The expressed objectives of the amendment are to: (1) Make innocent persons fined or imprisoned for violating the law of Texas a subject of aid and compensation; (2) remove, as to the class of persons named in the amendment, the prohibition of Sec. 51, Art. III against granting funds to an individual; (3) empower enactment of such regulations and limitations the Legislature decides will promote the objective of aid and compensation to the class of persons named. . . . The right to receive aid and compensation is contingent upon action by the Legislature.")

Library Resources

Online Resources