Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 32

Added November 7, 2017:

Notwithstanding Section 1, Article II, of this constitution, the legislature may:

(1) require a court in which a party to litigation files a petition, motion, or other pleading challenging the constitutionality of a statute of this state to provide notice to the attorney general of the challenge if the party raising the challenge notifies the court that the party is challenging the constitutionality of the statute; and

(2) prescribe a reasonable period, which may not exceed 45 days, after the provision of that notice during which the court may not enter a judgment holding the statute unconstitutional.

Editor Comments

The ballot proposition that added this section validated the then-existing version of Section 402.010 of the Government Code.

And effectively overruled the Court of Criminal Appeals's recent decision in Ex parte Lo, 424 S.W.3d 10 (Tex.Crim.App. 2013).

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

None.

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)