Article VII, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution

This section was repealed November 6, 2001.

Editor Comments

As adopted in 1876, the section read: "All lands heretofore granted for the benefit of the Lunatic, Blind, Deaf and Dumb, and Orphan Asylums, together with such donations as may have been or may hereafter be made to either of them, respectively, as indicated in the several grants, are hereby set apart to provide a permanent fund for the support, maintenance and improvement of said asylums. And the Legislature may provide for the sale of the lands and the investment of the proceeds in manner as provided for the sale and investment of school lands in section 4 of this Article."

The former section, never amended, was repealed because the corpus of the four permanent funds that it mandated had become insignificant.

In 2001, about $600,000 was being held in the four funds and only 160 acres of public land remained for the benefit of the relevant institutions.

The ballot proposition that repealed this section included a temporary transition provision providing for the disposition of those funds and lands.

—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)