Texas Constitution:Article IX and Texas Constitution:Article IX, Section 1: Difference between pages
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article IX of the Texas Constitution}} | {{DISPLAYTITLE:Article IX, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution}}{{Template:Texas Constitution|text=As amended November 2, 1999: | ||
'''The Legislature shall have power to create counties for the convenience of the people subject to the following provisions: (1) Within the territory of any county or counties, no new county shall be created with a less area than seven hundred square miles, nor shall any such county now existing be reduced to a less area than seven hundred square miles. No new counties shall be created so as to approach nearer than twelve miles of the county seat of any county from which it may in whole or in part be taken. Counties of a less area than nine hundred, but of seven hundred or more square miles, within counties now existing, may be created by a two-thirds vote of each House of the Legislature, taken by yeas and nays and entered on the journals. Any county now existing may be reduced to an area of not less than seven hundred square miles by a like two-thirds vote. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to, or created into another county, the part stricken off shall be holden for and obliged to pay its proportion of all the liabilities then existing, of the county from which it was taken, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. (2) No part of any existing county shall be detached from it and attached to another existing county until the proposition for such change shall have been submitted, in such manner as may be provided by law, to a vote of the voters of both counties, and shall have received a majority of those voting on the question in each.''' | |||
|editor= | |||
The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1993/dm0252.pdf#page=3 DM-252] (1993), opined that this section does not authorize the legislature to consolidate existing counties. | |||
Note that Sections [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 1|1]] ("The several counties of this State are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of the State."), [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 2|2]], [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 3|3]], [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 7|7]], [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 8|8]], and [[Texas Constitution:Article XI, Section 9|9]] of Article XI concern counties. | |||
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Article VIII, Section | None. | ||
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None. | |||
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* ''Mills County v. Lampasas County'', 40 S.W. 403, 404 (Tex. 1897) ("[I]n our opinion, a more accurate statement of the rule is that when the construction of a statute is doubtful, in arriving at the intention of the legislature, all previous statutes bearing upon the same subject-matter should be considered in so far as they throw light upon that intention. Strictly speaking, there is but one rule of construction, and that is that the legislative intent must govern. All other canons of interpretation, so called, are but grounds of argument resorted to for the purpose of ascertaining the true meaning of the law.") | |||
* ''Mills County v. Brown County'', 20 S.W. 81, 82 (Tex. 1892) ("This provision must be construed in subordination to article 8, § 1, requiring uniformity and equality in taxation; and the legislation contemplated must conform to that article. The provision of the act creating Mills county, fixing its liability according to the amount of territory, ignoring the taxable value of the property therein, imposed a different burden, for the same purpose, upon the citizen within that territory, than he would have had to bear if there had been no severance of the county. The provision in question is therefore unconstitutional and void.") | |||
}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Article VIII, Section 101}} | |||
[[Category:Texas Constitution]] | [[Category:Texas Constitution]] | ||
[[Category:TxCon ArtIX Sec]] | |||
[[Category:TxCon ArtIX]] | |||
Latest revision as of 10:51, December 17, 2020
As amended November 2, 1999:
The Legislature shall have power to create counties for the convenience of the people subject to the following provisions: (1) Within the territory of any county or counties, no new county shall be created with a less area than seven hundred square miles, nor shall any such county now existing be reduced to a less area than seven hundred square miles. No new counties shall be created so as to approach nearer than twelve miles of the county seat of any county from which it may in whole or in part be taken. Counties of a less area than nine hundred, but of seven hundred or more square miles, within counties now existing, may be created by a two-thirds vote of each House of the Legislature, taken by yeas and nays and entered on the journals. Any county now existing may be reduced to an area of not less than seven hundred square miles by a like two-thirds vote. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to, or created into another county, the part stricken off shall be holden for and obliged to pay its proportion of all the liabilities then existing, of the county from which it was taken, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. (2) No part of any existing county shall be detached from it and attached to another existing county until the proposition for such change shall have been submitted, in such manner as may be provided by law, to a vote of the voters of both counties, and shall have received a majority of those voting on the question in each.
Editor Comments
The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. DM-252 (1993), opined that this section does not authorize the legislature to consolidate existing counties.
Note that Sections 1 ("The several counties of this State are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of the State."), 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 of Article XI concern counties.
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
- Mills County v. Lampasas County, 40 S.W. 403, 404 (Tex. 1897) ("[I]n our opinion, a more accurate statement of the rule is that when the construction of a statute is doubtful, in arriving at the intention of the legislature, all previous statutes bearing upon the same subject-matter should be considered in so far as they throw light upon that intention. Strictly speaking, there is but one rule of construction, and that is that the legislative intent must govern. All other canons of interpretation, so called, are but grounds of argument resorted to for the purpose of ascertaining the true meaning of the law.")
- Mills County v. Brown County, 20 S.W. 81, 82 (Tex. 1892) ("This provision must be construed in subordination to article 8, § 1, requiring uniformity and equality in taxation; and the legislation contemplated must conform to that article. The provision of the act creating Mills county, fixing its liability according to the amount of territory, ignoring the taxable value of the property therein, imposed a different burden, for the same purpose, upon the citizen within that territory, than he would have had to bear if there had been no severance of the county. The provision in question is therefore unconstitutional and void.")
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)