Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 13 and Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 14: Difference between pages

Latest revision as of 21:02, November 1, 2022

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The original Article V, Section 14, which was never amended, was repealed in 1985.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

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article V, Section 13 of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Grand and Petit Juries in District Court: Composition and Verdict"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=As amended September 13, 2003:
+{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article V, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Juror Qualifications"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=Added November 6, 2001:
-'''Grand and petit juries in the District Courts shall be composed of twelve persons, except that petit juries in a criminal case below the grade of felony shall be composed of six persons; but nine members of a grand jury shall be a quorum to transact business and present bills. In trials of civil cases in the District Courts, nine members of the jury, concurring, may render a verdict, but when the verdict shall be rendered by less than the whole number, it shall be signed by every member of the jury concurring in it. When, pending the trial of any case, one or more jurors not exceeding three, may die, or be disabled from sitting, the remainder of the jury shall have the power to render the verdict; provided, that the Legislature may change or modify the rule authorizing less than the whole number of the jury to render a verdict.'''
+'''(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=
-As adopted in 1876, this section read: "Grand and petit juries in the District Courts shall be composed of twelve men, but nine members of a grand jury shall be a quorum to transact business and present bills. In trials of civil cases, and in trials of criminal cases below the grade of felony in the District Courts, nine members of the jury, concurring, may render a verdict, but when the verdict, shall be rendered by less than the whole number, it shall be signed by every member of the jury concurring in it. When, pending the trial of any case, one or more jurors not exceeding three, may die, or be disabled from sitting, the remainder of the jury shall have the power to render the verdict; ''provided'', that the Legislature may change or modify the rule authorizing less than the whole number of the jury to render a verdict."
+The original Article V, Section 14, which was never amended, was repealed in 1985.
-The section has been amended twice. The 2001 amendment substituted "persons" for "men." The 2003 amendment mandated that trial juries in misdemeanor cases heard in district court be composed of six persons.
+The former section became obsolete shortly after the adoption of the state constitution.
+The current section was derived from Article XVI, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 2|2]] and Article XVI, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 19|19]].
 |other=
@@ Line 19: / Line 23: @@
 |historic=
-None.
+* ''Bass v. Allbright'', 59 S.W.2d 891, [https://cite.case.law/pdf/10265755/Bass%20v.%20Albright,%2059%20S.W.2d%20891%20(1933).pdf#page=4 894] (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.")
 }}
+[[Category:Repealed Section]]
 [[Category:TxCon ArtV Sec]]