Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 3-c and Texas Constitution:Article V, Section 30: Difference between pages

Latest revision as of 15:23, November 1, 2022

Added November 2, 1954:

The Judges of all Courts of county-wide jurisdiction heretofore or hereafter created by the Legislature of this State, and all Criminal District Attorneys now or hereafter authorized by the laws of this State, shall be elected for a term of four years, and shall serve until their successors have qualified.

Editor Comments

This section provides an exception to Article XVI, Section 30(a) for judges of statutory courts and criminal district attorneys.

—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)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article V, Section 3-c of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Questions of State Law Certified from Federal Appellate Court"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=Added November 5, 1985:
+{{DISPLAYTITLE:Article V, Section 30 of the Texas Constitution (''<small>"Term of Judges of County-Wide Courts and Criminal District Attorneys"</small>'')}}{{Texas Constitution|text=Added November 2, 1954:
-'''(a) The supreme court and the court of criminal appeals have jurisdiction to answer questions of state law certified from a federal appellate court.'''
+'''The Judges of all Courts of county-wide jurisdiction heretofore or hereafter created by the Legislature of this State, and all Criminal District Attorneys now or hereafter authorized by the laws of this State, shall be elected for a term of four years, and shall serve until their successors have qualified.'''
-'''(b) The supreme court and the court of criminal appeals shall promulgate rules of procedure relating to the review of those questions.'''
 |editor=
-Under this section, the state's two high courts are granted original jurisdiction to answer questions of state law certified from a federal appellate court.
+This section provides an exception to Article XVI, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article XVI, Section 30#mw-content-text|30(a)]] for judges of statutory courts and criminal district attorneys.
 |other=
@@ Line 15: / Line 13: @@
 |recent=
-* ''Fire Prot. Serv., Inc. v. Survitec Survival Prods., Inc.'', 649 S.W.3d 197, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2488607990023532344#p202 202-03] (Tex. 2022) (citation omitted) ("The State, as amicus, on the other hand, urges us to decide whether life rafts are 'equipment' covered by the Act, arguing that our precedents require resolution of that question before reaching the constitutional question the Fifth Circuit posed. We of course adhere to our rule that courts must avoid reaching constitutional questions when issues can be resolved on nonconstitutional grounds. . . . We therefore decline the State's invitation to address Survitec's claim that life rafts are not 'equipment' under the Act, and we express no opinion on it.")
+None.
 |historic=
-* ''Lucas v. United States'', 757 S.W.2d 687, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9397562048417946578#p687 687] (Tex. 1988) ("In 1985, Texas voters approved an amendment to our state constitution which became article V, section 3-c. The amendment became effective January 1, 1986, and our court thereafter promulgated an implementing rule as authorized by the constitution. ''See'' Tex. Const. art. V., §§ 3-c(b) and 31; Tex.R.App.P. 114. Because this is the first case to come to us under the new certification procedures, for historical purposes we will first review briefly the steps employed by this court in considering the Fifth Circuit's certification order and, ultimately, agreeing to answer the questions certified.")
+None.
-* ''United Servs. Life Ins. Co. v. Delaney'', 396 S.W.2d 855, [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1089826620805833109#p864 864] (Tex. 1965) (footnote omitted) ("The process is rather like burning a house to roast a pig. A certified question practice, which in the light of the Texas experience, might be expected to present some attendant and vexatious problems, seems more advisable. . . . [T]he question should come directly to this Court from either the Supreme Court of the United States or one of the Circuit Courts of Appeals. Because of the Texas Constitution and the decisions of this Court construing some of its provisions, it would be necessary to amend our fundamental law in order to accomplish the ends desired.")
 }}
-[[Category:Texas Constitution|Article V, Section 3c]]
 [[Category:TxCon ArtV Sec]]