Article III, Section 56 of the Texas Constitution–discussion page

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However, a law that uses a population bracket to limit its application to a class of counties or municipalities does not violate Section 56 if, after considering the subject of the law, one finds a reasonable justification for applying the law to that particular class of counties or municipalities and not to counties or municipalities outside the class.1,

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• Smith v. Decker, 312 S.W.2d 632, 635-36 (Tex. 1958) (citation omitted) ("The use of population brackets alone, that is, segregating one county by the Legislature, by reason of population for the purpose of necessary legislation, does not necessarily render a law special in nature and contrary to the constitutional prohibition against same. However, it has long been held that the use of population brackets alone to direct legislation toward a particular county needing a particular type of legislation will not in itself save the law from being unconstitutional as a special law if the classification bears no reasonable relationship to the objects sought to be accomplished. There appears to be no logical or apparent reason for the exclusion from the Act of counties having cities of 100,000 to 349,999 inhabitants. There must be a substantial reason for the classification such as attempted here, otherwise the Act must fail.")