Constitution of Texas

The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of Texas.

The current document was adopted on February 15, 1876, and is the seventh constitution in Texas history (including the Mexican constitution) . The previous six were adopted in 1827 (while Texas was still part of Mexico and half of the state of Coahuila y Tejas), 1836 (the Constitution of the Republic of Texas), 1845 (upon admission to the United States), 1861 (at the beginning of the American Civil War), 1866 (at the end of the American Civil War), and 1869.

At 86,936 words, the constitution is the second-longest state constitution in the United States, exceeded only by the Constitution of Alabama, which is 388,882 words long. Much of that length comes from its status as one of the most amended state constitutions; only the Alabama and California constitutions have been amended more often.[2] From 1876 to 2019, the Texas Legislature proposed 690 constitutional amendments. Of that total, 507 were approved by the electorate, 180 were defeated, and 3 never made it on the ballot.[3] Most of the amendments are due to the document's highly restrictive nature. The constitution stipulates that the State of Texas has only those powers explicitly granted to it; there is no counterpart of the federal necessary and proper clause. Despite its length, it is not nearly as long as the Alabama Constitution (which has been amended over 900 times despite having been adopted 25 years after Texas' current constitution).

As with many state constitutions, it explicitly provides for the separation of powers and incorporates its bill of rights directly into the text of the constitution (as Article I). The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal Bill of Rights, and includes some provisions unique to Texas.