The Texas Constitution is the supreme law of the state, ranking just below the U.S. Constitution, and it does far more than organize state government. Ratified in 1876 after Reconstruction, it was written by framers who distrusted concentrated power and wrote their limits directly into the text, which is why it has grown into one of the longest state constitutions in the country. Voters have approved more than 500 amendments since ratification, adding specific rules on taxes, property, schools, and spending that in most states would live in ordinary statutes. The practical effect is that the document reaches into daily life in Texas: your paycheck, your home, the taxes you pay, and the rights you can assert against the government all trace back to specific provisions in it.
Rights the Constitution Guarantees You
Article I, the Texas Bill of Rights, opens the constitution rather than trailing it as amendments the way the federal Bill of Rights does. The framers wanted individual liberty stated first, as the foundation of everything that follows.
Protection From Unreasonable Searches
Section 9 bars unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that any warrant be supported by probable cause under oath, with the place and the person or item described as specifically as possible.1Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 1 – Sec 9 State law builds on this: a magistrate cannot sign a search warrant without a sworn affidavit, and officers who execute one must prepare a written inventory of what they seize and leave a copy with the property owner.2State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure – Chapter 18 Search Warrants
Religious Liberty
Sections 6 and 7 draw a firm line between government and religion. No one can be forced to attend, build, or financially support a place of worship, and the state cannot spend public money on any religious organization or seminary.3State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 1 – Bill of Rights
The Right to Bear Arms
Section 23 guarantees every citizen the right to keep and bear arms for lawful self-defense or defense of the state, while giving the legislature authority to regulate how weapons are carried in order to prevent crime.3State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 1 – Bill of Rights That dual structure, an individual right paired with legislative regulatory power, has shaped Texas firearms law for generations.
No Imprisonment for Debt
Section 18 flatly prohibits imprisonment for debt. Courts cannot be used as collection tools for private financial obligations, which is one of several places in the constitution where consumer protection is written into the fundamental law.
Rights of Crime Victims
Section 30 gives crime victims the right to be treated with fairness and dignity throughout the criminal justice process and to be reasonably protected from the accused. On request, victims can attend public court proceedings connected to the offense and confer with the prosecutor’s office.3State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 1 – Bill of Rights
Protections for Your Money, Home, and Paycheck
Some of the most practically important parts of the Texas Constitution sit in Article XVI, far from the headlines. These are the provisions residents are most likely to encounter in real life.
Your Homestead Cannot Be Forced to Sale for Most Debts
Section 50 shields a Texas homestead from being seized and sold for most debts. If you owe money on a credit card, a personal loan, or a business debt, creditors generally cannot force the sale of your home. The exceptions are narrow and spelled out in the text: the original purchase loan, unpaid property taxes, certain written home improvement contracts, home equity loans that satisfy strict requirements including an 80% loan-to-value cap, and a few other listed categories.4Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 16 – Sec 50 The home equity rules are among the most detailed in the entire constitution, which reflects how cautiously Texas has treated any lien on a family home.
Wages Cannot Be Garnished for Most Debts
Section 28 is a protection that often surprises people moving to Texas from other states. Current wages for personal services cannot be garnished, with narrow exceptions for court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance.5State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article XVI Section 28 A credit card issuer or medical creditor who wins a judgment against you in Texas cannot order your employer to withhold part of your paycheck. Federal debts such as student loans and federal taxes follow federal garnishment rules, which can override this state protection.
A Default Cap on Interest Rates
Section 11 sets a usury ceiling. Unless the legislature has specifically authorized a higher rate for a particular kind of lending, any contract charging more than ten percent annual interest is usurious. If a contract doesn’t specify any interest rate at all, the rate defaults to six percent.6State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article XVI Section 11 The legislature has carved out higher authorized rates for many types of consumer lending, but the constitutional default remains the backstop.
Community Property in Marriage
Section 15 makes Texas a community property state. Property you owned before marriage, or acquired during marriage by gift or inheritance, stays your separate property. Nearly everything else acquired during the marriage is community property, owned equally by both spouses. Couples can use written agreements to reclassify assets or to keep the income from separate property separate. These rules shape divorce, estate planning, and what creditors can reach.
Homestead Exemption From School Property Taxes
Local governments can tax property even though the state cannot, and the constitution softens that burden through the homestead exemption. As of 2025, the exemption shields $140,000 of a primary residence’s market value from school district property taxes, raised from $100,000 by a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2025.7State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 8 – Taxation and Revenue
Agricultural Land Valuation
Section 1-d requires that farmland and ranchland be assessed based on productive agricultural capacity rather than market value. In areas where residential development has driven surrounding land prices up, that distinction can be the difference between a workable tax bill and one that forces a family off land they’ve worked for generations.7State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 8 – Taxation and Revenue
Taxes the State Cannot Charge You
Article VIII is where the constitution’s suspicion of government reaches its peak. The framers, and the voters who have amended the document since, built a wall of specific prohibitions the legislature cannot cross without a constitutional amendment.
The most consequential is Section 24-a, added by voters in 2019, which prohibits the legislature from imposing any tax on individual net income. Before 2019, the earlier Section 24 technically allowed an income tax if voters approved it in a statewide referendum. The 2019 amendment repealed that pathway and replaced it with a flat ban.7State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 8 – Taxation and Revenue
Other prohibitions in the same article include:
- No tax on an individual’s or family’s net worth.
- No state estate, inheritance, or gift tax triggered by death or the transfer of an estate.
- No state-level ad valorem tax on property within Texas (Section 1-e).
- No tax on transactions that convey title to real estate.
Because these bans sit in the constitution itself, the legislature cannot enact any of them without first proposing a constitutional amendment and winning voter approval.7State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 8 – Taxation and Revenue
How Texas Government Is Structured
The three branches are familiar in outline but distinctive in detail, and each is designed to limit what state government can do.
A Part-Time Legislature on a Balanced Budget
Article III creates a legislature that meets every two years for a regular session capped at 140 days.8State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 3 Section 24 – Compensation and Expenses of Members of Legislature; Duration of Regular Sessions Only the governor can call a special session between regular ones, and the governor sets its agenda. The Senate has 31 members and the House has 150, each from population-based districts.9Texas Legislature Online. About the Texas Legislature
Section 49a adds a pay-as-you-go rule with no real federal equivalent. Before each regular session, the Comptroller of Public Accounts submits a sworn estimate of expected revenue for the next two-year cycle, and no appropriation bill can go to the governor unless the Comptroller certifies that the spending fits inside that estimate.10State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 3 Section 49a – Financial Statements and Revenue Estimate by Comptroller of Public Accounts If a spending bill exceeds that ceiling, it goes back to the originating chamber, and legislators must cut spending or find new revenue. The only override requires a four-fifths supermajority in both chambers declaring an emergency of “imperative public necessity,” a threshold almost never met.
Section 21 also protects legislators from being questioned anywhere else for words spoken during floor debate, so they can speak freely without fear of defamation suits over official statements.11State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 3 – Legislative Department
A Plural Executive
Article IV fragments executive authority. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller of Public Accounts, and Commissioner of the General Land Office are all elected independently by voters statewide (the Secretary of State is the main exception), and each serves a four-year term.12State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article IV – Executive Department The governor cannot hire or fire them. In practice, the Attorney General can pursue legal positions the governor opposes, and the Comptroller can refuse to certify spending the governor supports.
What the governor does hold is the veto. After the legislature passes a bill, the governor has ten days (excluding Sundays) to sign it, veto it, or let it become law unsigned, and twenty days to file objections if the legislature has adjourned. For appropriations, the governor can line-item veto individual items while approving the rest of the budget.13State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 4 Section 14 – Approval or Veto of Bills Overriding a veto takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber, but because many vetoes land after the biennium’s session has ended, overrides are rare.
Two Courts of Last Resort
Article V creates a court system with an unusual split at the top. The Supreme Court of Texas has final jurisdiction over civil and juvenile matters, and the Court of Criminal Appeals is the last word on criminal cases.14State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 5 – Judicial Department Below them sit fourteen intermediate courts of appeals, plus district courts, county courts, and justice of the peace courts.
A candidate for the Supreme Court must be at least thirty-five, licensed to practice law in Texas, and have at least ten years as a practicing lawyer or judge (or a combination) with no license revocation or suspension during that period.15State of Texas. Texas Constitution – Article 5 Section 2
Who Can Vote in Texas
Article VI sets voter eligibility. To register, you must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the county where you apply, and at least eighteen years old on Election Day. Texas lets seventeen-year-olds who will turn eighteen by Election Day register early, beginning at seventeen years and ten months.16VoteTexas.gov. Voter Registration Eligibility in Texas
A final felony conviction disqualifies a person from registering, but eligibility is restored as soon as the full sentence is complete, including prison time, parole, and probation. Deferred adjudication does not count as a final conviction, so a person on deferred adjudication keeps the right to vote. A conviction still on appeal is not yet “final” and does not trigger disqualification either.17Texas Secretary of State. Effect of Felony Conviction on Voter Registration This matters because many Texans assume any felony permanently strips voting rights, which is not the case.
How the Constitution Gets Changed
Article XVII sets a deliberately high bar. An amendment must first be proposed during a regular or special legislative session and pass both chambers by a two-thirds vote of all elected members, not just those present. That means at least 100 House members and 21 senators have to vote yes. Once approved, the proposed amendment must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper in each county, starting at least three months before the election. Voters then decide in a statewide election, and a simple majority of those voting on the measure is enough to ratify. If the amendment passes, the governor issues a proclamation and the new language takes effect.
Through November 2023, the legislature had proposed 714 amendments; voters approved 530 and rejected 181.18Texas Legislative Council. Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments – 2025 The volume reflects the document’s extreme specificity. Because so many operational details, from the homestead exemption amount to the ban on income taxes, are written into the constitution rather than left to ordinary legislation, even routine policy changes often require sending the question to voters. The upside is that Texans themselves have the final word on how their government operates and what it can tax, spend, or regulate.