Amending the Texas Constitution: Process, History, and Notable Changes

The Texas Constitution can only be changed through a formal amendment process that requires action by both the Texas Legislature and the state's voters. This page covers the constitutional mechanics of that process, the historical pattern of amendments since 1876, notable changes that have reshaped Texas law, and the boundaries that distinguish state constitutional amendment from ordinary legislation. Understanding this process is foundational to interpreting Texas constitutional and legal authority and the broader structure of Texas government.

Definition and scope

The Texas Constitution of 1876 — formally the Constitution of the State of Texas — establishes the supreme law of the state, superseding all state statutes and agency rules. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, which has been amended 27 times since ratification, the Texas Constitution has been amended more than 500 times, making it one of the most frequently amended state constitutions in the United States (Texas Legislative Council, Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876).

This high amendment frequency reflects a structural feature of the 1876 document: it contains detailed policy provisions — on taxation, debt limits, and local government — that would be treated as ordinary statutes in other states. Because these provisions are embedded in the constitution itself rather than in the Texas Government Code or Texas Local Government Code, changing them requires the full amendment process rather than a simple legislative majority.

Scope of this page: This page covers the Texas state constitutional amendment process as governed by Article XVII of the Texas Constitution. It does not address amendments to the U.S. Constitution under Article V of the federal document, federal preemption questions (addressed separately at Texas Preemption and Federal Supremacy Issues), or the separate process by which Texas could call a constitutional convention. Federal court interpretation of state constitutional provisions also falls outside this page's coverage.

How it works

The amendment process is governed by Texas Constitution, Article XVII, Section 1, and proceeds in five discrete phases:

  1. Legislative Proposal. A joint resolution proposing an amendment must pass both chambers of the Texas Legislature — the House of Representatives (150 members) and the Senate (31 members) — by a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber. This threshold requires 100 votes in the House and 21 votes in the Senate. The Texas Legislature meets in regular session for 140 days every two years in odd-numbered years, though the Governor may call special sessions.

  2. Secretary of State Review. Once passed, the joint resolution is transmitted to the Texas Secretary of State, who publishes the proposed amendment and prepares the official ballot language. The Secretary of State assigns a proposition number for the November election ballot.

  3. Public Notice Period. The proposed amendment must be published at least twice in each county of the state with a newspaper, or posted at the county courthouse if no newspaper is available, during the period preceding the election (Texas Election Code, Chapter 3).

  4. Voter Ratification. Texas voters decide proposed amendments at a general election or, if the Legislature specifies, a special election. Approval requires a simple majority of votes cast on that specific proposition — not a majority of all registered voters. Amendments are almost always placed on the November ballot in odd-numbered years.

  5. Proclamation and Codification. If ratified, the Governor issues a proclamation declaring adoption. The amendment is then codified into the official text of the Texas Constitution maintained by the Texas Legislative Council.

Contrast with ordinary legislation: A bill becomes law with a simple majority in each chamber plus the Governor's signature (or veto override). A constitutional amendment bypasses the Governor entirely — executive approval or veto plays no role — and requires direct voter approval. This makes the amendment process significantly harder than passing a statute, which can be reviewed at Texas Legislative Process and Law Creation.

For a wider conceptual framework on how law is structured and enacted in Texas, see How the Texas and U.S. Legal System Works.

Common scenarios

Texas constitutional amendments historically cluster around four subject areas:

Finance and taxation. The 1876 constitution imposed strict limits on state debt and taxation that have required repeated amendment to accommodate modern government. The homestead tax exemption provisions in Article VIII have been amended to adjust exemption amounts and eligibility categories.

Judicial structure. Changes to the number, jurisdiction, or compensation of courts cannot be made by statute alone when the court's existence is constitutionally anchored. For context on how courts are structured, see Texas Court System Structure.

Local government authority. Article IX and Article XI govern county and municipal structures. Amendments in these areas have addressed annexation powers, metropolitan transit authorities, and special district financing. The Texas Local Government Code implements many of these constitutional provisions at the statutory level.

Rights expansions and restrictions. Article I — the Texas Bill of Rights — has been amended to address rights not enumerated in the original document. Notable examples include the 1972 Equal Legal Rights Amendment (Texas Constitution, Article I, Section 3a), ratified two years before the federal Equal Rights Amendment failed. For related rights principles, see Texas Equal Protection Principles.

A notable historical amendment: in 2003, Texas voters ratified Proposition 12, authorizing the Legislature to cap noneconomic damages in civil lawsuits — a power the Legislature then exercised by enacting Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 74, which set a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages against physicians.

Decision boundaries

Several distinctions define the limits and internal logic of the Texas constitutional amendment process.

Amendment vs. constitutional convention. Article XVII, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution allows the Legislature to submit the question of calling a constitutional convention to voters. A convention could rewrite the document wholesale rather than amend it piecemeal. Texas has not held a constitutional convention since 1875, and no convention has been called under the current constitution's framework.

State vs. federal constitutional floors. A Texas constitutional amendment cannot reduce rights below the floor set by the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by federal courts. An amendment that violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process or equal protection guarantees, for example, would be unenforceable regardless of its ratification by Texas voters. This intersection is addressed more fully at Texas Due Process Protections and Texas Separation of Powers.

Revision vs. amendment. Some state courts distinguish between "revisions" (wholesale structural changes) and "amendments" (limited modifications) in determining whether a change can proceed by simple amendment or requires a convention. Texas courts have not drawn a rigid revision-amendment line, but the theoretical boundary exists and has been litigated in other states with similar constitutional structures.

Proposition number and ballot title disputes. The Secretary of State's authority to craft ballot language has been the subject of litigation when opponents argue that language is misleading. Texas courts have authority to review ballot title accuracy, and the Texas Supreme Court has addressed such challenges in the context of election law review. For foundational legal terminology used across these concepts, see Texas and U.S. Legal System Terminology and Definitions.

Interaction with statutory law. When a constitutional amendment is ratified, conflicting statutes are superseded automatically. The Legislature is not required to pass implementing legislation unless the amendment itself expressly calls for it. Where implementation is required, the Texas Legislative Council drafts conforming bills for consideration in the next regular session.

For the broader regulatory environment governing Texas government and legal institutions, see Regulatory Context for the Texas and U.S. Legal System, and for a comprehensive starting point across Texas legal topics, see the Texas Legal Services Authority home page.

References

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