The Government of Texas consists of a state government, as well as governments at the county and municipal levels. Austin is the capital of Texas. The State Capitol resembles the federal Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., but is faced in Texas pink granite and is topped by a statue of the "Goddess of Liberty" holding aloft a five-point Texas star. The Texas State Capitol, located in Austin Texas, is the fourth building to serve as the seat of Texas government Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Liberty, the freedom to act or believe without being stopped by unnecessary force Early history Sumer The first known uses of the pentagram are found in Mesopotamian writings dating to about 3000 BC The capitol is also notable for facing south toward Mexico City and for purposely being built seven feet taller than the U. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico S. national capitol.
Contents |
Overview
Republican Rick Perry has served as Template:Governor of Texas since December 2000, when George W. Bush vacated the office to assume the Presidency. James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is a Republican Politician and the current Governor of Texas 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by Two Republicans represent Texas in the U. S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (since 1993) and John Cornyn (since 2002). Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison usually known as Kay Bailey Hutchison (born July 22 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) John Cornyn III (born February 2 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Texas. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Texas has 32 representatives in the U. S. House of Representatives: 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
Constitution
The Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, is the second oldest state constitution still in effect. The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U Year 1876 ( MDCCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year 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). Every state in the United States possesses its own constitution The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal Bill of Rights, and includes some provisions unique to Texas. In the United States the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known
Executive branch
- See also: List of Governors of Texas and List of Texas state agencies
The executive branch consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. Governors of Texas State agencies of Texas Brazos River Authority Canadian River Compact Commissioner for Texas Edwards Aquifer Authority The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the United States of America. The Railroad Commission of Texas is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities pipeline safety safety in the Liquefied petroleum The Secretary of State of Texas is one of six state officials designated by the Texas Constitution to form the Executive Department of that U The comptroller decides if expected state income is sufficient to cover the proposed state budget. Except for the secretary of state—who is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate—each of these officials is elected (the three Railroad Commission members are voted at-large; the State Board of Education members are voted in single-member districts). There are also many state agencies and numerous boards and commissions. Partly because of many elected officials, the governor's powers are quite limited in comparison to other state governors or the U. S. President. In popular lore and belief the lieutenant governor, who heads the Senate and appoints its committees, has more power than the governor. Power is a measure of a person's ability to control the environment around them including the behavior of other people The governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature (this power is exclusive to the governor and can be exercised as often as desired). The governor also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.
Legislature
The Legislature of Texas, like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska, is bicameral (that is, it has two chambers). The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and The House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Senate has 31. The speaker of the house, currently Tom Craddick (R-Midland) leads the House, and the lieutenant governor (currently Republican David Dewhurst) leads the state Senate. Thomas Russell “Tom” Craddick (born September 19, 1943) is the first Republican to serve as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Midland is a city in and the County seat of Midland County located on the Southern Plains of the western area of the U David Dewhurst (born August 18, 1945) is the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Texas. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years. The Legislature cannot call itself into special session; only the governor may call a special session, and may call as many sessions as often as desired.
Judicial system
The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions. Capital punishment in TexasThe Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States if not the world Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, which hears civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Texas Supreme Court is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters (including Juvenile delinquency which the law considers to be a civil matter and not criminal The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the Court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.
County government
- See also: List of Texas counties
Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties of any state. List of Texas county name etymologies|List of Texas county seat name etymologies The state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U Each county is run by a Commissioners' Court consisting of four elected commissioners, one from each of four precincts drawn based on population, and a county judge elected from all the voters of the county. Commissioners' Court is the governing body of county government in several US states, including Texas and Missouri. The county judge does not have authority to veto a decision of the commissioners court; the judge votes along with the commissioners. In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners court. Certain officials, such as the sheriff and tax collector, are elected separately by the voters, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets, and sets overall county policy. All county elections are partisan.
Counties also have much less legal power than municipalities. For instance, counties in Texas do not have zoning power (except in very rare circumstances). However, counties do have eminent domain power. Counties do not have "home rule" authority; whatever powers are not specifically granted by the state are not permitted (as an example, most counties have no authority to require property owners to maintain their lands free of weeds and trash).
Unlike other states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments. Cities and counties (as well as other political entities) are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services (as an example, a city and a school district may enter into agreements with the county whereby the county bills for and collects property taxes for the city and school district; thus, only one tax bill is sent instead of three).
Municipal government
Texas does not have townships; areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services. Unincorporated areas are not part of a city; in these areas the county has authority for law enforcement and road maintenance.
Cities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule". A city may elect home rule status (draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise, it is classified as general law and has very limited powers. One example of the difference in the two structures regards annexation. Annexation ( Latin ad, to and nexus, joining is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous General law cities cannot annex adjacent unincorporated areas without the property owner's consent; home rule cities may annex without consent but must provide essential services within a specified period of time (generally within three years) or the property owner may file suit to be deannexed. Once a city adopts home rule it may continue to keep this status even if the population later falls below 5,000.
Larger cities (those exceeding 225,000) have a unique authority: that of "limited annexation", whereby an adjoining area may be annexed for purposes of imposing city ordinances related to safety and building codes. The residents can vote for mayor and council races but cannot vote in bond elections (and, consequently, the city cannot collect city sales tax from businesses or city property tax from owners). The purpose of limited annexation is to allow the city to control development in an area that it eventually will fully annex; it must do so within three years (though it can arrange "non-annexation agreements" with local property owners). During each of the three years, the city must develop a land use plan (zoning, for example), identify needed capital improvements, and identify the financing for such improvements as well as to provide essential services. [1]
Municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan in the sense that candidates do not appear on the ballot on party lines, and do not run as party tickets. In Political science, nonpartisan denotes an Election, event or organization in which the participants declare or do not formally have a Political party However, a candidate's party affiliation is usually known or can be discerned with minimal effort (as the candidate most likely has supported other candidates on partisan tickets). In some instances, an informal citizen's group will support a slate of candidates that it desires to see elected (often in opposition to an incumbent group with which it disagreed on an issue). However, each candidate must be voted on individually.
The city of Houston is the only city in Texas that has a mayor-council form of municipal government. The Mayor-Council government system sometimes called the Mayor-Commission government system is one of two variations of Government used for the most part in modern
School and special districts
In addition to cities and counties, Texas has numerous special districts. The most common is the independent school district, which (with one exception) has a board of trustees that is independent of any other governing authority. School districts are a form of Special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools School district boundaries are not generally aligned with city or county boundaries; it is common for a school district to cover one or more counties or for a large city to be served by several school districts.
Other special districts include Groundwater Conservation Districts (regulatory agencies), river authorities, water supply districts (for irrigation or municipal supply), public hospitals, road districts and community colleges.
As with municipal elections in Texas, board members or trustees are elected on a nonpartisan basis or may be appointed.
See also
References
- ^ Limited Purpose Annexation (PDF). These are tables of congressional delegations from Texas to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. SanAntonio. gov. Retrieved on 2006-04-29. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic