Local Government in Texas

The Kinds of Local Government

Most of the government Texans deal with every day is local. The Texas Municipal League, citing 2022 U.S. Census of Governments figures, counts 254 counties, 1,225 cities, 1,070 school districts, and 2,984 special districts in Texas.

Counties and cities are general-purpose governments. They do many jobs. School districts and special districts are single-purpose governments. They usually do one job, such as running schools or supplying water.

Counties

Texas has 254 counties. The Texas Association of Counties (TAC) describes county government as the arm of state government that delivers many state services at the local level. TAC lists these major county responsibilities:

public safety and justice;
holding elections at every level of government;
keeping public records, including property records and records of births, marriages, and deaths;
building and maintaining roads and bridges;
emergency management;
health and safety services;
collecting property taxes for the county, and sometimes for other taxing units;
vehicle registration and transfers.

The Texas Municipal League notes that a county's organization is fixed by state law, not by local choice. TAC notes that county services are delivered through a number of elected officials rather than one central authority, and that none of them is controlled by another. Each answers to the voters.

The Commissioners Court

The commissioners court is the county's governing body. Every county is divided into four commissioners precincts. The voters of each precinct elect one county commissioner to a four-year term. The four commissioners and the county judge, who presides, make up the court. It has the power over county business that the constitution and state law give it (Texas Constitution, Article 5, Section 18).

Despite its name, its job is running county business. Three members are a quorum for most business. A county tax can be levied only at a regular meeting with at least four members present, and at least three must vote for it (Local Government Code Section 81.006). Each year the court sets a regular meeting day for the coming year (Section 81.005). TAC notes that commissioners court meetings are open to the public and county financial records are open for inspection.

In counties of 225,000 people or fewer, the county judge is the budget officer and must prepare a proposed budget by August 15. After a public hearing, the commissioners court acts on the budget, and the vote to adopt it must be a record vote (Sections 111.002, 111.003, and 111.008).

The County Judge

Each county elects a county judge to a four-year term. The constitution says the county judge "shall be well informed in the law of the State." The county judge presides over the county court, which has the jurisdiction state law gives it, and over the commissioners court (Article 5, Sections 15, 16, and 18).

Other Elected County Officers

The constitution provides for these county and precinct officers, each elected by the voters to a four-year term (Article 5; Article 8, Section 14; Article 16, Sections 44 and 64):

Sheriff. If the office becomes vacant, the commissioners court fills it until the next general election.
County clerk. Clerk of the county court and the commissioners court, and the county's recorder. A county of fewer than 8,000 people may elect one clerk to do the work of both the county clerk and the district clerk.
District clerk. Clerk of the district court.
County attorney. Represents the state in court in counties without a criminal district attorney. Some counties instead have a district attorney or criminal district attorney, as the Legislature provides.
Tax assessor-collector. In a county of fewer than 10,000 people, the sheriff does this job unless the voters choose to elect a separate assessor-collector.
County treasurer and county surveyor. Elected in each county except where the constitution provides otherwise.
Justices of the peace and constables. Elected by precinct. A justice court hears misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only, civil cases of $200 or less, and other cases state law assigns to it.

The number of justice of the peace precincts depends on population. A county of 50,000 or more has at least four and no more than eight. A county of 18,000 or more but under 50,000 has at least two and no more than eight. A smaller county has one precinct, or up to four if the commissioners court decides it needs more (Article 5, Section 18). The office of constable has been abolished in Mills, Reagan, and Roberts counties, where the sheriff took over its duties.

District judges are also elected, by the voters of their judicial districts (Article 5, Section 7).

Cities

Texas has two kinds of cities: general-law and home-rule.

General-law cities can do only what state law expressly allows. State law sets the makeup of the city council. The Texas Municipal League (TML) reports that about 75 percent of Texas cities are general-law cities, and most have 5,000 or fewer people. A city of 5,000 or fewer may be chartered only by general law (Texas Constitution, Article 11, Section 4).

The Local Government Code recognizes several types of general-law city, labeled by letter (Chapter 5):

A Type A city is governed by a mayor and five aldermen elected at large, or, if it uses wards, a mayor and two aldermen from each ward. Terms are two years unless the city adopts longer ones (Section 22.031 and Section 22.035).
A Type B city's first council is a mayor and five aldermen, along with a marshal. Terms are one year unless the city adopts longer ones (Sections 23.021 and 23.026).
A Type C city starts with a mayor and two commissioners (Section 24.021).

Home-rule cities run under a charter their own voters adopt. A city of more than 5,000 people may adopt or amend a charter by a majority vote at an election. A charter cannot conflict with the constitution or state law, and it cannot be amended more often than once every two years (Article 11, Section 5).

TML explains the difference this way: a general-law city looks to state law for what it may do, while a home-rule city looks to state law only for what it may not do. A home-rule city's voters choose its form of government (Local Government Code Section 26.021). TML counts about 385 home-rule cities in Texas, and it reports that most use the council-manager form, where the voters elect a council and the council hires a city manager to run the city's day-to-day affairs. The others use a mayor-council form.

Voters can change a home-rule charter. The city council may put a charter amendment on the ballot on its own. It must do so if a petition is signed by 5 percent of the city's qualified voters or 20,000 voters, whichever is fewer (Section 9.004).

School Districts

Each independent school district is governed by an elected board of trustees. The board oversees the district's management and makes sure the superintendent carries out the district's plans (Education Code Section 11.051).

The board acts only as a body. A single trustee cannot act for the board unless the board authorizes it. Decisions take a majority vote at a meeting held under the Open Meetings law (Government Code Chapter 551).
A board has the number of trustees it had on September 1, 1995. A three-member or five-member board may expand to seven.
Trustees serve staggered terms of three or four years (Section 11.059).
A board may choose to elect trustees from single-member districts (Section 11.052).

Among the board's duties are adopting the budget and the tax rate, publishing an annual performance report, having the district's accounts audited every year, and holding elections (Section 11.1511). The board hires the superintendent, the district's educational leader and chief executive officer, under a contract of up to five years (Section 11.201).

Special Districts

Special districts are local governments created to provide one service. The Texas Comptroller lists services such as water conservation, toll roads, hospitals, libraries, utilities, and fire control. Depending on its purpose, a district may be funded by taxes or by user fees, and it may issue debt. TML notes that most special districts serve a limited area, and that their number has grown over the past 20 years, mostly from new water districts in unincorporated areas.

Who runs a special district depends on the law that created it. Under Chapter 49 of the Water Code, which applies broadly to water districts, directors serve staggered four-year terms and are elected in May of even-numbered years unless another law sets a different date (Section 49.103). Some districts created by special law are not required to elect their directors at all, and their boards are chosen as that law provides.

The Comptroller keeps a Special Purpose District Public Information Database with financial and tax reports filed by districts.

Councils of Governments

Councils of governments, also called regional planning commissions, are voluntary associations of local governments in a region. They plan programs on a regional basis and give local governments a place to work together. They cannot levy taxes or take on debt. Each is run by a board of elected officials from its member governments (TML).

Who Elects Whom

Office	Elected by	Term
County judge	Voters of the whole county	4 years
County commissioner	Voters of one commissioners precinct	4 years
Sheriff, county clerk, district clerk, county attorney, tax assessor-collector	Voters of the whole county	4 years
Justice of the peace, constable	Voters of one precinct	4 years
Mayor and council, general-law city	City voters, as state law sets	2 years in Type A, 1 year in Type B, unless a longer term is adopted
Mayor and council, home-rule city	City voters, as the charter sets	Set by the charter
City manager	Hired by the council in council-manager cities	Not elected
School trustee	Voters of the district, at large or by single-member district	3 or 4 years
Superintendent	Hired by the school board	Contract of up to 5 years
Water district director	Voters of the district, unless the creating law says otherwise	4 years, staggered

Sources

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