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TEXAS STATUTES THE LAW IN TEXAS PRESENTATION BY JILL HENDERSON 4-2006 COMPONENTS OF TX. LAW Common law from judicial decisions Constitution of 1876 Statutes/Codes Agency Rules/Regulations Court Rules, misc. Municipal Ordinances and County Rules (Minutes) Texas Constitutions -1
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TEXAS STATUTES THE LAW IN TEXAS PRESENTATION BY JILL HENDERSON 4-2006
COMPONENTS OF TX. LAW • Common law from judicial decisions • Constitution of 1876 • Statutes/Codes • Agency Rules/Regulations • Court Rules, misc. • Municipal Ordinances and County Rules (Minutes)
Texas Constitutions -1 • Numerous ones from 1836-1876; present one is from 1876; we cannot get rid of it and it has been amended numerous times. • Is Supreme law of the land in Tex., but is trumped by the Federal Constitution in federal matters. • Divided into 17 articles w/ Preamble and Bill of Rights
Texas Constitutions - 2 • Published by West; contained in Vols. 1, 1A, 1B, 2 & 3 • Unannotated version is in Vols. 1; then annotated Version thru vol. 3 • Vol. 3 also contains: previous Tex. Constitutions, Magna Charta, US Declaration of Independence; US Constitution
TEXAS STATUTES • Official compilation began @1856 – last official one in 1925. • @ 50 Vols. are numbered 1-23 and arranged A-Z and §1-9307. • Several subject arrangements already in statutes.
TEXAS REVISION PROGRAM • Began in 1963, auth. By Tex. Gov. Code §323.007. • Tex. now has both statutes and codes. It is an ongoing program. • Codification collects like-subjects and arranges them together into a single code. • Purpose of codification was to make law more accessible & more understandable.
TEXAS CODES • Tex. Will have 27 eventual codes. • Newest codes are Spec. Dist. Local Laws (2003) and Business Organization Code (2006). • Probate & CCrP are arranged like codes, but have not been officially codified into the Codes yet. • Each Code has its own index and there is a general purpose index.
ANNOT. ,HISTORY AND PP’S • Annotations are added notes to help you understand that section. • Can include: court cases (notes of decisions), interpretive comm., historical and statutory notes, etc. • Each law section has a history (credit) trail which tells you date of the § enactment and amendments. • Pocket parts contain the most recent sections. Located in back of book or in stand-alone pamphlets.
OTHER PARTS OF VERNON’S • Texas Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure • Misc. Forms • Uniform Commercial Code • Indices, tables, etc.
DERV./ DISP. TABLES • Purpose of these tables are to locate relocated sections. • Derv. = new sections (left column) to old sections (right columns) • Disposition = opposite of above • Found in a stand-alone “Master Disposition Table” volume or in each separate Codes.
TEXAS SESSION LAWS - 1 • Tex. Legislature meets every 2 years. • Enacted laws collected in a set named General and Special Laws of the State of Texas. • As a HB or SB is enacted, for purposes of arrangement, it is collected into a numerically sequenced chapter.
TEXAS SESSION LAWS - 2 • “NEW is in “italics”. Deletions or minor changes are in strikeout. • Regular type equals unchanged portions • This set has lists of bills, indices, tables, etc.
TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE CODE • Not part of the 27 Codes; can be cited as “TAC” • Collected rules/regulations of the state agencies, etc. • Patterned after the 50 Titles of the CFR. Tex. has 16 Titles, numbered 1-43. • Proposed rules must first be published in the Texas Register.
TX ATTY. GEN. OPINIONS • The AG acts as the atty. for the State of Tex. • Only certain gov. officials can ask for an opinion. See Tex. Gov. Code, Chap. 402. • Opinions are not binding, but are persuasive argument, except “unless clearly wrong.” • Formal = general interest and letter opinions = local interest only
ORDINANCES AND CNTY RULES • Most cities have published codes books. Some web sites collect published city codes. • Abilene now only has an on-line version. • Large counties may also have some sort of publication of their rules; Taylor Cnty. rules are found in the minutes of Cnty. Clerk.