The Three Branches of
Texas State Government
Structured much like the
U.S. Federal Government
3 branches of state government
Judicial branch consists of
• Texas Criminal Courts
• Texas Civil Courts
• Texas Courts of Criminal
Appeals (appeals courts)
• Texas Supreme Court
• Texas Criminal Justice System
Judicial Branch duties
• Sees that Texas laws
are applied fairly
• Oversees law
enforcement
Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals
determines whether trials
held in trial courts were
fair.
Texas Supreme Court
• The name of the highest court in Texas to
hear criminal cases is the Supreme Court
• Nine justices sit on the Texas Supreme
Court.
judicial term of office
• Consists of the judges for all courts
• The length of the term of office for the
judges of the higher level state courts is
six years.
Legislative branch
The Texas Legislature consists of
• Texas House of Representatives
• Texas Senate
Legislative powers
The Texas Legislature has the power to:
• Propose amendments to the Constitution
of Texas.
• Make laws.
• to propose a law to raise revenue (a tax
law).
Making laws
• Proposed laws called BILLS are
introduced in the House or Senate, then
after being sent to committee for
consensus, a vote is held.
• If approved, the Bill is sent to the governor
for approval…..
To become a LAW
• If signed by governor, the Bill becomes a
LAW.
• If not signed-vetoed-it is no law
• If the governor vetoes a bill, the
Legislature can override the veto with twothirds vote.
Legislative service
The length of a term of office for members of the
Texas House of Representatives is two years.
Texas Senate
• The length of the term of office for
members of the Texas Senate is four
years
• Thirty-one senators serve in the Texas
Senate.
• One must be at least 26 years old to be
elected to the Texas Senate.
Financing
The Texas Legislature is responsible for
maintaining a balanced state budget.
It does this through
• Taxes
• Licenses
• fees
impeachment
• The Texas Legislature
has the sole power of
impeachment
(removing someone
from office.)
• Only one Texas
governor has been
impeached-”Pa”
Ferguson
House service
• People elected to the Texas House of
Representatives must be at least 21 years old.
The Governor
• The Governor is the
highest member of
the executive branch
Executive terms of Service
• The length of term for
the governor of Texas
is four years.
Executive branch
The Governor has the
power to
• call special sessions
of the legislature for
emergency state
business.
• declare martial law in
case of a state
emergency.