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2,224 bytes added ,  23:32, March 22, 2023
→‎Structure: add Articles IX through XIII
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*'''Article VII: Education'''
 
*'''Article VII: Education'''
 
**Establishes provisions for public schools and public universities.  This article has been the subject of numerous lawsuits over public school funding.
 
**Establishes provisions for public schools and public universities.  This article has been the subject of numerous lawsuits over public school funding.
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**The allowability of [[homeschool]]ing in Texas is not guaranteed by the Texas Constitution; it was the subject of a lawsuit ([[Leeper v. Arlington ISD]]) in which the state Supreme Court upheld its allowability.
 
*'''Article VIII: Taxation and Revenue'''
 
*'''Article VIII: Taxation and Revenue'''
 
**Contains numerous restrictions on taxation at both the state and local levels.  Notably, a statewide property tax is prohibited as well as a personal income tax (which Texas has never had, a feature it uses to attract people and businesses to the state).  Also includes many exemptions from property tax (such as 100% disabled veterans and their surviving spouses, and religious and nonprofit organizations.
 
**Contains numerous restrictions on taxation at both the state and local levels.  Notably, a statewide property tax is prohibited as well as a personal income tax (which Texas has never had, a feature it uses to attract people and businesses to the state).  Also includes many exemptions from property tax (such as 100% disabled veterans and their surviving spouses, and religious and nonprofit organizations.
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*'''Article IX: Counties'''
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**Describes the procedures for creating counties (of which Texas has 254, the most of any state) and establishing county seats.  Also discusses various hospital districts, airports, and mental health facilities.
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*'''Article X: Railroads'''
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**Contains a single Section stating that railroads are "public highways" and railroad companies are "common carriers".  The remainder of this Article was repealed in 1969 as part of a major effort to remove obsolete provisions.
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*'''Article XI: Municipal Corporations'''
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**Establishes counties as political sub-units of the state, grants certain powers to cities and counties, and authorizes the Legislature to create [[school district]]s and other special districts.
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**Texas operates under '''Dustin's Rule''', whereby home rule provisions are only allowed where specifically authorized by the Legislature, as follows:
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***Cities with populations exceeding 5,000 can adopt city charters under home rule, if authorized by the voters; the charter cannot be inconsistent with either the Texas Constitution or the general laws of the state (if the population falls below this limit, home rule can still continue).  Cities with populations of 5,000 or fewer may only operate under the general laws of the state.
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***School districts can adopt home rule if authorized by the voters (none, however, have ever done so).
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***Counties and non-school special districts can only operate under the general laws of the state.
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*'''Article XII: Private Corporations'''
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**Contains two sections, one directing the Texas Legislature to establish general laws for the establishment of private corporations, and the other prohibiting their creation by special law.  Five other sections were repealed (four in the 1969 effort and a fifth in 1993).
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*'''Article XIII: Spanish and Mexican Land Titles'''
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**This entire section, which established certain provisions for Spanish and Mexican land titles to appease the Mexican government, was repealed in its entirety in 1969.
    
[[Category:State Constitutions]]
 
[[Category:State Constitutions]]
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