Chapter 13
Local Government
In Texas
Local Government in Texas
• Local officials should be easily accountable to
the public.
• Conditioned upon public and media attention
– More time cost to follow local news and politics
• Easier to keep informed of higher offices
– High volume of national media coverage in
virtually all outlets, including local news
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Local Government in Texas
• Texas has more than 4,835 local governments.
– That is *a lot* of government for a state so much
associated with limited and small government.
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254 county units
1,209 municipal (cities) units
1,082 school districts
2,291 special districts
– Ex.: water, utility, community college, hospital
County Government in Texas
• More authority in sparsely populated areas
• Administer state laws (do little legislation)
• Historical origins, began as “municipalities”
– 1835, 23 municipalities
– 1836, Republic of Texas changes name to
“counties”
– 1921, there were 254 counties (same as today)
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County Government in Texas
• County commissioners court
– Main governing unit of the county
– Sets budget and county tax rate
• County may not legislate much, but tax rates
certainly impact local residents, business, and
industry
• Composition
– One county judge
– Four county commissioners
The County Commissioners
Court
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County Government in Texas
• County judge
– Elected countywide
– Four-year terms, no limits
– In rural counties, may also serve as actual judge
– Most cases is administrator for the county
• County commissioners
– Elected by geographic districts
• Each one-quarter of county
– Four-year terms, no limits
County Government in Texas
• County government responsibilities
– Maintain roads, bridges, and county jails
– Cover some health care costs for indigent
– Large counties maintain public facilities
• Libraries, parks, or public hospitals
• Assist with natural disaster logistics and costs
• Administer all elections in the county
– No matter the offices on the ballot, counties are
responsible for election administration
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County Government in Texas
• County government responsibilities, staff, and
resources vary dramatically
– Reflect population and land size differences
• Compare
– Loving County: pop. 94; size 681 sq. mi.
– Harris County: pop. 4.2 million; size 1778 sq. mi.
• Medium and small counties vulnerable
– Natural disasters, costly trials can exhaust budget
Functions of County
Government
• Five main functions of county government
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Road and bridge construction and maintenance
Law enforcement
Dispute resolution
Record keeping
Social services
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Functions of County
Government
• Law enforcement
– Sheriff: chief county law enforcement officer
– Provide deputies for courthouses
– Maintain county jails
• County and district courts
– Attorneys for county and district
• DAs typically handle the more serious crimes.
• County prosecutors take less serious cases.
• In smaller counties, duties are not split in that
fashion.
The Functions of County
Government
In rural parts of
Texas, county courts
are where civil and
criminal cases are
heard. This photo
shows the Jasper
County Courthouse
during the capital
murder case of the
men accused of the
1998 dragging death
of James Byrd Jr.
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Functions of County
Government
• County clerks keep records.
– Vital stats for county (births, deaths, marriages)
– Issue licenses (driving, marriage)
– Maintain court records
– Record property transactions
• Dispute resolution
– Justice of the peace, county and district courts
resolve civil disputes
Functions of County
Government
• Counties may provide a range of services.
– Some of them are a matter of administering
federal- and state-funded programs
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Nutrition and housing assistance
Health care (including mental health)
Public health monitoring and records
Public parks
Fire and sanitation
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Are Some Counties Too Small?
• There is no uniformity of state and county laws
because there is great variation among Texas
counties and the times in which their laws were
passed.
• Texas has 160 counties with populations under
30,000.
• Of those, 137 have fewer than 20,000 citizens.
• Small counties are significantly less likely to send
criminals to death row (in large part because of the
expense of trying capital cases).
Municipal (City) Government in
Texas
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1,209 municipalities in Texas
Municipalities are state creations.
– The state can create, merge, or disband them.
Towns with >5,000 residents may apply for “home-rule” status.
– City charter recognized by the state
Others are general-law cities.
– Cities with fewer than 5,000 residents, are governed by a general state law
rather than by a locally adopted charter.
Alternatively, towns may follow the basic rules set out by the state for all
municipalities.
Texas Municipal League - Professional organization and lobbying arm for city
government
Cities have authority to provide services directly to citizens
– Sometimes through franchises to private companies
Have broad regulatory authority in areas of zoning, buildings, signs, nuisances,
and subdivision development
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Municipal Governments
The Largest Home-Rule Cities
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Forms of City Governments
• Four general types of home-rule cities to
choose from:
– Weak mayor-council
– Strong mayor-council
– Council-manager
– City commissioner
Forms of City Government in
Texas
• Mayor-council form of city government
– City has a mayor and city council
– Mayor is elected from city at-large
– Council either at-large or single-member districts
– Council acts as city legislature
• Strong v. weak mayor differences
– Personnel: can hire and fire department heads
– Budget authority
– Degree of power shared with city manager
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Forms of City Government in
Texas
• Council-manager government
– Most common in Texas
• 250 of 291 home-rule cities in the state
– City council may select a mayor, or mayor elected
– Council hires a city manager to run the city
– Manager does not campaign or run for office
• Applies for and holds executive public position
much like public school superintendents, who
are hired by local school boards
Forms of City Government in
Texas
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The commissioner form of government was developed as a response to
the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900.
City is run by a small group of elected commissioners who act in both
legislative and executive capacities. Its five to seven members are
elected at large.
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Finances of City Government
• Cities raise revenues from several sources
– Municipal sales tax, property taxes, occupation
taxes, fees, state and federal revenues, and
borrowing (bond sales)
• Use both capital budgeting and operating
budgeting as tools for long range planning and
management of debt and revenue
City Government Elections
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City council elections tend to be “at-large” or “at-large-by-place”
– An election system in which all positions on the council or governing
body are filled by city-wide, elections, with each position designated as
a seat, and candidates must choose which place to run for
Single-member districts weakened business monopoly over municipal
politics in Texas
Cumulative voting
– A method of voting in which voters have a number of votes equal to the
number of seats being filled, and voters may cast their votes all for one
candidate or split them among candidates in various combinations.
Proportional representation (Not in Texas)
– A voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the
percentage of the vote won by a particular political party.
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Municipal Annexation
• Annexation
– Enlargement of a city’s corporate limits by
incorporating surrounding territory into the city
– Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ET)
• The area outside a city’s boundaries over which
the city may exercise limited control
• Under the Municipal Annexation Act, a city may
expand its municipal boundaries by an area up
to 10 percent of its geographic area in any one
year.
Municipal Annexation
• In order to annex, a city must take the following
steps: (1999 amendments)
– Develop a three-year plan for annexation, and not annex
the targeted area during that three-year period.
– Make an inventory of the current services in the area.
– Provide to the annexed area all services currently provided
in its full-purpose boundaries no later than two and onehalf years after annexation.
– Require negotiations and arbitration regarding services.
– Conduct at least two public hearings.
– Not reduce level of services in the area from what they
were before annexation.
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Special Districts
• Local government that performs a single
service within a limited geographical area
Special Districts
School Districts
• Independent School Districts
– School board of trustees
• Adopts a budget and sets the tax rate
• Hires superintendent
– Most districts, superintendent hires district personnel
– Smallest districts, board may take on those duties
• Selects textbooks
• Sets school calendar
• Charter school - Public school sanctioned by a specific
agreement that allows the program to operate outside the
usual rules and regulations.
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Special Districts
Nonschool Districts
• Municipal utility districts (MUDs)
– Provide services to certain areas outside of cities
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Flood control districts
Community college districts
Hospital districts
Water districts
Councils of Government
• Councils of governments (COGs)
– Regional planning boards that try to coordinate
efforts of local governments
– Comprised mostly of elected officials
• May include other community members
– Deal with issues relevant to several local
governments
• Make sense in large areas where there are
many layers of local government and
coordination may be useful
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WHO ARE TEXANS?
Who Represents Texas at the Local Level?
WHO ARE TEXANS?
Who Represents Texas at the Local Level?
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Countywide and Precinct-Level
Elected Officials
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