The three branches of Texas State government

Structured much like the 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 two-thirds 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.