THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION. Texas
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Sec. 41. ELECTIONS BY SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
In all elections by the Senate and House of Representatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall be given viva voce, except in the election of their officers.
Sec. 42. (Repealed Aug. 5, 1969.)
Sec. 43. REVISION OF LAWS.
(a) The Legislature shall provide for revising, digesting and publishing the laws, civil and criminal, provided, that in the adoption of and giving effect to any such digest or revision, the Legislature shall not be limited by sections 35 and 36 of this Article.
(b) In this section, "revision" includes a revision of the statutes on a particular subject and any enactment having the purpose, declared in the enactment, of codifying without substantive change statutes that individually relate to different subjects.
(Subsec. (a) amended and (b) added Nov. 4, 1986.)
Sec. 44. COMPENSATION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS, SERVANTS, AGENTS, AND CONTRACTORS; EXTRA COMPENSATION; UNAUTHORIZED CLAIMS; UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT.
The Legislature shall provide by law for the compensation of all officers, servants, agents and public contractors, not provided for in this Constitution, but shall not grant extra compensation to any officer, agent, servant, or public contractors, after such public service shall have been performed or contract entered into, for the performance of the same; nor grant, by appropriation or otherwise, any amount of money out of the Treasury of the State, to any individual, on a claim, real or pretended, when the same shall not have been provided for by pre-existing law; nor employ any one in the name of the State, unless authorized by pre-existing law.
Sec. 45. CHANGE OF VENUE IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES.
The power to change the venue in civil and criminal cases shall be vested in the courts, to be exercised in such manner as shall be provided by law; and the Legislature shall pass laws for that purpose.
Sec. 46. UNIFORMITY IN COLLECTION OF FEES.
(a) In this section, "fee" means a fee in a criminal or civil matter all or a portion of which is required to be collected by local officers, clerks, or other local personnel and remitted to the comptroller of public accounts for deposit in the manner provided for in the law imposing the fee.
(b) This section applies only if the legislature enacts by law a program to consolidate and standardize the collection, deposit, reporting, and remitting of fees.
(c) A fee imposed by the legislature after the enactment of the program described by Subsection (b) of this section is valid only if the requirements relating to its collection, deposit, reporting, and remitting conform to the program.
(d) A fee to which this section applies may take effect on a date before the next January 1 after the regular session at which the bill adopting the fee was enacted only if the bill is passed by a record vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house of the legislature on final consideration in each house.
(Added Nov. 6, 2001.)
Sec. 47. LOTTERIES AND GIFT ENTERPRISES; BINGO GAMES.
(a) The Legislature shall pass laws prohibiting lotteries and gift enterprises in this State other than those authorized by Subsections (b), (d), (d-1), and (e) of this section.
(b) The Legislature by law may authorize and regulate bingo games conducted by a church, synagogue, religious society, volunteer fire department, nonprofit veterans organization, fraternal organization, or nonprofit organization supporting medical research or treatment programs. A law enacted under this subsection must permit the qualified voters of any county, justice precinct, or incorporated city or town to determine from time to time by a majority vote of the qualified voters voting on the question at an election whether bingo games may be held in the county, justice precinct, or city or town. The law must also require that:
(1) all proceeds from the games are spent in Texas for charitable purposes of the organizations;
(2) the games are limited to one location as defined by law on property owned or leased by the church, synagogue, religious society, volunteer fire department, nonprofit veterans organization, fraternal organization, or nonprofit organization supporting medical research or treatment programs; and
(3) the games are conducted, promoted, and administered by members of the church, synagogue, religious society, volunteer fire department, nonprofit veterans organization, fraternal organization, or nonprofit organization supporting medical research or treatment programs.
(c) The law enacted by the Legislature authorizing bingo games must include:
(1) a requirement that the entities conducting the games report quarterly to the Comptroller of Public Accounts about the amount of proceeds that the entities collect from the games and the purposes for which the proceeds are spent; and
(2) criminal or civil penalties to enforce the reporting requirement.
(d) The Legislature by general law may permit charitable raffles conducted by a qualified religious society, qualified volunteer fire department, qualified volunteer emergency medical service, or qualified nonprofit organizations under the terms and conditions imposed by general law.
The law must also require that:
(1) all proceeds from the sale of tickets for the raffle must be spent for the charitable purposes of the organizations; and
(2) the charitable raffle is conducted, promoted, and administered exclusively by members of the qualified religious society, qualified volunteer fire department, qualified volunteer emergency medical service, or qualified nonprofit organization.
(d-1) The legislature by general law may permit a professional sports team charitable foundation to conduct charitable raffles under the terms and conditions imposed by general law. The law may authorize the charitable foundation to pay with the raffle proceeds reasonable advertising, promotional, and administrative expenses. A law enacted under this subsection may apply only to an entity that is defined as a professional sports team charitable foundation on January 1, 2016, and may only allow charitable raffles to be conducted at games hosted at the home venue of the professional sports team associated with a professional sports team charitable foundation.
(e) The Legislature by general law may authorize the State to operate lotteries and may authorize the State to enter into a contract with one or more legal entities that will operate lotteries on behalf of the State.
(Subsec. (a) amended and (b) and (c) added Nov. 4, 1980; Subsec. (a) amended and (d) added Nov. 7, 1989; Subsec. (a) amended and (e) added Nov. 5, 1991; Subsec. (a) amended and (d-1) added Nov. 3, 2015.)
Sec. 48. (Repealed Aug. 5, 1969.)
Sec. 48a. (Repealed April 22, 1975.)
Sec. 48b. (Repealed April 22, 1975.)
Sec. 48c. (Blank.)
Sec. 48-d. (Repealed Sept. 13, 2003.)
Sec. 48-e. EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICTS.
Laws may be enacted to provide for the establishment and creation of special districts to provide emergency services and to authorize the commissioners courts of participating counties to levy a tax on the ad valorem property situated in said districts not to exceed Ten Cents (10¢) on the One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) valuation for the support thereof; provided that no tax shall be levied in support of said districts until approved by a vote of the qualified voters residing therein. Such a district may provide emergency medical services, emergency ambulance services, rural fire prevention and control services, or other emergency services authorized by the Legislature.
(Added Nov. 3, 1987; amended Nov. 2, 1999.) (TEMPORARY TRANSITION PROVISIONS for Sec. 48-e: See Appendix, Note 1.)
Sec. 48-f. JAIL DISTRICTS.
The legislature, by law, may provide for the creation, operation, and financing of jail districts and may authorize