Texas Government - Local Government
County, Municipal (city), and special district - ANS Local Government includes Three levels
Local Government - ANS includes public safety services including: police, fire departments,
education isd's school districts, water and sewage systems, roads and bridges, garbage
disposal, parks, libraries, and healthcare for the homeless
Local Governments - ANS level closest to the people
Local Government Election - ANS Lowest voter turnout of all election types
Texas Constitution - ANS detailed regarding local government
County Government - ANS Texas Constitution calls counties "administrative arms of the state
government"
Structure of County Government - ANS Countries do not have home rule charters and cannot
adopt ordinances
County policy-making - ANS No single executive or officer controls or is accountable for the
county's policy-making personnel
County Populations - ANS Range from fewer than 100 (Loving County) to more than 4 million
(Harris County)
254 - ANS _____ Counties in state of Texas are mandated to be governed in the same manner
despite geographical and population diversity
4 year - ANS Commissioners court and all elected county officials serve ____ ____ terms
Commissioner's Court - ANS Strictly administrative only. Responsible for county, state and
national elections
- 4 precincts with 4 commissioners and 1 county judge
County Government acts for the state - ANS appoints administrators and personnel, securing
right-of-way for highways, law enforcement, registering births, deaths, marriages and divorces,
housing state district courts, registering motor vehicles, build and maintain roads and bridges,
record land titles and deeds, collecting some state taxes and fees
Ordinance making authority - ANS County governments do not have this authority
, Texas Legislature - ANS New county issues require clarification of authority from ___________
___________.
Precincts - ANS Country divided into 4 _______
Commissioner, commissioners - ANS _____ head of the ___________ court
County voters - ANS are divided into 4 districts and elect in each district a Justice of the Peace,
a Constable, a District Judge, an Auditor, a county commissioners and a county judge, a sheriff,
a district clerk, a county clerk, a surveyor, a district attorney, a tax assessment collector, and a
treasurer
commissioners court appoint - ANS Road crew, Home demonstration agent, county agriculture
agent, health officer,
district attorney - ANS prosecutes felony criminal offenses occurring in the county
- has sole discretion in determining whether to pursue a criminal conviction or not
-decides what punishments to seek, if any, including whether to pursue the death penalty in a
capital murder case.
County Attorney - ANS Advises the commissioners court and other county officials on legal
issues and represents the county in court (prosecutes misdemeanor offenses)
Sheriff - ANS Provides law enforcement services to areas of the county that are not served by a
police department, and oversees the county jail.
Sheriff qualifications to run - ANS Any person eligible to vote in a given county may run for and
be elected sheriff. Doesn't have to be a licensed peace officer
Constables - ANS _____ are certified law enforcement officers, but their primary duty in most
counties is to assist the JP by serving legal papers, such as a subpoenas and warrants
District Clerk - ANS Registrar, recorder and custodian of all records regarding a district court:
criminal, juvenile, family court, and civil actions
County Clerk - ANS ___ ____ maintains legal records and vital statistics, such as birth and
death certificates, marriage licenses, and real estate transactions and is an elections officer in
some counties
Tax Assessor-Collector - ANS ___ ____ - ______ identify taxable property, and collects taxes
that are due to the state and county, collecting fees for automobile license plates, issues
certificates of title for motor vehicles, and directs voter registration in most counties.
