Texas local officials

Local officials in Texas are in charge of running the municipal governments for the counties, cities, towns and school districts. They are designated by the state constitution.

Elected positions

The following are elected positions for municipal governments according the Texas Constitution.

Position	Term length	Elected in
County commissioner (4)	4 years, staggered	November
County judge	4 years	November
County clerk	4 years	November
County attorney	4 years	November
County court at law judge	4 years	November
County sheriff	4 years	November
County treasurer	4 years	November
County constable	4 years	November
Tax assessor-collector	4 years	November
Mayor	4 years	November
District clerk	4 years	November
Justice of the peace	4 years	November

Appointed positions

Position	Term / contract length	Appointed by	Who cannot serve
State board of trustees (9)	6 years	Governor	Senate must confirm
County auditor	2 years	District judges	Must be an accountant
County purchasing agent	2 years	Board defined by county	Must be recognized by a national purchasing association
County extension agent	Varies	Commissioners court	Master's degree in agriculture
County engineer	Varies	Commissioners court	Texas registered professional engineer
District attorney	4 years	Governor	Lawyer able to practice in Texas

History

The first Texas Constitution was ratified in 1845 and differed little from its form of rule when it was a Republic. The only major change was that all county offices were then elective positions. The state adopted a new constitution upon joining the Confederacy in 1861. A decade post-Reconstruction, Texas adopted the Constitution of 1876, which is the present state constitution. There are many provisions about counties, municipalities and their officials outlined in the constitution.

External links

• Texas local government code (dead link)
• Texas: State and Local Government on the Net (dead link)