Texas Law


Texas Law is divided into three areas: texas state government,  texas state judiciary and texas state legislature. Texas Law has a number of governing codes which include the alcoholic beverage code, education code, concealed handgun laws, health & safety code, park and wildlife code, transportation code and civil remedies and practices code.

These Texas Law codes are overseen by state departments. For example the park and wildlife code is administered by the Texas Law department of Parks & Wildlife. The TPWD is responsible for managing state parks and historical areas and for protecting the states wildlife and their habitats.

The State Bar of Texas has provided the following factsheet about texas laws:

  • The number of State Bar of Texas Law members: 83,000. State Bar membership is mandatory for lawyers practicing in Tx. State Bar is self-funded and receives no state appropriations.
  • The number of statewide volunteers in attorney disciplinary system: 800
  • 1/3 of attorney disciplinary system volunteers are non-lawyers.
  • The percentage of Texas lawyers offering pro bono legal services: 66%

Texas Law Court System:

  • Two courts of last resort: Supreme Court (civil cases) and Court of Criminal Appeals (criminal cases).
  • The number of Supreme Court justices: 9. The current Chief Justice is Wallace B. Jefferson.
  • The number of Court of Criminal Law Appeals judges: 9.
  • State courts handle more than 98% of all litigation.
  • The number of state justice courts: 821; municipal courts: 917
  • The number of county-level courts: 494. Includes constitutional county courts, county courts at law, and statutory probate courts.
  • The number of district courts: 444; courts of appeals: 14

Federal Court System:

  • The U.S. Supreme Court was created by Article III of the Constitution.
  • The number of federal judicial districts: 94
  • Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases.
  • Two special trial courts: Court of International Trade and Court of Federal Claims.
  • The number of regional circuit courts of appeals: 12

Texas Law & Legislature:

  • The number of members of House of Representatives: 150
  • The number of members of Texas Law Senate: 31