General Lecture Notes for Unit One of Government 2306 Texas Local Government: Counties, Cities, and Special Districts Professor Sutter

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1 General Lecture Notes for Unit One of Government 2306 Texas Local Government: Counties, Cities, and Special Districts Professor Sutter Counties Counties are created directly by the Texas Constitution or the state legislature. Texas has more counties than any other state: 254. The counties range in size and population, with Loving County having the smallest population to Harris County the largest. The major responsibilities of Texas counties include roads, public safety, jails, courts, maintain vital statistics, public health, and elections. Counties in Texas are administrative arms of the state and locally elected governments in their own right. Structure of County Government: The Texas Constitution of 1876 limited the power of county government by fragmenting it. County Commissioners Court is the primary governing body in Texas counties in that it sets the budget for the county and tax rates for the county. (Elected county officers run their departments but must work with commissioner court is developing their budget. County commissioner court consists of four commissioners and one county judge (who in today s counties serves as the chief executive officer more than as a judge presiding over constitutional county courts). The commissioners are elected in single-member districts, equal in population, called precincts. The county judge is elected at-large. The county judge is given, by the Texas Constitution, both administrative functions (sitting at the head of the commissioners court, for example) and judicial functions (as the sitting judge over the constitutional county court, i.e. the county court created by the Texas Constitution; with 245 counties in Texas, there are, therefore, 245 constitutional county courts in Texas). In larger counties, the county judge may turn over his judicial role to county courts created by the Texas legislature called statutory county courts ( statutory meaning created by the legislature) or county-courts-at-law. All elected officials in a Texas county are elected in partisan elections. District Attorneys and County Attorneys: The district attorneys are the chief prosecuting officers for violations of serious state law (e.g., felonies, crimes such as murder, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, etc.). County attorneys provide legal advice and services to the county government. In some counties they prosecute misdemeanor criminal cases (minor crimes). In counties where there is no county attorney the district attorney is called a criminal district attorney and prosecutes both felony and misdemeanor cases.

2 Sheriff: The sheriffs are the elected law enforcement officers in the counties, though they usually operate as law enforcement agents in the unincorporated areas of the county while city police departments have law enforcement jurisdiction within their city limits. In urban counties one of the principal demands on the sheriff is to operate the county jail which can be a multi-million dollar operation as all criminal defendants awaiting trial and not on bail are house in the county jail and all convicted criminal defendants await transfer to state prisons in the county jail (waiting perhaps months for space to be available in Texas s overcrowded prisons). County Clerk and District Clerk: District clerks keep both civil and criminal records for county and district courts. The county clerk keeps records of commissioners court meetings, and registers such things as births, marriages, deaths and property purchases that occur in the county. Justices-of-the-Peace (JP) and Constables: They are both elected in a JP precinct in the county (the county can set up to eight such precincts). The JP court is much like small claims count on civil matters and hears very minor misdemeanor cases (such as speeding tickets given out in the county by the DPS or sheriff s office outside of a city s jurisdiction). A constable is an elected law enforcement officer for a JP precinct. His primary duty is to provide court services for the JP and other courts such as the service of subpoenas. County Tax Assessor-Collector: The County Tax Assessor-Collector s duties include the collection of taxes for the county, registering motor vehicles for the state within the county, and registering voters (if there is no appointed elections administration in the county.. Tax assessment is actually today done not by the county tax assessor-collector but by the Countywide Tax Appraisal District create to serve many levels of local government for making one assessment on property in the county for the several separate local government entities for property taxing purposes. County Treasurer: Takes income from taxes and fees to the county and deposits those proceeds in banks and supervises them. The treasurer write checks for county purchases and debts on behalf of the county. County Auditor: Is a non-elected position appointed by a panel of district judges in the county. The auditor reviews the county s finances and records to prevent fraud or mistakes. Authority of County Governments: Texas counties do not have general ordinance-making authority, but are limited to specific grants of responsibility in the constitution and legislative statutes. Counties administer elections. Each county is required to provide medical care to those in the county who can t afford it. Harris County runs three hospitals to make its services available to all citizens. Counties are responsible for administering on behalf of the state local, state and federal elections within the county. Finances of County Governments:

3 Counties have historically relied on the ad valorem, or property tax. In 1987, the legislature allowed counties to also collect a sales tax, but not if the county is part of a metropolitan area with a metropolitan transit authority that collects a sales tax. Most counties do not rely on sales takes for tax income. Counties have also increased their use of fees. Bond are issued for capital improvements in the county. Politics and Representation in County Governments: County officers are elected in partisan elections in Texas. Candidates nominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties in their primaries during a general election year vie for county offices in the general election held once every two years in November of e ven numbered years. Most county officials serve a four-year term of office and are elected on a county-wide basis. County commissioners, justices of the peace, and constables are elected in precincts drawn for their respective jurisdictions. Cities Cities are created by the people who live in a community organizing itself under the laws of the state of Texas as a city. The Constitution of Texas nor the Texas Legislature does not directly create cities. Texas has some 1,200 cities, and most are small. Houston is the largest city in Texas, with a population of 2.1 million. Cities with more than 5,000 people can write their own city charters (home-rule). Over 350 cities have home-rule charters. The other 900 are generallaw cities, governed by general state laws which are spelled out in the Texas Local Government Code. The legislature can still pass laws restricting the powers of home -rule cities, especially when political fights find their way to Austin. City charter in a home-rule city serves much the same purpose as a constitution for a state. A home-rule city is empowered to create their own local laws (known as ordinances ) tailored to their own particular needs and interests. This allows home-rule cities are greater flexibility of operation than general law cities which are limited only to the operational stipulations for city government spells out in the state s general law for the operation of city governments with a population of under 5,000. Forms of City Governments: For most general-law cities, the Local Government Code requires a weak mayor-council form of government. Home-rule cities have four options: - Weak mayor-council - Strong mayor-council - Council-manager - City commission

4 Most have chosen the council-manager form. Among the four with strong mayor-council systems is Texas s largest city, Houston (the others are El Paso, Pasadena, and Texas City). Although Galveston pioneered the commission form of government following the great 1900 hurricane (a form that allowed the city commissioners to independently manage and operate a city service [such as the fire department or police department], today no city in Texas uses this government system in its pure form due to its lack of political responsiveness and coordination. Authority and Functions of City Governments: Cities have wide authority, providing services from police and fire protection to water and sewage to recreation and health. They also have broad regulatory authority, including zoning powers. (Houston is the only major city, however, to not have zoning ordinances.) Finances of City Governments: Cities rely on municipal sales taxes, property taxes, occupation taxes, fees, state and federal money, and borrowing (bond sales). When federal funding declined under President Reagan, cities were forced to raise their own taxes. In the 1980s and 1990s, Texas cities turned to innovative policies to attract development investment, such as tax abatements and development corporations. Municipal Annexation: Home-rule cities in Texas have extensive powers of annexation. Since 1963, when the legislature passed the Municipal Annexation Act which limits some of the leeway home - rule cities have, political battles have focused on how the annexation occurs, services that must be provided in annexed areas, and the status of extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs) outside the city s limits. In 1999, the legislature imposed a number of conditions or requirements that a city must meet to annex. Most cities annex suburban developments in the ETJs to increase their tax base and their income. Politics and Representation in City Governments: In contrast to counties, city elections are nonpartisan (candidates are not selected in the Republican and Democratic Party primary system) and held on dates separate from state and county elections. Before the 1970s, most city elections were at-large or at-large-byplace, making it easier for business coalitions to influence the selection of candidates and the outcome of the elections. Beginning in the 1970s, groups such as LULAC, MALDEF, NAACP, and Texas Rural Legal Aid used the Voting Rights Act (extended to Texas in 1975) to challenge the at-large system that usually resulted in all-white city councils. Responding to or anticipating court challenges, cities have moved to single-member districts, resulting in more diverse city governments. Special Districts Texas has more than 3,000 special districts, created either by the Texas Constitution or, as allowed by the constitution, by the legislature, counties, and cities. Special district governments in Texas generally are single purpose governments (as opposed to county and

5 city governments which are multi-purpose). They provide numerous public services for given geographic areas (which can cross city and/or county boundaries or be containing within a county or city in a county) and add to the fragmentation of local government. Special districts include drainage districts, navigation districts, fresh water supply districts, river authorities, underground water districts, sanitation districts, housing authorities, soil conservation districts, school districts, municipal utility districts, community college districts, and others. Few people are aware of the jurisdiction, structure, functions, and leadership of special district governments. Why Special Districts Exist: Some have been created because a policy area (for example, river management) transcends a single county or city; some to evade constitutional tax limitations; and others (for example, education) from a belief that a special district should exist to focus exclusively on that one area. Examples of Special District Governments in Texas: Water Districts: Because of population growth and recurrent droughts, water management is an important political and policy matter in Texas. The legislature may create water districts for water management and for conservation and development of natural resources. The Water Code governs the creation of water district boards, and the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission can force creation of a water district. Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs): Utility and water districts (including MUDs) were originally created to assist residents where no water and sewage or utility services existed. In counties with rapid growth, however, builders have used special districts in unincorporated areas or near cities with limited services to offer utilities and water for purchasers of their new residential developments. With MUDs, such services can be provided without the authority of local governments. Many residential developments are built outside of city limits and, thus, municipal water and sewage service is unavailable without the creation of a MUD. Independent School Districts (ISDs): There are over 1,000 independent school districts in Texas, more than any other state, and with over 8,000 public elementary and secondary schools, it is second only to California. The elected board of trustees (school board) sets school district policies on taxes and hiring. The Education Code was revised in 1995 to allow the creation of charter schools. After years of court battles, in 1993, the legislature finally revised the public school finance system. Relying on property taxes had produced large disparities between rich and poor school districts. After years of controversy over school finance, Texas settled on a reform that recaptures and redistributes school tax revenues by limiting school district revenues, capping tax rates in districts, and adjusting the state aid formula to ensure fairness and equity. The richer districts are allowed to choose to: consolidate with a lower-wealth district; detach some property and transfer it to another district; send money directly to the state; pay for the education of students in other districts; or consolidate tax bases with another district. In 2006, this system was found unconstitutional. Political and legal battles over public school funding continue today.

6 Junior or Community College Districts: There are 50 junior or community college districts in Texas. Ad elected board of trustees sets college policies on taxing and hiring. You are attending college in the Houston Community College District.