The government of Texas or the political system of the state works or operates under the constitution of Texas and consists of the governments at the municipal and county levels and unitary democratic state government. The system is divided into three main branches which are the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch.
All the three branches together help in handling all the main government functions which are making laws, implementing laws and punishing those who do not follow these laws. To understand the hierarchy of politics in Texas, you can go through the following given information.
The executive branch
The executive branch of the state of Texas consists of the governor, the lieutenant governor, land commissioner, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, agricultural commissioner and the 3 member-state Texas board of education, Texas railroad commission and secretary of state. The state follows a plural executive branch system which in some ways puts limits on the power exercised by the governor. All the executive officers of this branch, except for the secretary of state are answerable to the public and not the governor.
The legislative branch
The legislature of Texas is bicarmel and consists of the Texas House of Representatives with 150 members and the Texas senate with 31 members. It is the speaker of the house who heads the Texas House of Representatives and the Lieutenant governor who heads the Senate. Regular sessions of the legislative branch are held to ensure proper control using the power of the purse.
The judicial branch
The third arm of the Texas political hierarchy is the judicial branch. The judicial system of Texas is considered one of the most complex ones in whole of USA as it has overlapping rules and many layers. The state has the following two courts of last resort:
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Texas Supreme Court
This court hears all state civil cases. The verdict given by this court is the final in the state and if someone is not satisfied with it, he/she can move to the supreme court of USA.
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Texas Court of criminal appeals
This court hears all the criminal cases in the state. All the decisions made by this court are final since it is the last court of resort within the state.
Besides these courts, the judiciary in the state consists of several other courts such as:
- Municipal courts
- District courts
- County courts