Tex. Const. art. I, § 10 · Article 1. BILL OF RIGHTS
RIGHTS OF ACCUSED IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS.
Text — Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall hav† a speedy public trial by an impartial jury. He shall have the right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof. He shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself† and shall have the right of being heard by himself or counsel, or both, shall be confronted by the witnesses against him and shall have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, except that when the witness resides out of the State and the offense charged is a violation of any of the anti-trust laws of this State, the defendant and the State shall have the right to produce and have the evidence admitted by deposition, under such rules and laws as the Legislature may hereafter provide; and no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense.† unless on an indictment of a grand jury, except in cases in which the punishment is by fine or imprisonment, otherwise than in the penetentiary†, in cases of impeachment, and in cases arising in the army or navy, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger.
Notes and commentary — not constitutional text
History
(Feb. 15, 1876. Amended Nov. 5, 1918.)
Publisher's footnote
† The language of this provision is identical to the language of the official legislative measure that originally proposed the provision. A digital image of the original text of the official enrolled measure can be found here.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 e5c5bfaf3fd2d06c012ba7094176f42782a86e1d97b2aae484565146d5aec2f8
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Const. art. I, § 10. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.