Tex. Const. art. V, § 12 · Article 5. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
JUDGES TO BE CONSERVATORS OF THE PEACE; INDICTMENTS AND INFORMATION.
Text — Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
(a) All judges of courts of this State, by virtue of their office, are conservators of the peace throughout the State.
(b) An indictment is a written instrument presented to a court by a grand jury charging a person with the commission of an offense. An information is a written instrument presented to a court by an attorney for the State charging a person with the commission of an offense. The practice and procedures relating to the use of indictments and informations, including their contents, amendment, sufficiency, and requisites, are as provided by law. The presentment of an indictment or information to a court invests the court with jurisdiction of the cause.
Notes and commentary — not constitutional text
History
(Feb. 15, 1876. Amended Aug. 11, 1891, and Nov. 5, 1985.)
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.5.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 86bff4e0764af222659dfa2fdee5eac12a77776f58a6055aabacd6c067b70bc7
- 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
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.