Tex. Const. art. V, § 2 · Article 5. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
SUPREME COURT; JUSTICES.
Text — Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
(a) The Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and eight Justices, any five of whom shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of five shall be necessary to a decision of a case; provided, that when the business of the court may require, the court may sit in sections as designated by the court to hear argument of causes and to consider applications for writs of error or other preliminary matters.
(b) No person shall be eligible to serve in the office of Chief Justice or Justice of the Supreme Court unless the person:
(1) is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas;
(2) is, at the time of election, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the State of Texas;
(3) has attained the age of thirty-five years;
(4) has been either:
(A) a practicing lawyer licensed in the State of Texas for at least ten years; or
(B) a practicing lawyer licensed in the State of Texas and judge of a state court or county court established by the Legislature by statute for a combined total of at least ten years; and
(5) during the time required by Subdivision (4) of this subsection has not had the person's license to practice law revoked, suspended, or subject to a probated suspension.
(c) Said Justices shall be elected (three of them each two years) by the qualified voters of the state at a general election; shall hold their offices six years; and shall each receive such compensation as shall be provided by law.
Notes and commentary — not constitutional text
History
(Feb. 15, 1876. Amended Aug. 11, 1891, Aug. 25, 1945, Nov. 4, 1980, and Nov. 6, 2001; Subsec. (b) amended Nov. 2, 2021.) (TEMPORARY TRANSITION PROVISION for Sec. 2: See Appendix, Note 3.)
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 41b7884eb9c03f7122b74df3415d115df7e0679b724231230bcd06cbb1e8f4b2
- 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.