Tex. Const. art. V, § 4 · Article 5. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS; JUDGES.
Text — Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
(a) The Court of Criminal Appeals shall consist of eight Judges and one Presiding Judge. The Judges shall have the same qualifications and receive the same salaries as the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Presiding Judge shall have the same qualifications and receive the same salary as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Presiding Judge and the Judges shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state at a general election and shall hold their offices for a term of six years.
(b) For the purpose of hearing cases, the Court of Criminal Appeals may sit in panels of three Judges, the designation thereof to be under rules established by the court. In a panel of three Judges, two Judges shall constitute a quorum and the concurrence of two Judges shall be necessary for a decision. The Presiding Judge, under rules established by the court, shall convene the court en banc for the transaction of all other business and may convene the court en banc for the purpose of hearing cases. The court must sit en banc during proceedings involving capital punishment and other cases as required by law. When convened en banc, five Judges shall constitute a quorum and the concurrence of five Judges shall be necessary for a decision. The Court of Criminal Appeals may appoint Commissioners in aid of the Court of Criminal Appeals as provided by law.
Notes and commentary — not constitutional text
History
(Feb. 15, 1876. Amended Aug. 11, 1891, Nov. 8, 1966, Nov. 8, 1977, and Nov. 6, 2001.) (TEMPORARY TRANSITION PROVISION for Sec. 4: 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 a70721dd36a1aa05e05cfc75d63e21b6c62e8c47b96fbe6090a9bc83e47ea5e0
- 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.