Texas Constable - Notes

Notes

  • 1. Precinct boundaries are set by the County Commissioners Court. See Texas Local Government Code §81.021. There are two to eight precincts per Texas county.
  • 2. Constables (and the justice of the peace, and county commissioiners) are elected by these precincts and they must provide bailiffs for the Justice Court(s) in their precinct.
  • 3. They can also serve civil process in any precinct in their county and any contiguous county to their home county. See Texas Local Government Code §86.021.
  • 4. Moreover, they can serve warrants throughout the state. See Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 15.06.
  • 5. Furthermore, their jurisdiction to arrest, without warrant, extends throughout the county, where they have full arrest powers. See Texas Local Government Code §86.021 and Texas Attorney General’s Opinion GA-0189.
  • 6. They also have full arrest powers outside of their jurisdiction, while in the state, except that they can’t arrest for certain traffic violations. See Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 14.03(g).

Finally, constables and their deputies in Texas are official, certified Texas law-enforcement officers. Constables and their deputies must graduate from a state-certified law enforcement academy. All peace officers in Texas are trained to the same state requirement. Constables also have identical powers of arrest as county sheriffs and their deputies.

In the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2000, which was published by the US DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, it was noted that there were 2,630 full-time, sworn constables/deputy constables in Texas. Of this number, (35% of constables/deputy constables were primarily assigned to patrol duties. For example, in Harris County Precinct 4 and 5 (Greater Houston area), there are over 600 patrol deputies. Additionally, 7% handled criminal investigations, i.e. they are detectives and investigators.

Also, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) the regulatory agency for all peace officers in Texas (sheriffs, constables, security police, police officers and marshals) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice considers the Texas constable to be a unique peace officer position.

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