Local Government in Texas
•254 Counties
–More than any other state
•1,210 Municipal Governments
–Cities and towns
•3,334 Special Districts
–Examples: school districts, water districts, hospital districts, and more
States are UnitaryNot Either Federal or Confederate
•Every state has a unitary government
•All political authority belongs to the state
•Sub-state governments exist because the state finds them useful
•BUT
•Theoretically, the state could eliminate them at any time
•Reaffirmed through a US Supreme Court decision, known as the Dillon Rule
The Dillon Rule
•“Municipal corporations owe their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from, the legislature. It breathes into them the breath of life, . . . . As it creates, so it may destroy. . . . The legislature might, by a single act . . . sweep from its existence all of the municipal corporation in the State, and the corporations could not prevent it.
Counties
•Counties in Texas and many other states are primarily adjuncts of the state government
•Collect state-mandated taxes at the county level and send them to the state treasury
–E.g. annual automobile registration fees
•Conduct state elections
•Maintain legal state records
–Divorce, marriage, deeds, etc.
Structure of the CountyGovernment
•County judge
–Elected official who is the chief administrative officer of county government, serves as the commissioners court, and may also have some judicial functions
•Commissioners Court
–The legislative body of a county in Texas
–County commissioners elected to serve on this court
The CountyCommissioner’s Court
•The term “court” is misleading
•County divided into districts, called a precinct, with one commissioner elected from each district
•County “Judge” elected by entire county
•Entire court establishes the budget and tax rate for the county
•Each commissioner is responsible for roads within his precinct
•Beyond the Commissioners Court, every county has multiple elected officials
•Consistent with the Texas 1876 Constitution to spread power as much as possible
•Most have a primary responsibility the enforcement or application of state law
Structure of the CountyGovernment
•District attorney (DA)
–Elected official who prosecutes criminal cases
–Also called a criminal district attorney
–In charge of prosecuting violations of state law
•Some counties have such small populations a single district attorney may serve multiple counties
•County attorney
–Elected official serving as the legal officer for county government
–Primarily gives legal advise to commissioner’s court
–May serve as criminal prosecutor if county does not have its own district attorney
Sheriff
•One of the most important county elected officials along with the District Attorney and CountyJudge
–Serves as the chief law enforcement officer in the county
–Enforces state law, primarily in unincorporated areas if a city has its own police force
–Maintains the county jail
•Jail hold those accused of felonies until trial
•Those convicted of misdemeanors may serve their sentence in the county jail instead of the state penitentiary
Structure of the CountyGovernment
•County clerk
–Elected official who serves as the clerk for the commissioners court and for county records
–Includes official state records of marriages, divorces, deeds, wills, etc.
•District clerk
–Elected official who is responsible for keeping the records for the district court
•Judges and Constables
Structure of the CountyGovernment
•County tax assessor – collector
–Elected official who collects taxes for the county (and perhaps other local governments)
–Also collects and send state taxes to the state
•E.g., annual automobile registration fees
•County treasurer
–Elected official who serves as the money manager for county government
•County auditor
–Official appointed by a district judge to audit county finances
CountyBudget
•Most offices just listed are separately elected
•Each submits to the commissioner’s court a budget to run their office for the next year
•Commissioners blend requests into a county budget and set the county tax rate to fund it
–Commissioners often blamed by the voters for tax increases, so their incentive is to cut each agency’s request as much as possible
•Counties in most Southern states (including Texas) are some of the last vestiges of patronage
•Sherriff's deputies are selected entirely by county sheriff and do not necessarily have law enforcement training
•Commissioners each buy own road maintenance equipment to service the needs of their constituents
•Workers at county courthouse often patronage appointments
Authority of CountyGovernments
•Local Government Code
–The Texas statutory code containing state laws about local governments
•Texas county governments do not have general ordinance-making authority.
–This is the legal right to adopt ordinances covering a wide array of subject areas, authority that cities have but counties do not
–Elgin Bank v. TravisCounty (1999)
Cities
•Texas has 1,210 cities.
•Also called municipal corporations or incorporated areas
–Versus county governments that take care of the unincorporated areas of the county
•315 are home-rule cities
•Others are general-law cities.
General Law and HomeRuleCities
•Home Rule Cities
–Cities with a population of more than 5,000.
–Can adopt any form of government residents choose.
–Provided it does not conflict with the state constitution or statutes.
•General Law Cities
–Cities with a population of fewer than 5,000.
–Allowed to exercise only those powers specifically granted to it by the legislature.
Incorporated Cities DO have Ordinance Power
•Often the primary reason county residents decide to incorporate as a city
•Ordinances include speed limits inside the city limit, noise ordinances, etc.
•Most important is zoning, allocating property in the city for use as:
–Single family homes
–Multi-family properties (apartments)
–Light retail (e.g. University, 19th St., etc.)
–Heavy industry (e.g. warehouses, Frito-Lay plant, etc.
Forms of City Governments
•Four general types of home-rule cities to choose from:
–Weak mayor-council
–Council-manager
–Strong mayor-council
–City commissioner
Forms of City Governments
•Nearly all cities have both a mayor and a city council
•The distinction between the various mayor-council forms is who exercises the city’s executive power
–The hiring, monitoring, and firing of agency leaders
•Police chief
•Fire chief
•Parks and Recreation Director
•Etc.
•Council members elected from districts
Weak Mayor-Council
•Mayor may be elected at-large
–At-large means by entire city, not a small district within the city
•Or the city council may select one of its own members to serve as mayor
•Mayor is a symbolic figurehead and has little or no more authority than any other member of the city council
•Mayor and council members are part-time
•Agency leaders are selected and monitored by the entire city council
Council Manager
•Usually combined with a weak mayor-council form of government, but may exist with a strong mayor form
•Instead of the council hiring and firing agency leaders, they select a professional full time manager for the city
•City council sets general policy
•City manager responsible for hiring personnel, monitoring city functions, drafting a city budget
•If city council becomes dissatisfied with city manger can fire and hire a different manager
•But do not need to be responsible for the details of other personnel or agency activities
Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) Programs
•Beginning in 1960s, governments pushed for trained public managers
•Graduates of MBA and Engineering programs not sufficiently familiar with how governments operate
•Colleges and universities responded by creating MPA programs
•Have grown rapidly from the 1960s on
•MPA graduates serve in well-paying jobs as
–city mangers, city personnel or finance directors
–State agency leaders or deputy leaders
–Leaders or supervisors of federal agencies
–And more
•Texas MPA programs
–LBJSchool at UT Austin
–BushSchool at A&M
–TexasTechCenter for Public Service / MPA program
Strong Mayor
•Strong mayor cities assign to mayor full responsibility for running the city
•Mayor is a full time administrator and political leader
•Usually elected at-large by the entire city
•Strong mayor form found in only the 5-10 largest cities in the country
–New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.
Commission Government
•Created by the City of Galveston after a hurricane destroyed the city in the early 1900s
•Each city commissioner (city council member) responsible for operating one set of city functions
•E.g.
–Commissioner 1 – police and fire
–Commissioner 2 – streets, traffic, public buildings
–Commissioner 3 – parks, recreation, health
–Etc.
•Commissioner form worked very well to put Galveston back together after the hurricane
•After a brief popularity around the country, quickly fell into disuse
•Seldom used nowadays
•Even Galveston has changed to city manager form
Summary: City Executive Power
•Weak mayor-council
–Mayor and council as a group
•City Manager
–City manager
•Strong mayor
–The mayor
•Commission
–Each member of the commission individually over different city functions
Special Districts
•Organized governmental entities, possessing structural form, an official name, the right to make contracts, and obtain or dispose of property
•Special districts are governments
•Often headed by an elected board
•Most can impose taxes
•Usually carry out ONE function only
–Are not general governments with multiple responsibilities
Why Special Districts
•Two primary reasons
•1. To remove a particular function from the politics surrounding city or county government
•2. To deal with a function that covers multiple city or county jurisdictions
1. To remove a particular function from the politics surrounding city or county government
•Example, school districts
•Ideal is to keep politics out of education
•Governed by a school board
–Board members elected by districts
–School board sets general curriculum and educational policy
–hires a professional superintendent to actually manage the schools
•Hire principals and teachers, set budget, etc.
–Sets tax rate to fund schools
•Boundaries of the school district do not necessarily match those of a city or county
2. To deal with a function that covers multiple city or county jurisdictions
•Some needed functions stretch far beyond single cities or counties
•Need a special district with boundaries to cover the function
•E.g.,
–Air & water pollution districts –may cover multiple counties
–River authority to prevent flooding – need to set rules for entire river regardless of what city or county it wander into
–Rapid transit district covering a metropolitan area that may include many cities
Special District Governance
•Usually headed by a multi-member board or commission
•Members are elected by districts for staggered terms
•For limited functions, board may directly govern the district
•For complex functions, will probably hire a professional manager