How many municipal governments in texas

Loving County had a population of 82 according to the U. It is the least-populous county in Texas. In contrast, Harris County has the most residents, with a population of 4,, Counties range in area from Rockwall's The Texas Constitution makes a county a legal subdivision of the state.

Each county has a commissioners court. It consists of four commissioners, each elected from a commissioner's precinct, and a county judge elected from the entire county. In smaller counties, the county judge retains judicial responsibilities in probate and insanity cases. There are 1, incorporated Texas municipalities ranging in size from 17 residents in Los Ybanez to Houston's 2,,, according to the population estimates of the Texas Demographic Center. More than 80 percent of the state's population lives in counties meeting the U.

Census Bureau definition of metropolitan areas. Texas had cities with more than 5, population, according to the state data center. Under law, these cities may adopt their own charters called home rule by a majority vote. Cities of less than 5, may be chartered only under the general law.

Despite rapid population growth for the next several decades, the state remained sparsely populated. When the framers of the current Texas Constitution met in , they quite logically spent considerable time and attention on issues related to counties, including creation of new counties, governmental organization, taxation and revenue, and other powers and restrictions.

Nevertheless, the framers' attention was not very focused, resulting in haphazard coverage of these basic building blocks of government in the state. As an example, Article XI nominally dedicated to municipal corporations begins by declaring that: "The several counties of this State are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of the State. Yes, the framers also included Article IX which focuses exclusively on counties.

But the primary concern in this article is only with the creation of new counties, an important topic no doubt, but not central to their organization and operation.

The governmental organization of counties is established in several different, and sometimes unlikely, places. The most detail, notably, is provided in Article V on the judicial department. Here the Texas Constitution identifies the central institutions for county administration: county courts and the county commissioners court. As one might imagine, many of the details of how county government operates are included in Article V the Judicial Department , where the county commissioner's court and several other county offices are specified.

But other areas of the Texas Constitution include important details on the operation and operational restrictions on counties and their public officers, including:. In , the Texas Legislature passed House Bill , which requires state agencies to publish a list of the three most commonly used Web browsers on their websites. Government Resources Need Help? Programs Home. Start typing a search term. Go Button.