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Historically constables in Texas were to be officer of the court, summon witnesses, bring in fugitives, and enforce orders. However, even from their origins, They were active peace officers and required by state law to maintain the peace and enforce the law. Before the Civil War the constable was perhaps the most active of Texas law enforcement. Afterwords during reconstruction crime and violent crime had a massive upswing and single constables were just not as effective as Sheriffs and their deputies so the Constable Office became less important and, while always firmly tied to the Justice of the Peace, often became just about serving the JP court and not any other Law Enforcement activities.

As an interesting fact

A constable was the first law enforcement officer in Texas, before Independence

LAYGO wrote:

LAYGO wrote:What cracks me up is how much authority Constables have in Houston vs Dallas.

I guess from reading that wiki, Dallas area counties must not dedicate many constables to patrol.

For the most part the commissioners court decides what money the constable gets which in turn limits the deputies they can hire and the work they can do so how active a constable can be is really decided by the elected officials of each county and every county can be different.

Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

The judges you refer to are synonymous with County Commissioners.

puma guy wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

The judges you refer to are synonymous with County Commissioners.

Are they elected?

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

puma guy wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

The judges you refer to are synonymous with County Commissioners.

Are they elected?

Yes they are elected but I don't know the term right off hand. The Constables answer to Justices of the Peace I think, although we have elected constables, too. They used to handle summons and warrants but for the last 20 years they have become traffic law enforcers. Almost exclusively radar from what I have observed, especially on toll roads. I don't know if they handle accidents or 911 or what else.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

puma guy wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

The judges you refer to are synonymous with County Commissioners.

Are they elected?

The county judge in Texas is the highest elected official at the county level. He presides over the commissioners court which has budgetary and administrative authority over county government operations. Basically the Mayor and city councilmen but at a county level. In Texas the CJ are specifically the head of civil defense and disaster relief, county welfare . The Judge may or may not handle legal matters, it depends on the county, but they are in charge of elections, tabc applications, and has appellate jurisdiction over the JP courts.

Jp are also elected as are Constables. The constable doesn't work "for" the JP so much as as they are responsible fto the court serving the courts warrants and orders.

puma guy wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

puma guy wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Harris county government and police always mess with my head. I never understood why a judge seems to also control civil government functions (as represented during the last hurricane).

The judges you refer to are synonymous with County Commissioners.

Are they elected?

Yes they are elected but I don't know the term right off hand. The Constables answer to Justices of the Peace I think, although we have elected constables, too. They used to handle summons and warrants but for the last 20 years they have become traffic law enforcers. Almost exclusively radar from what I have observed, especially on toll roads. I don't know if they handle accidents or 911 or what else.

The Toll road, instead of forming their own department which they legally could do, contracts with several different constable offices to provide enforcement for the Toll road. The main duties of a Constable still center around the JP court handling court security, summonses, warrants, and court orders like evictions and repossessions. School districts, neighborhoods, and other groups can also pay constables to provide law enforcement. Constables are give a specific budget but if they acquire extra money thru things like patrol contracts they are allowed to do so and can use that money to buy equipment and hire deputies that they can assign as they see fit. Constables and their deputies can have almost infinite different arrangements with their county and JP courts ranging from getting no funding at all and basically having a useless office to a constable being paid only only for direct work done. So much an hour for working courts, so much for a ticket written and, so much a warrant served. They can also be budgeted money by the commissioners court to perform regular duties like patrolling city parks. Since the duties and what they are able to do is tied into funding and every county is allowed to fund or not as they see fit it isn't possible to quickly explain what a Texas constable is or does because every county could be different.

EEllis wrote:Since the duties and what they are able to do is tied into funding and every county is allowed to fund or not as they see fit it isn't possible to quickly explain what a Texas constable is or does because every county could be different.

EElliss is correct, indeed. My understanding of a constable was first formed while I was with the sheriff's department back home in Tennessee, so my understanding may be a bit clouded, but here's the best I can come up with:

• Sheriff is the highest elected law enforcement officer of a county.
• Constable is the highest elected law enforcement officer of a precinct (within the county).

Growing up in east Tennessee, the constables were one-off folks - they worked alone, and did not deputize others. They had permission to use our sheriff's department radio bands, and were able to request / render assistance as necessary, but it was rare that we heard one on the radio. They were able to arrest, they were able to do anything that a sheriff could do, but only within their precinct. They made the majority of their income off serving papers, however.

Here in Houston, our Precinct 5 constable's office has MANY deputized officers, and they are as much law enforcement officers as are the sheriff's deputies, but only in their precinct, rather than across the county. Ours serve papers, run radar, answer calls, etc. We also have a contract arrangement within our HOA (in conjunction with several other HOAs in the area) to provide a block of dedicated deputies to our neighborhoods. These guys are fantastic, and are very good at keeping our crime rates down. Because they are dedicated to our neighborhoods, their response time for a 'cat in a tree' call is FAR better than the HPD's response time for a crime-in-progress. But if one of their buddies nearby needed help, I expect they'd leave their contract beat right away to render assistance (and the reverse is true as well).

There was a strange rule that we had in Tennessee, and I'm not sure how it applies here in Texas:

• A sheriff could arrest a constable, but not vice-versa
• A constable could arrest a coroner, but not vice-versa
• A coroner could arrest the sheriff, but not vice versa

It's making more . . . & less . . . sense now.

Vol Texan wrote:
Here in Houston, our Precinct 5 constable's office has MANY deputized officers, and they are as much law enforcement officers as are the sheriff's deputies, but only in their precinct, rather than across the county. Ours serve papers, run radar, answer calls, etc. We also have a contract arrangement within our HOA (in conjunction with several other HOAs in the area) to provide a block of dedicated deputies to our neighborhoods.

The dept of justice considers Texas Constables a unique Law enforcement position because it doesn't really match up with any other position in the country. Constables have State wide jurisdiction and can act anywhere in their county and their only real limitations is not being able to arrest for Class C violations out of their county. Now mind you unless someone out of their precinct contracts for law enforcement services there wouldn't be much reason for them to act outside their precinct but there is no legal barrier to them doing so. Don't think they can't act as law enforcement even multiple counties over because they can. Now there are politics involved in such things and dept that have their own rules and things but ......

As to your example of a constable in Tenn. There are probably more than a few Constables like that in the State. They get so much for each warrant or order served and if there isn't much work then they would do it all themselves. Some counties the office is just a part time side job for whoever has it.

EEllis wrote: As to your example of a constable in Tenn. There are probably more than a few Constables like that in the State. They get so much for each warrant or order served and if there isn't much work then they would do it all themselves. Some counties the office is just a part time side job for whoever has it.

In the series Justified, there's a funny episode with Patton Oswalt as a Constable in KY where he has to provide much of his own equipment.

LAYGO wrote:

EEllis wrote: As to your example of a constable in Tenn. There are probably more than a few Constables like that in the State. They get so much for each warrant or order served and if there isn't much work then they would do it all themselves. Some counties the office is just a part time side job for whoever has it.

In the series Justified, there's a funny episode with Patton Oswalt as a Constable in KY where he has to provide much of his own equipment.

Constable Bob! Took a lickin'. Kept on tickin'!

Do you think this guy has lost it and has some sort of cop burn out? Or is he just a bad seed on a power trip?