The previous six were adopted in 1827 (while Texas was still part of Mexico and half of the state of Coahuila y Tejas), 1836 (the Constitution of the Republic of Texas), 1845 (upon admission to the United States), 1861 (at the beginning of the American Civil War), 1866 (at the end of the American Civil War), and 1869.

[3] Most of the amendments are due to the document's highly restrictive nature: the constitution stipulates that the state of Texas has only those powers explicitly granted to it; there is no counterpart of the federal necessary and proper clause.

Section 12 recognizes the writ of Habeas Corpus as a right and prohibits its suspension under any circumstance whatsoever.

This differs slightly from the U.S. Constitution, which allows its suspension "in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public security shall require it".

However, the section explicitly states that it does not affect "any provision of law relating to trespass, property rights or eminent domain".

Section 32, added in 2005, denies state recognition of same-sex marriage, a practice which was invalidated by the US Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Section 11 guarantees that every person detained prior to trial are bailable by sufficient sureties, save for Capital offenses, subject to specific exceptions.

Two-thirds (2/3) of the elected members in either chamber constitutes a quorum to do business therein (Section 10), contrary to the provision for the United States Congress requiring only a majority (this larger requirement has resulted in occasions where a significant number of members from one political party, in an attempt to stop legislation, have in the past left the state so as to deny a quorum).

Section 49 limits the power of the Legislature to incur debt to only specific purposes as stated in the Constitution; in order to allow the Legislature to incur debt for a purpose not stated numerous amendments to this section have had to be added and voted upon by the people.

In addition, Section 49a requires the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to certify, prior to the Legislature entering into its regular session, the amount of available cash on hand and anticipated revenues for the next biennium (officially titled the "Biennial Revenue Estimate" or "BRE"; the biennium covers the next two fiscal years beginning on September 1 of odd-numbered years and ending August 31 two years later); no appropriation may exceed this amount (except in cases of emergency, and then only with a four-fifths vote of both chambers), and the Comptroller is required to reject and return to the Legislature any appropriation in violation of this requirement.

(Although the Texas Agriculture Commissioner is also directly elected, that is the result of Legislative action, not a Constitutional requirement.)

Article 6 denies voting rights to minors, felons, and people who are deemed mentally incompetent by a court (though the Legislature may make exceptions in the latter two cases).

Qualified voters are, except in treason, felony and breach of peace, privileged from arrest when attending at the polls, going and returning therefrom.

This issue has surfaced repeatedly in lawsuits involving the State's funding of education and the various restrictions it has placed on local school districts.

This Section has been the subject of numerous school district financing lawsuits claiming that other Legislative restrictions on local property taxes have created a de facto statewide property tax; the Texas Supreme Court has at times ruled that the restrictions did in fact do so (and thus were unconstitutional) and at other times ruled that they did not.

Section 4 states that a city with a population of 5,000 or fewer has only those powers granted to it by general law; Section 5 permits a city, once its population exceeds 5,000, to adopt a charter under home rule provided the charter is not inconsistent with limits placed by the Texas Constitution or general law (the city may amend to maintain home rule status even if its population subsequently falls to 5,000 or fewer).

No person may be convicted save by the consent of two-thirds of the Senators present, who have taken an oath or affirmation to impartially try the impeached.

Article 16 contains miscellaneous provisions, including limits on interest rates, civil penalties for murder, and the punishment for bribery.

Section 50 provides for protection of a homestead against forced sale to pay debts, except for foreclosure on debts related to the homestead (mortgage, taxes, mechanic's liens, and home equity loans including home equity lines of credit).

Once an amendment passes it is compiled into the existing framework (i.e., text is either added or deleted), unlike the United States Constitution.

[10][11] A Texas convention debated the annexation offer and almost unanimously passed an ordinance assenting to it on July 4, 1845.

[14] A referendum was held on June 25, 1866, pursuant to the laws then in force on March 29, for the ratification of the amendments proposed by the convention.