Statutes
The state legislature meets every two years on odd-numbered years. During the legislative session, hundreds of bills are introduced by legislators for consideration. The bills that become law are then arranged by subject matter into various codes as the Texas statutes. The statutes are then published in print and online. Read the Texas statutes online .
The legislature also meets when the governor calls a special session. During a special session, the constitution states that “there shall be no legislation upon subjects other than those” set forth in the governor's proclamation or otherwise presented to the legislature by the governor.
For a more detailed explanation of the legislative process, the Texas Legislative Council publishes “The Legislative Process in Texas” and other resources that explain how a bill becomes law.
The current Texas statutes are available online.
While there is no official publisher of the Texas statutes, Vernon's Texas Statutes and Codes Annotated is the most popular and widely accepted version. Vernon's includes helpful annotations to case law, prior versions of the law, and other secondary sources.
Our library has print copies of Vernon's, and it is also available at many law libraries across Texas.
Our library's digitization efforts have brought online over 100 years of historical Texas statutes! We are proud to provide free public access to digitized copies of the Texas statutes from 1879 through 1984.
| Years | Source |
|---|---|
| Before 1879 | Codes of 1856 — Legislative Reference Library |
| 1879 – 1984 | Historical Texas Statutes — State Law Library |
| 1985 – 2004 | Not online — see note below |
| 2004 – present | Statutes by Date — Texas Legislature Online |
There is no free, public source on the web for codified Texas statutes in effect between the last volume on our historical Texas statutes page and 2004. For these intervening years, the Legislative Reference Library's Legislative Archive system provides access to the session laws.
The State Law Library has an extensive print collection of historical Texas statutes, and we make these available to the public during our normal business hours. If you cannot visit the library in person, Ask a Librarian for assistance.
Signed copies of bills
| Sessions | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 83rd – present | 2013 – present | Legislative Reference Library's guide to signed copies of bills on the Secretary of State's website |
| 78th – present |
2003 – present | Texas Laws and Resolutions Archive — University of North Texas, Portal to Texas History |
| 63rd – 79th | 1973 – 2005 | Legislative Reference Library's Legislative Archive System — digitization ongoing, see their status page for coverage |
| 1st – 62nd | 1846 – 1972 | Texas State Library and Archives — includes bills from the Republic of Texas |
Session laws
After a regular legislative session, the general and special laws are published by the secretary of state. This collection is arranged by chapters.
| Format | Source |
|---|---|
| Online | Legislative Reference Library's Legislative Archive System has digitized session laws going back to 1871 — digitization ongoing, see their status page for coverage |
| State Law Library has a collection of session laws from 1822 to present day |
About
Researching the history of a law or why the legislature enacted a law involves looking at different sources. Each source helps inform the intent behind the legislation.
Many sources have been digitized and are available online. For older legislation, you may need to listen to audiotape recordings of committee hearings. For very old legislation, more advanced historical research techniques may be needed.
The Guide to Researching Legislative History and Intent from the Legislative Reference Library and the Texas Legislative History Research guide from the Tarlton Law Library explain which sources to use and link you to digitized materials.
Bill Files
Official documents concerning a bill from the legislative process are compiled into a bill file. Bill files may contain different versions of the bill, bill analyses, financial notes, committee reports, and amendments.
| Sessions | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 71st – present | 1989 – present | Texas Legislature Online |
| 33rd – 79th | 1913 – 2005 | Legislative Archive System from the Legislative Reference Library — see their project status page for current coverage |
| 1st – 62nd | 1846 – 1972 | Texas State Library and Archives |
| Congress of the Republic of Texas | 1836 – 1845 | Texas State Library and Archives |
Bill History
A bill's history is a list of all the legislative actions that were taken on the bill and the date each action occurred. Additional information like a committee's name may also be listed.
This information is important because you can identify when the bill was discussed by a committee. Recordings or other records from the hearing can help you understand legislative intent.
| Sessions | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 71st – present | 1989 – present | Texas Legislature Online |
| 63rd – 85th | 1973 – 2017 | Legislative Archive System from the Legislative Reference Library — see their project status page for current coverage |
| 1st – 62nd | 1846 – 1972 | For any bill whose history is not already compiled, information may be found in the House and Senate Journals available on the Legislative Reference Library's website |
Committee Hearings and Floor Debates
Each chamber of the legislature has its own media office that handles audio and video recordings.
Senate
| Sessions | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 76th – present | 1999 – present | Senate Audio/Video Archive |
| 62nd – 79th | 1972 – 2006 | Texas Digital Archive from the Texas State Library and Archives; see the finding aid for details |
House
| Sessions | Years | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 77th – present | 2001 – present | House Video/Audio — includes both committee hearings and chamber proceedings |
| 57th & 63rd – 68th | 1962, 1973, 1975 – 1979, 1981 – 1984 | Texas Digital Archive from the Texas State Library and Archives — only certain proceedings available; see the finding aid for details |
Journals
Additional information may be found in the House and Senate Journals. See the House and Senate Journals collection from the Legislative Reference Library.