The Texas Legislative Council is required by law (Section 323.007, Government Code) to carry out a complete nonsubstantive revision of the Texas statutes. The purpose of the revision is "to clarify and simplify the statutes and to make the statutes more accessible, understandable, and usable."
The process involves reclassifying and rearranging the statutes in a more logical order, employing a numbering system and format that will accommodate future expansion of the law; eliminating repealed, invalid, duplicative, and other ineffective provisions; and improving the draftsmanship of the law, if practicable, without altering the sense, meaning, or effect of the law.
Meticulous care is exercised by council staff to include in each proposed code all source law assigned to the code and to ensure that no substantive change is made in the law. However, complete and adequate outside review is also necessary. As a result, council staff encourage examination and review of all proposed code chapters by any interested person. If you would like to be added to the council's email list for one of the council's code projects, please click here.
For further information regarding the Continuing Statutory Revision Program, see Sec. 8.09 of the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual.
Current code projects are nonsubstantive statutory revision projects initiated and completed during the current interim. A project may be a complete code project or an installment of a statutory revision project that is enacted over several legislative sessions.
Select a link below to view detailed information about a current code project, together with information about any prior installments of the project.
If you would like to be added to the council's email list for one of the council's current code projects, please click here.
Recently completed code projects are nonsubstantive statutory revision projects completed during the preceding interim. A project with multiple installments is considered a completed project when all installments are complete.
Select a link below to view detailed information about a recently completed code project.
Each code is divided into titles, subtitles, chapters, subchapters, and sections. Sections are numbered decimally, and the number to the left of the decimal point is the same as the chapter number. Gaps in chapter and section numbering are for future expansion.
Each preliminary draft chapter is arranged to facilitate review. The chapter states the revised law, which is the text of the proposed new language, and then provides the source law, which is the text of the current law from which the revised law is taken. If further explanation of either the revised law or the source law is required, a revisor's note is included after the source law. All substance in the source law should be revised in the revised law, or the reason for its omission should be explained in a revisor's note. Where a cross‐reference has been changed as a result of the reorganization of the statutes, the current cross‐reference is indicated in brackets.
Because of the extensive reorganization of many statutes, it may be helpful for a reviewer to refer to the source law as printed in Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes (so that the quoted source law may be seen in present context). The reviewer should also keep in mind the following:
The Code Construction Act (Chapter 311, Government Code) applies to the code. That act sets out certain principles of statutory construction applicable to new codes and also provides some definitions.
Each proposed code chapter is written in modern American English. Where possible, the present tense is used, the active rather than the passive voice is preferred, and the singular is used in preference to the plural.
This is a nonsubstantive revision. The staff's authority does not include improving the substance of the current law. The sole purpose of this project is to compile the relevant law, arrange it in a logical fashion, and rewrite it without altering its meaning or legal effect. If a particular source statute is ambiguous and the ambiguity cannot be resolved without a potential substantive effect, the ambiguity is preserved. In addition, the code does not attempt to reflect court decisions that have not been approved by the Texas court of last resort or the possible effect of recent federal legislation.