Thread: Question for you Texans

Alright, a little question for the Texans. FYI - It is bigger and better down there. Only went once during the '96 All Star Game (love that Arlington stadium)- to Dallas / Ft Worth and Waco -- oh, and the ladies were gorgeous

You have DPS (State Police, texas rangers, etc...) - You have Sheriffs Depts - and then you have these Constables who work in different precincts. What exactly do these constables do? What's their authority? I see at least some of their functions are courtroom duties - are they also on patrol, conducting car stops, responding to 911 calls, etc?

Constables duties are the same as any other peace offiers in Texas, just more civil. They also aren't directly on the 911 system but do respond to the calls if need be. The 911 calls are directed towards local PD and Sheriffs. The constables are not allowed to enforce city ordinances. They are in courts most of the time for cases such as, attendence for students, hearings on tickets/accidents, weddings, etc. In the streets they issue warrants, evictions, traffic tickets, so on and so forth. Their main duties are to the courts though, and are mostly civil cases (serving papers), but yes, they do still function as any other police officer. I hope I answered your question

To add to the above, while constables and their deputies are full peace officers (as in fully commissioned police, not the NYS version of a peace officer), they are elected and primarily serve in a specific precinct, which is a political subdivision within each county of the State. Duties actually vary quite a bit around the state. One primary function is providing bailiffs and serving civil processes for the Justice of the Peace in their precinct. Depending on the county commission and sheriff's office, some constable offices do handle more traditional LE functions like patrol and traffic enforcement within their precinct or county wide. Some also work on specialized enforcement areas or investigations, like child support, usually in support of another agency or task force.

I've worked with some good constable offices in various places, but also some in other parts of the state that had questionable (at best) reputations. Back when I was with Border Patrol, we had good relationships with the SO and PDs, and no one trusted the local deputy constables along the river. Believe the State Legislature introduced some reforms to address selection and training issues, but I'm not sure how much that has improved things across the state since constable offices tend to pay less than other agencies in the same area.

As an aside, there are a lot of other fully commissioned state level law enforcement agencies in Texas in addition to DPS, including the Attorney Generals Office, Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Department of Insurance, etc. Also criminal investigators in the DA's offices at the county level.

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Thank ya'll for the info. I've worked with a few local PD's, State AG, Rangers, etc, but the whole constable title was a bit of a blur to me. Sounds like a hold back from the days the Brits ruled - same as Canada, where the title constable still refers to many of their police officer.