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Impeachment is the power of a legislative body to address charges of impropriety or criminality by a government official, such as a governor or lieutenant governor. In the United States legal tradition, impeachment is comparable to an indictment in a criminal court.
In general, the purpose of an impeachment proceeding is to remove from office a state official accused of wrongdoing. However, “impeachment” in the narrow sense of the word refers only to the first step in a two-part process of removing the official.
Impeachment proceedings in Texas are conducted by the state legislature. The Texas Constitution art. 15 and Government Code ch. 665 set forth the rules and procedures governing impeachment proceedings.
Officials Who Can Be Impeached
Individuals who can be impeached include state officers; heads of government departments or institutions; and regents, trustees, or commissioners of state institutions.
Comparison to Federal Impeachment
Impeachment in Texas is a little different than it is in Washington, D.C.
If the Texas Legislature wants to remove a governor or other elected official, the first step is basically the same as it is in the federal system. The Texas House of Representatives holds the power of impeachment, just as the U.S. House does. By a majority vote, the legislators can impeach the official, a step that’s comparable to an indictment in a criminal court.
During the impeachment proceeding, the Texas House or one of its committees may summon witnesses, compel testimony, and punish for contempt, in the same way as a district court.
The key difference between the Texas system and the federal system is what happens after the House votes to impeach. At the federal level, the president retains his full powers even after the U.S. House impeaches him, pending his removal or acquittal by the U.S. Senate. But in Texas, once the Texas House has voted to impeach an official, that person is suspended from exercising his duties until after the outcome of a trial in the senate.
That’s what happened in 1917 when Governor “Pa” Ferguson was impeached by the Texas House. He immediately had to hand over his powers to Lieutenant Governor William Hobby. (Ferguson’s political career didn’t end with his impeachment; he went on to run for U.S. President and U.S. Senate, unsuccessfully, and he returned to the governor’s mansion in 1925 when his wife Miriam “Ma” Ferguson won the governorship).
Court of Impeachment
After an official is impeached by the Texas House, he or she is entitled to an “impartial trial” in the Texas Senate, according to the state constitution. At the conclusion of the trial, the senate may remove the official by a two-thirds vote of all the members present.
The constitution says, “When the Senate is sitting as a Court of Impeachment, the Senators shall be on oath, or affirmation impartially to try the party impeached, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present.”
What’s an Impeachable Offense?
The U.S. Constitution says impeachment is for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The Texas Constitution doesn’t spell it out. But in several places it refers to impeachment in connection with criminal matters.
For example, the Bill of Rights (Art. I) mentions impeachment in a section about the rights of the accused in criminal prosecutions. Art. IV Sec. 11, about the governor’s power of pardon, refers to impeachment as a kind of “criminal case.”
There is also a distinction made in Art. XV Sec. 8 between impeachment and “removal by address,” a procedure involving a hearing but not a full-blown trial. Only judges and certain state commissioners can be removed in this way, for reasons of “incompetency,” “habitual drunkenness,” or other such offenses.
That language suggests that early Texans considered “impeachment” to be justifiable only for very serious conduct that was tantamount to a crime, if not actually criminal – but not for mere incompetence or “habitual drunkenness.”
Even so, later precedents established that an official can be impeached for conduct falling short of criminality. When Governor Ferguson was impeached and convicted in 1917, many but not all of the charges against him were for breaking the law.
The Texas Supreme Court defined impeachment broadly in a 1924 case, Ferguson v. Maddox. The court stated, “‘Impeachment,’ at the time of the adoption of the (Texas) Constitution, was an established and well-understood procedure in English and American parliamentary law… It was designed, primarily, to reach those in high places guilty of official delinquencies or maladministration… the wrongs justifying impeachment need not be statutory offenses or common-law offenses…”
Power to Suspend
The power of impeachment gives the state legislature a great deal of power. The House can suspend a governor basically at will, at least until his acquittal by the Senate.
There’s also a great deal of power vested in the senate, and particularly in the lieutenant governor, who would serve as both acting governor and presiding officer at a suspended governor’s impeachment trial.
Braden’s Annotated Texas Constitution comments, “Permitting the lieutenant governor to preside over the impeachment trial of the governor whom he will succeed upon removal presents the potential for abuse. One remedy (would be) to require the chief justice to preside over the impeachment trial.”
In order to make that happen, the state legislature and voters would need to approve a constitutional amendment to change the process of impeachment as laid out in the state constitution.
Convening for Impeachment
Texas law allows the Texas House to convene for impeachment purposes even when it is not in session. That marks an exception to the general rule that the legislature cannot meet outside of regular session without being called into “special session” by the governor.
In order to convene in this way, the Speaker of the Texas House must issue a proclamation, after being petitioned in writing by 50 or more more members of the House. Alternatively, the House may convene without the Speaker’s support, if a majority of members sign a proclamation calling for the impeachment proceeding.
Likewise, the Senate may meet for an impeachment trial even when it is not in session.
