IV. The framing of the issue

SYSTEMIC ARGUMENT ONE The Visiting-Judge Statute is Unconstitutional

I. Judicial Power

Article V, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution describes judicial power in Texas:

JUDICIAL POWER VESTED IN COURTS; LEGISLATIVE POWER REGARDING COURTS. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Supreme Court, in one Court of Criminal Appeals, in Courts of Appeals, in District Courts, in County Courts, in Commissioners Courts, in Courts of Justices of the Peace, and in such other courts as may be provided by law. The Legislature may establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and prescribe the jurisdiction and organization thereof, and may conform the jurisdiction of the district and other inferior courts thereto.

The Texas Supreme Court defined the term “judicial power” back in 1933 in the

case of Morrow v. Corbin:

‘Judicial power’ is the power of a court to decide and pronounce a judgment and carry it into effect between persons and parties who bring a case before it for a decision.1

Different courts possess different portions of this judicial power. The particular

portion of the judicial power possessed by a certain type of court is known as the court’s

subject-matter jurisdiction. This was also explained in Morrow v. Corbin:

‘Jurisdiction’ of a particular court is that portion of the judicial power which it has been authorized to exercise by the Constitution or by valid statutes.2

1 Morrow v. Corbin, 62 S.W.2d 641, 644 (Tex. 1933). 2 Id.