What’s the Difference Between Texas Constables and Police?

I can't be the only one who has driven around town and seen the constable police cruiser either alone or with other standard patrol cars. Years ago, I even had a chance to meet and chat with a constable in Lubbock, Texas.

To this day, I always just assumed they were kinda like a regular cop, but not quite, you know? Maybe with a little more authority.. or less? See, I'm not quite sure. So, I did some research.

It turns out that the answer can be boiled down to this: Constables perform duties as given by the state and local government, while police officers enforce all local, state, and federal laws.

The Role of Constables in Texas

In Texas, constables often serve as bailiffs and courtroom security in lower courts that handle traffic and minor civil cases like evictions and tenant disputes. If you are ever evicted by your landlord, a constable may be the one who personally delivers paperwork to your door from the court.

Read More: Texas Tenant Laws for Dummies

According to Texapedia, other duties of Texas constables can include the following:

• Seize property with a court order
• Execute writs of garnishment
• Confiscate illegally-placed outdoor signs
• Impounding animals who were cruelly treated
• Summoning someone to jury duty
• Running truancy programs

Common Misconceptions of Texas Constables

A common assumption is that constables are often glorified mailmen who only serve court papers. Delivering legal documents and subpoenas may play a key part in their day-to-day operations, but constables have many more duties than that.

Remember, constables are still sworn officers, meaning that they can still make arrests, serve warrants, issue traffic tickets, and more.

Constables have full authority to place you under arrest if you break the law, they just often work more closely with the court system rather than focusing on traditional law enforcement tasks "on the street level."

Identifying Constables in Texas

Lastly, Lubbock has a total of four constables, one for each precinct. Anytime you see a police cruiser throughout Texas that has the word "Constable" printed on the side, that refers to the office designation.

This means that just because you see a constable car on the road doesn't always mean that's one of the four elected constables (or however many precincts there are in that particular city), it could be a deputy constable, for example.