Internal prototype — noindexed, not linked from public navigation yet.

Tex. Local Government Code § 143.021

This is the official text of Tex. Local Government Code § 143.021, part of Texas’s Local Government Code — governs the powers and operations of Texas cities and counties.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 143.021. CLASSIFICATION; EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT.

Official statutory text

(a) The commission shall provide for the classification of all fire fighters and police officers. The municipality's governing body shall establish the classifications by ordinance. The governing body by ordinance shall prescribe the number of positions in each classification.

(b) Except for the department head and a person the department head appoints in accordance with Section 143.014 or 143.102, each fire fighter and police officer is classified as prescribed by this subchapter and has civil service protection. The failure of the governing body to establish a position by ordinance does not result in the loss of civil service benefits by a person entitled to civil service protection or appointed to the position in substantial compliance with this chapter.

(c) Except as provided by Sections 143.013, 143.014, 143.0251, 143.102, and 143.1251, an existing position or classification or a position or classification created in the future either by name or by increase in salary may be filled only from an eligibility list that results from an examination held in accordance with this chapter.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Texas?

Find a Texas lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.