Texas County Map: All 254 Counties

Under Article V, Section 18 of the Texas Constitution of 1876, each county is divided into four commissioner precincts of roughly equal population. Voters in each precinct elect a County Commissioner to a four-year term. The presiding officer is the Constitutional County Judge, elected countywide.

In rural counties, the County Judge continues to exercise judicial authority over misdemeanor criminal cases, probate matters, and civil disputes. In urban counties, the legislature created statutory County Courts at Law, allowing the County Judge to focus full-time as the county's chief executive and emergency management director.

Crucially, Texas counties possess zero general ordinance-making power or zoning authority under Dillon's Rule. A Texas county cannot enact land zoning in unincorporated areas unless specifically authorized by state statute, enabling explosive suburban development outside city limits.

Loving County in the Permian Basin of West Texas holds just 64 residents according to official decennial census records, making it the least populous county in the entire United States. Operating with an elected judge, commissioners, sheriff, and clerk from the courthouse in Mentone, Loving County sits atop immense oil and natural gas production reserves.

In contrast, Brewster County covers 6,193 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert, the Chisos Mountains, and Big Bend National Park along the Rio Grande, making it larger than the entire state of Connecticut. Sheriff deputies in Brewster patrol hundreds of miles of remote international river border.

Harris County (Houston) houses over 4.7 million residents—more populous than 25 individual U.S. states. The Harris County Commissioners Court oversees a multi-billion-dollar annual budget, one of the nation's largest county hospital districts (Harris Health), and regional flood control infrastructure across 22 bayou watersheds.