According to scholars, the word constable derives apparently from the Latin comes stabuli, which means “master of the horse,” “master of the stables,” or “count of the stables.” This is because early constables in France were military officers whose duties consisted of raising armies and local militia for the king.

In medieval England, constables were enveloped into courtly structure and were members of King Alfred’s household by 871 A.D. They were also a major part of the kingdom of William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) after he defeated English King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066. By 1070, Robert d’Oilly, a favorite of William I, was appointed constable of his shrievalty by both William I and William II. In 1086, d’Oilly was made sheriff of Warwickshire in England. Sheriffs and Constables both rose to power from this medieval English structure as unencumbered effectors of the law, and were further formalized into early English civil law by Article 45 of the Magna Charta of 1215, forced upon King John at Runnymede on June 15. Article 45 states in part, “we will only appoint as justiciars (enforcers of the law), constables, sheriffs or bailiffs, such as know the law of the land, and intend to observe it properly.”

With the settlement of the permanent English Colonies in North America, Constables in the Virginia Colony were well established by the 1640s, serving much the same duties today by elected Constables in Texas. Constables also served in the other British Colonies as law enforcement officers: Massachusetts by 1660, and by 1676 were in service in colonial New York. Constables continued as regional law enforcement officers during and after the American Revolution, and came as a part of civil law with the westward expansion of the United States as Territories and States were established.

The founding of the Office of Constable in Texas goes back to 1823, and  is the first and oldest law enforcement position in our State, long before the advent of U.S. Marshals, Sheriffs, or Texas Rangers! Concurrently, alcaldes (Mexican judicial officers), what were to later become Justices of the Peace, were the first judges in Texas.

On March 5, 1823, Thomas V. Alley was appointed Constable within the original Colorado District, Stephen F. Austin’s first colony under Mexican rule. He was appointed by John Tumlinson, Sr., who was alcalde of the District, soon after Governor Trespalacios divided the Colony into two Districts in December, 1822, for better civil administration and justice.

Tumlinson wrote to Baron de Bastrop in San Antonio that he had “appointed but one officer who acts in the capacity of Constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to justice.” A year later, Alley was required by newly approved civil codes to obtain a bond, which he did on January 26, 1824. That same day, Constable John Austin also made bond in the San Felipe de Austin District.

The Office of Constable in Texas was born at that time period of our history and flourished through the War for Texas Independence from Mexico (1835-6), further when Texas was its own country as The Republic of Texas (1836-45), through Texas Statehood before and during the Civil War (1861-65), and afterward continuing Texas Statehood to the present day.

*Historical information for this article was extracted, paraphrased, and/or copied from Texas Constables- A Frontier Heritage, by Allen G. Hatley, Texas Tech University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-89672-424-7