Ltd. v. Williamson County Appraisal District

in which PHILLIPS, Chief Justice, and HECHT, CORNYN, ENOCH, OWEN, BAKER, and ABBOTT, Justices, join.

Following the voters’ passage of a constitutional amendment calling upon the Legislature “[t]o promote the preservation of open-space land,” the Legislature defined ecological laboratories as property promoting “farm and ranch purposes.” The question here is whether the Legislature acted constitutionally. The trial court ruled that the ecological laboratory provision is constitutional. The court of appeals reversed. 905 S.W.2d 289, 292. We hold that the statute is constitutional and therefore…