page_title: Marshall, Texas
section_title: Government
hierarchical_section_title: Marshall, Texas / Government
caption_attribution_description: English: City Hall in Marshall, Texas
context_page_description: Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2010 U.S. census, the population of Marshall was 23,523; in 2019 it decreased to an estimated 22,831. The population of the Greater Marshall area, comprising all of Harrison County, was 65,631 in 2010, and 66,726 in 2018.
  Marshall and Harrison County were important political and production areas of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. This area of Texas was developed for cotton plantations. Planters brought slaves with them from other regions or bought them in the domestic slave trade. It had a higher proportion of slaves than other regions of the state, and the wealth of the county and city depended on slave labor and the cotton market. Marshall then was a large railroad center of the Texas and Pacific Railway from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century. Activists in the city's substantial African American population worked to create social change through the Civil Rights Movement, with considerable support from the historically black colleges and universities in the area.
context_section_description: Local government
  The City of Marshall has a council–manager form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a legislative body called a commission. The commission passes all city laws and ordinances, adopts budgets, determines city policy, and appoints city officials, including the city manager, who serves as the executive of the city government and is in charge of enforcing city laws and administering the city's various departments.
  City commission
  The city commission has seven members, each elected from a single-member district. Districts 1−4 divide the city into four districts, and the districts 5−7 divide the city into three districts that overlay Districts 1−4. So, every location in the city falls in two districts, one from each set. Each commissioner is elected to a two-year term. Districts 1−4 hold elections in odd-numbered years and districts 5−7 in even years; elections are held in the spring.
  After each election, the city commission selects a commissioner to serve as chairman, generically called a mayor, until after the next year's election. If no one files to run against a commissioner, as happened with District 1 in 2005, the commissioner is reinstated and an election for that district is not held that year.
  The city commission meets twice a month on the second and fourth Thursdays. Additional special sessions may be called or regular meetings cancelled. The Commission provides a public forum before each regular session providing citizens the opportunity to address the commission for two minutes without forward notice; with notice, additional time may be scheduled. The commission meetings are broadcast on radio and on the local government-access television, public-access television cable TV station.
  Commission members
  Municipal services
  Management of the city and coordination of city services are provided by:
  State government
  Marshall is represented in the Texas Senate by Republican Kevin Eltife, District 1, and in the Texas House of Representatives by Republican Chris Paddie, District 9.
  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Marshall District Parole Office in Marshall.
  Federal government
  At the federal level, the two current United States senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Marshall is located in Texas's 1st congressional district currently represented by Republican Louie Gohmert.
  The United States Postal Service operates the Marshall Post Office.
  Much of the U.S.'s patent litigation is handled in or around Marshall, Texas.
caption: City Hall in Marshall
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