We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article. I. - The Legislative Branch Note

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.) (The previous sentence in parentheses was modified by the 14th Amendment, section 2.) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof,) (The preceding words in parentheses superseded by 17th Amendment, section 1.) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; (and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.) (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 17th Amendment, section 2.)

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall (be on the first Monday in December,) (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 20th Amendment, section 2.) unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

(The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.) (The preceding words in parentheses were modified by the 27th Amendment.) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

(No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.) (Section in parentheses clarified by the 16th Amendment.)

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Article. II. - The Executive Branch Note

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

(The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in parentheses was superseded by the 12th Amendment.)

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

(In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.) (This clause in parentheses has been modified by the 20th and 25th Amendments.)

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section 2 - Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article III. - The Judicial Branch Note

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

(The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.) (This section in parentheses is modified by the 11th Amendment.)

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Article. IV. - The States

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

(No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.) (This clause in parentheses is superseded by the 13th Amendment.)

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Article. V. - Amendment Note1 - Note2 - Note3

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article. VI. - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Article. VII. - Ratification Documents

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names. Note

Pensylvania - B Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv Morris

Delaware - Geo. Read, Gunning Bedford jun, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco. Broom

South Carolina - J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler

The Amendments Note

The following are the Amendments to the Constitution. The first ten Amendments collectively are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. History

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

END

The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution;

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

Amendment I

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

         Constitution of the State of Illinois
    Adopted at special election on December 15, 1970

                          PREAMBLE

     We, the People of the State of Illinois - grateful to
Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty
which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking His blessing
upon our endeavors - in order to provide for the health,
safety and welfare of the people; maintain a representative
and orderly government; eliminate poverty and inequality;
assure legal, social and economic justice; provide
opportunity for the fullest development of the individual;
insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense;
and secure the blessings of freedom and liberty to ourselves
and our posterity - do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the State of Illinois.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                        ARTICLE I
                      BILL OF RIGHTS

SECTION 1. INHERENT AND INALIENABLE RIGHTS
    All men are by nature free and independent and have
certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights
and the protection of property, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION
    No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property
without due process of law nor be denied the equal protection
of the laws.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
    The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession
and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be
guaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil or
political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his
religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby
secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or
affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify
practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State.
No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry
or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any
preference be given by law to any religious denomination or
mode of worship.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
    All persons may speak, write and publish freely, being
responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In trials for
libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published
with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a
sufficient defense.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE AND PETITION
    The people have the right to assemble in a peaceable
manner, to consult for the common good, to make known their
opinions to their representatives and to apply for redress of
grievances.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. SEARCHES, SEIZURES, PRIVACY AND INTERCEPTIONS
    The people shall have the right to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and other possessions against
unreasonable searches, seizures, invasions of privacy or
interceptions of communications by eavesdropping devices or
other means. No warrant shall issue without probable cause,
supported by affidavit particularly describing the place to
be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. INDICTMENT AND PRELIMINARY HEARING
    No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
unless on indictment of a grand jury, except in cases in
which the punishment is by fine or by imprisonment other than
in the penitentiary, in cases of impeachment, and in cases
arising in the militia when in actual service in time of war
or public danger. The General Assembly by law may abolish the
grand jury or further limit its use.
    No person shall be held to answer for a crime punishable
by death or by imprisonment in the penitentiary unless either
the initial charge has been brought by indictment of a grand
jury or the person has been given a prompt preliminary
hearing to establish probable cause.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. RIGHTS AFTER INDICTMENT
    In criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the
right to appear and defend in person and by counsel; to
demand the nature and cause of the accusation and have a copy
thereof; to be confronted with the witnesses against him or
her and to have process to compel the attendance of witnesses
in his or her behalf; and to have a speedy public trial by an
impartial jury of the county in which the offense is alleged
to have been committed.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 8,
1994.)

SECTION 8.1. CRIME VICTIM'S RIGHTS.
    (a) Crime victims, as defined by law, shall have the
following rights as provided by law:
         (1) The right to be treated with fairness and
    respect for their dignity and privacy throughout the
    criminal justice process.
         (2) The right to notification of court proceedings.
         (3) The right to communicate with the prosecution.
         (4) The right to make a statement to the court at
    sentencing.
         (5) The right to information about the conviction,
    sentence, imprisonment, and release of the accused.
         (6) The right to timely disposition of the case
    following the arrest of the accused.
         (7) The right to be reasonably protected from the
    accused throughout the criminal justice process.
         (8) The right to be present at the trial and all
    other court proceedings on the same basis as the accused,
    unless the victim is to testify and the court determines
    that the victim's testimony would be materially affected
    if the victim hears other testimony at the trial.
         (9) The right to have present at all court
    proceedings, subject to the rules of evidence, an
    advocate or other support person of the victim's choice.
         (10) The right to restitution.
    (b) The General Assembly may provide by law for the
enforcement of this Section.
    (c) The General Assembly may provide for an assessment
against convicted defendants to pay for crime victims'
rights.
    (d) Nothing in this Section or in any law enacted under
this Section shall be construed as creating a basis for
vacating a conviction or a ground for appellate relief in any
criminal case.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 3,
1992.)

SECTION 9. BAIL AND HABEAS CORPUS
    All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties,
except for the following offenses where the proof is evident
or the presumption great: capital offenses; offenses for
which a sentence of life imprisonment may be imposed as a
consequence of conviction; and felony offenses for which a
sentence of imprisonment, without conditional and revocable
release, shall be imposed by law as a consequence of
conviction, when the court, after a hearing, determines that
release of the offender would pose a real and present threat
to the physical safety of any person. The privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases
of rebellion or invasion when the public safety may require
it.
    Any costs accruing to a unit of local government as a
result of the denial of bail pursuant to the 1986 Amendment
to this Section shall be reimbursed by the State to the unit
of local government.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1986.)

SECTION 10. SELF-INCRIMINATION AND DOUBLE JEOPARDY
    No person shall be compelled in a criminal case to give
evidence against himself nor be twice put in jeopardy for the
same offense.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 11. LIMITATION OF PENALTIES AFTER CONVICTION
    All penalties shall be determined both according to the
seriousness of the offense and with the objective of
restoring the offender to useful citizenship. No conviction
shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. No
person shall be transported out of the State for an offense
committed within the State.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 12. RIGHT TO REMEDY AND JUSTICE
    Every person shall find a certain remedy in the laws for
all injuries and wrongs which he receives to his person,
privacy, property or reputation. He shall obtain justice by
law, freely, completely, and promptly.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 13. TRIAL BY JURY
    The right of trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed shall
remain inviolate.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 14. IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT
    No person shall be imprisoned for debt unless he refuses
to deliver up his estate for the benefit of his creditors as
provided by law or unless there is a strong presumption of
fraud. No person shall be imprisoned for failure to pay a
fine in a criminal case unless he has been afforded adequate
time to make payment, in installments if necessary, and has
willfully failed to make payment.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 15. RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN
    Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public
use without just compensation as provided by law. Such
compensation shall be determined by a jury as provided by
law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 16. EX POST FACTO LAWS AND IMPAIRING CONTRACTS
    No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of
contracts or making an irrevocable grant of special
privileges or immunities, shall be passed.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 17. NO DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT AND THE SALE OR
RENTAL OF PROPERTY
    All persons shall have the right to be free from
discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national
ancestry and sex in the hiring and promotion practices of any
employer or in the sale or rental of property.
    These rights are enforceable without action by the
General Assembly, but the General Assembly by law may
establish reasonable exemptions relating to these rights and
provide additional remedies for their violation.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 18. NO DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX
    The equal protection of the laws shall not be denied or
abridged on account of sex by the State or its units of local
government and school districts.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 19. NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE HANDICAPPED
    All persons with a physical or mental handicap shall be
free from discrimination in the sale or rental of property
and shall be free from discrimination unrelated to ability in
the hiring and promotion practices of any employer.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 20. INDIVIDUAL DIGNITY
    To promote individual dignity, communications that
portray criminality, depravity or lack of virtue in, or that
incite violence, hatred, abuse or hostility toward, a person
or group of persons by reason of or by reference to
religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation
are condemned.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 21. QUARTERING OF SOLDIERS
    No soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in a house
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war except
as provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 22. RIGHT TO ARMS
    Subject only to the police power, the right of the
individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 23. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
    A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of
civil government is necessary to preserve the blessings of
liberty. These blessings cannot endure unless the people
recognize their corresponding individual obligations and
responsibilities.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 24. RIGHTS RETAINED
    The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the individual citizens of the State.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                    ARTICLE II
             THE POWERS OF THE STATE


SECTION 1. SEPARATION OF POWERS
    The legislative, executive and judicial branches are
separate. No branch shall exercise powers properly belonging
to another.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. POWERS OF GOVERNMENT
    The enumeration in this Constitution of specified powers
and functions shall not be construed as a limitation of
powers of state government.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                    ARTICLE III
              SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

SECTION 1. VOTING QUALIFICATIONS
    Every United States citizen who has attained the age of
18 or any other voting age required by the United States for
voting in State elections and who has been a permanent
resident of this State for at least 30 days next preceding
any election shall have the right to vote at such election.
The General Assembly by law may establish registration
requirements and require permanent residence in an election
district not to exceed thirty days prior to an election. The
General Assembly by law may establish shorter residence
requirements for voting for President and Vice-President of
the United States.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 8,
1988.)

SECTION 2. VOTING DISQUALIFICATIONS
    A person convicted of a felony, or otherwise under
sentence in a correctional institution or jail, shall lose
the right to vote, which right shall be restored not later
than upon completion of his sentence.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. ELECTIONS
    All elections shall be free and equal.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. ELECTION LAWS
    The General Assembly by law shall define permanent
residence for voting purposes, insure secrecy of voting and
the integrity of the election process, and facilitate
registration and voting by all qualified persons. Laws
governing voter registration and conduct of elections shall
be general and uniform.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. BOARD OF ELECTIONS
    A State Board of Elections shall have general supervision
over the administration of the registration and election laws
throughout the State. The General Assembly by law shall
determine the size, manner of selection and compensation of
the Board. No political party shall have a majority of
members of the Board.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. GENERAL ELECTION
    As used in all articles of this Constitution except
Article VII, "general election" means the biennial election
at which members of the General Assembly are elected. Such
election shall be held on the Tuesday following the first
Monday of November in even-numbered years or on such other
day as provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE IV
                      THE LEGISLATURE

SECTION 1. LEGISLATURE - POWER AND STRUCTURE
    The legislative power is vested in a General Assembly
consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives,
elected by the electors from 59 Legislative Districts and 118
Representative Districts.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
    (a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative
District. Immediately following each decennial redistricting,
the General Assembly by law shall divide the Legislative
Districts as equally as possible into three groups. Senators
from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four
years and two years; Senators from the second group, for
terms of four years, two years and four years; and Senators
from the third group, for terms of two years, four years and
four years. The Legislative Districts in each group shall be
distributed substantially equally over the State.
    (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years
thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each
Representative District for a term of two years.
    (c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least
21 years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
appointment a resident of the district which he is to
represent. In the general election following a redistricting,
a candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any
district which contains a part of the district in which he
resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a
resident of the new district he represents for 18 months
prior to reelection.
    (d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall
be filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy
is in a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months
remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve
until the next general election, at which time a Senator
shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If
the vacancy is in a Representative office or in any other
Senatorial office, the appointment shall be for the remainder
of the term. An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be a member
of the same political party as the person he succeeds.
    (e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive
compensation as a public officer or employee from any other
governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
as a member of the General Assembly.
    No member of the General Assembly during the term for
which he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a
public office which shall have been created or the
compensation for which shall have been increased by the
General Assembly during that term.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)

SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
    (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous
and substantially equal in population. Representative
Districts shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially
equal in population.
    (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census
year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the
Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts.
    If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of
that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be
constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall
consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be
members of the same political party.
    The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives shall each appoint to the Commission one
Representative and one person who is not a member of the
General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader of the
Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and
one person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
    The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State
by the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission
shall be filled within five days by the authority that made
the original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall
be chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission.
    Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with
the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
least five members.
    If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting
plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two
persons, not of the same political party, to the Secretary of
State not later than September 1.
    Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State
publicly shall draw by random selection the name of one of
the two persons to serve as the ninth member of the
Commission.
    Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with
the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
least five members.
    An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary
of State shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and
effect of law and shall be published promptly by the
Secretary of State.
    The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House
and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the
People of the State by the Attorney General.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)

SECTION 4. ELECTION
    Members of the General Assembly shall be elected at the
general election in even-numbered years.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. SESSIONS
    (a) The General Assembly shall convene each year on the
second Wednesday of January. The General Assembly shall be a
continuous body during the term for which members of the
House of Representatives are elected.
    (b) The Governor may convene the General Assembly or the
Senate alone in special session by a proclamation stating the
purpose of the session; and only business encompassed by such
purpose, together with any impeachments or confirmation of
appointments shall be transacted. Special sessions of the
General Assembly may also be convened by joint proclamation
of the presiding officers of both houses, issued as provided
by law.
    (c) Sessions of each house of the General Assembly and
meetings of committees, joint committees and legislative
commissions shall be open to the public. Sessions and
committee meetings of a house may be closed to the public if
two-thirds of the members elected to that house determine
that the public interest so requires; and meetings of joint
committees and legislative commissions may be so closed if
two-thirds of the members elected to each house so determine.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. ORGANIZATION
    (a) A majority of the members elected to each house
constitutes a quorum.
    (b) On the first day of the January session of the
General Assembly in odd-numbered years, the Secretary of
State shall convene the House of Representatives to elect
from its membership a Speaker of the House of Representatives
as presiding officer, and the Governor shall convene the
Senate to elect from its membership a President of the Senate
as presiding officer.
    (c) For purposes of powers of appointment conferred by
this Constitution, the Minority Leader of either house is a
member of the numerically strongest political party other
than the party to which the Speaker or the President belongs,
as the case may be.
    (d) Each house shall determine the rules of its
proceedings, judge the elections, returns and qualifications
of its members and choose its officers. No member shall be
expelled by either house, except by a vote of two-thirds of
the members elected to that house. A member may be expelled
only once for the same offense. Each house may punish by
imprisonment any person, not a member, guilty of disrespect
to the house by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its
presence. Imprisonment shall not extend beyond twenty-four
hours at one time unless the person persists in disorderly or
contemptuous behavior.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS
    (a) Committees of each house, joint committees of the
two houses and legislative commissions shall give reasonable
public notice of meetings, including a statement of subjects
to be considered.
    (b) Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings
and a transcript of its debates. The journal shall be
published and the transcript shall be available to the
public.
    (c) Either house or any committee thereof as provided by
law may compel by subpoena the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of books, records and papers.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. PASSAGE OF BILLS
    (a) The enacting clause of the laws of this State shall
be: "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly."
    (b) The General Assembly shall enact laws only by bill.
Bills may originate in either house, but may be amended or
rejected by the other.
    (c) No bill shall become a law without the concurrence
of a majority of the members elected to each house. Final
passage of a bill shall be by record vote. In the Senate at
the request of two members, and in the House at the request
of five members, a record vote may be taken on any other
occasion. A record vote is a vote by yeas and nays entered on
the journal.
    (d) A bill shall be read by title on three different
days in each house. A bill and each amendment thereto shall
be reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before
final passage.
    Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the
codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be
confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited
to the subject of appropriations.
    A bill expressly amending a law shall set forth
completely the sections amended.
    The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President of the Senate shall sign each bill that passes both
houses to certify that the procedural requirements for
passage have been met.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 9. VETO PROCEDURE
    (a) Every bill passed by the General Assembly shall be
presented to the Governor within 30 calendar days after its
passage. The foregoing requirement shall be judicially
enforceable. If the Governor approves the bill, he shall sign
it and it shall become law.
    (b) If the Governor does not approve the bill, he shall
veto it by returning it with his objections to the house in
which it originated. Any bill not so returned by the Governor
within 60 calendar days after it is presented to him shall
become law. If recess or adjournment of the General Assembly
prevents the return of a bill, the bill and the Governor's
objections shall be filed with the Secretary of State within
such 60 calendar days. The Secretary of State shall return
the bill and objections to the originating house promptly
upon the next meeting of the same General Assembly at which
the bill can be considered.
    (c) The house to which a bill is returned shall
immediately enter the Governor's objections upon its journal.
If within 15 calendar days after such entry that house by a
record vote of three-fifths of the members elected passes the
bill, it shall be delivered immediately to the second house.
If within 15 calendar days after such delivery the second
house by a record vote of three-fifths of the members elected
passes the bill, it shall become law.
    (d) The Governor may reduce or veto any item of
appropriations in a bill presented to him. Portions of a bill
not reduced or vetoed shall become law. An item vetoed shall
be returned to the house in which it originated and may
become law in the same manner as a vetoed bill. An item
reduced in amount shall be returned to the house in which it
originated and may be restored to its original amount in the
same manner as a vetoed bill except that the required record
vote shall be a majority of the members elected to each
house. If a reduced item is not so restored, it shall become
law in the reduced amount.
    (e) The Governor may return a bill together with
specific recommendations for change to the house in which it
originated. The bill shall be considered in the same manner
as a vetoed bill but the specific recommendations may be
accepted by a record vote of a majority of the members
elected to each house. Such bill shall be presented again to
the Governor and if he certifies that such acceptance
conforms to his specific recommendations, the bill shall
become law. If he does not so certify, he shall return it as
a vetoed bill to the house in which it originated.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE OF LAWS
    The General Assembly shall provide by law for a uniform
effective date for laws passed prior to June 1 of a calendar
year. The General Assembly may provide for a different
effective date in any law passed prior to June 1. A bill
passed after May 31 shall not become effective prior to June
1 of the next calendar year unless the General Assembly by
the vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house
provides for an earlier effective date.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 8,
1994.)

SECTION 11. COMPENSATION AND ALLOWANCES
    A member shall receive a salary and allowances as
provided by law, but changes in the salary of a member shall
not take effect during the term for which he has been
elected.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 12. LEGISLATIVE IMMUNITY
    Except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace, a
member shall be privileged from arrest going to, during, and
returning from sessions of the General Assembly. A member
shall not be held to answer before any other tribunal for any
speech or debate, written or oral, in either house. These
immunities shall apply to committee and legislative
commission proceedings.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 13. SPECIAL LEGISLATION
    The General Assembly shall pass no special or local law
when a general law is or can be made applicable. Whether a
general law is or can be made applicable shall be a matter
for judicial determination.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 14. IMPEACHMENT
    The House of Representatives has the sole power to
conduct legislative investigations to determine the existence
of cause for impeachment and, by the vote of a majority of
the members elected, to impeach Executive and Judicial
officers. Impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When
sitting for that purpose, Senators shall be upon oath, or
affirmation, to do justice according to law. If the Governor
is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall
preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the Senators elected. Judgment shall not
extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to
hold any public office of this State. An impeached officer,
whether convicted or acquitted, shall be liable to
prosecution, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 15. ADJOURNMENT
    (a) When the General Assembly is in session, neither
house without the consent of the other shall adjourn for more
than three days or to a place other than where the two houses
are sitting.
    (b) If either house certifies that a disagreement exists
between the houses as to the time for adjourning a session,
the Governor may adjourn the General Assembly to a time not
later than the first day of the next annual session.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                          ARTICLE V
                        THE EXECUTIVE

SECTION 1. OFFICERS
    The Executive Branch shall include a Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller
and Treasurer elected by the electors of the State. They
shall keep the public records and maintain a residence at the
seat of government during their terms of office.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. TERMS
    These elected officers of the Executive Branch shall hold
office for four years beginning on the second Monday of
January after their election and, except in the case of the
Lieutenant Governor, until their successors are qualified.
They shall be elected at the general election in 1978 and
every four years thereafter.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. ELIGIBILITY
    To be eligible to hold the office of Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller
or Treasurer, a person must be a United States citizen, at
least 25 years old, and a resident of this State for the
three years preceding his election.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. JOINT ELECTION
    In the general election for Governor and Lieutenant
Governor, one vote shall be cast jointly for the candidates
nominated by the same political party or petition. The
General Assembly may provide by law for the joint nomination
of candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. CANVASS - CONTESTS
    The election returns for executive offices shall be
sealed and transmitted to the Secretary of State, or other
person or body provided by law, who shall examine and
consolidate the returns. The person having the highest number
of votes for an office shall be declared elected. If two or
more persons have an equal and the highest number of votes
for an office, they shall draw lots to determine which of
them shall be declared elected. Election contests shall be
decided by the courts in a manner provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. GUBERNATORIAL SUCCESSION
    (a) In the event of a vacancy, the order of succession
to the office of Governor or to the position of Acting
Governor shall be the Lieutenant Governor, the elected
Attorney General, the elected Secretary of State, and then as
provided by law.
    (b) If the Governor is unable to serve because of death,
conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation or
other disability, the office of Governor shall be filled by
the officer next in line of succession for the remainder of
the term or until the disability is removed.
    (c) Whenever the Governor determines that he may be
seriously impeded in the exercise of his powers, he shall so
notify the Secretary of State and the officer next in line of
succession. The latter shall thereafter become Acting
Governor with the duties and powers of Governor. When the
Governor is prepared to resume office, he shall do so by
notifying the Secretary of State and the Acting Governor.
    (d) The General Assembly by law shall specify by whom
and by what procedures the ability of the Governor to serve
or to resume office may be questioned and determined. The
Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction
to review such a law and any such determination and, in the
absence of such a law, shall make the determination under
such rules as it may adopt.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. VACANCIES IN OTHER ELECTIVE OFFICES
    If the Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller
or Treasurer fails to qualify or if his office becomes
vacant, the Governor shall fill the office by appointment.
The appointee shall hold office until the elected officer
qualifies or until a successor is elected and qualified as
may be provided by law and shall not be subject to removal by
the Governor. If the Lieutenant Governor fails to qualify or
if his office becomes vacant, it shall remain vacant until
the end of the term.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. GOVERNOR - SUPREME EXECUTIVE POWER
    The Governor shall have the supreme executive power, and
shall be responsible for the faithful execution of the laws.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 9. GOVERNOR - APPOINTING POWER
    (a) The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, a majority of the members
elected concurring by record vote, shall appoint all officers
whose election or appointment is not otherwise provided for.
Any nomination not acted upon by the Senate within 60 session
days after the receipt thereof shall be deemed to have
received the advice and consent of the Senate. The General
Assembly shall have no power to elect or appoint officers of
the Executive Branch.
    (b) If, during a recess of the Senate, there is a
vacancy in an office filled by appointment by the Governor by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Governor
shall make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of
the Senate, when he shall make a nomination to fill such
office.
    (c) No person rejected by the Senate for an office
shall, except at the Senate's request, be nominated again for
that office at the same session or be appointed to that
office during a recess of that Senate.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 10. GOVERNOR - REMOVALS
    The Governor may remove for incompetence, neglect of
duty, or malfeasance in office any officer who may be
appointed by the Governor.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 11. GOVERNOR - AGENCY REORGANIZATION
    The Governor, by Executive Order, may reassign functions
among or reorganize executive agencies which are directly
responsible to him. If such a reassignment or reorganization
would contravene a statute, the Executive Order shall be
delivered to the General Assembly. If the General Assembly is
in annual session and if the Executive Order is delivered on
or before April 1, the General Assembly shall consider the
Executive Order at that annual session. If the General
Assembly is not in annual session or if the Executive Order
is delivered after April 1, the General Assembly shall
consider the Executive Order at its next annual session, in
which case the Executive Order shall be deemed to have been
delivered on the first day of that annual session. Such an
Executive Order shall not become effective if, within 60
calendar days after its delivery to the General Assembly,
either house disapproves the Executive Order by the record
vote of a majority of the members elected. An Executive Order
not so disapproved shall become effective by its terms but
not less than 60 calendar days after its delivery to the
General Assembly.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 12. GOVERNOR - PARDONS
    The Governor may grant reprieves, commutations and
pardons, after conviction, for all offenses on such terms as
he thinks proper. The manner of applying therefore may be
regulated by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 13. GOVERNOR - LEGISLATIVE MESSAGES
    The Governor, at the beginning of each annual session of
the General Assembly and at the close of his term of office,
shall report to the General Assembly on the condition of the
State and recommend such measures as he deems desirable.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 14. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR - DUTIES
    The Lieutenant Governor shall perform the duties and
exercise the powers in the Executive Branch that may be
delegated to him by the Governor and that may be prescribed
by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 15. ATTORNEY GENERAL - DUTIES
    The Attorney General shall be the legal officer of the
State, and shall have the duties and powers that may be
prescribed by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 16. SECRETARY OF STATE - DUTIES
    The Secretary of State shall maintain the official
records of the acts of the General Assembly and such official
records of the Executive Branch as provided by law. Such
official records shall be available for inspection by the
public. He shall keep the Great Seal of the State of Illinois
and perform other duties that may be prescribed by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 17. COMPTROLLER - DUTIES
    The Comptroller, in accordance with law, shall maintain
the State's central fiscal accounts, and order payments into
and out of the funds held by the Treasurer.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 18. TREASURER - DUTIES
    The Treasurer, in accordance with law, shall be
responsible for the safekeeping and investment of monies and
securities deposited with him, and for their disbursement
upon order of the Comptroller.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 19. RECORDS - REPORTS
    All officers of the Executive Branch shall keep accounts
and shall make such reports as may be required by law. They
shall provide the Governor with information relating to their
respective offices, either in writing under oath, or
otherwise, as the Governor may require.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 20. BOND
    Civil officers of the Executive Branch may be required by
law to give reasonable bond or other security for the
faithful performance of their duties. If any officer is in
default of such a requirement, his office shall be deemed
vacant.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 21. COMPENSATION
    Officers of the Executive Branch shall be paid salaries
established by law and shall receive no other compensation
for their services. Changes in the salaries of these officers
elected or appointed for stated terms shall not take effect
during the stated terms.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                       ARTICLE VI
                     THE JUDICIARY

SECTION 1. COURTS
    The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court, an
Appellate Court and Circuit Courts.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
    The State is divided into five Judicial Districts for the
selection of Supreme and Appellate Court Judges. The First
Judicial District consists of Cook County. The remainder of
the State shall be divided by law into four Judicial
Districts of substantially equal population, each of which
shall be compact and composed of contiguous counties.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. SUPREME COURT - ORGANIZATION
    The Supreme Court shall consist of seven Judges. Three
shall be selected from the First Judicial District and one
from each of the other Judicial Districts. Four Judges
constitute a quorum and the concurrence of four is necessary
for a decision. Supreme Court Judges shall select a Chief
Justice from their number to serve for a term of three years.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. SUPREME COURT - JURISDICTION
    (a) The Supreme Court may exercise original jurisdiction
in cases relating to revenue, mandamus, prohibition or habeas
corpus and as may be necessary to the complete determination
of any case on review.
    (b) Appeals from judgments of Circuit Courts imposing a
sentence of death shall be directly to the Supreme Court as a
matter of right. The Supreme Court shall provide by rule for
direct appeal in other cases.
    (c) Appeals from the Appellate Court to the Supreme
Court are a matter of right if a question under the
Constitution of the United States or of this State arises for
the first time in and as a result of the action of the
Appellate Court, or if a division of the Appellate Court
certifies that a case decided by it involves a question of
such importance that the case should be decided by the
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may provide by rule for
appeals from the Appellate Court in other cases.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. APPELLATE COURT - ORGANIZATION
    The number of Appellate Judges to be selected from each
Judicial District shall be provided by law. The Supreme Court
shall prescribe by rule the number of Appellate divisions in
each Judicial District. Each Appellate division shall have at
least three Judges. Assignments to divisions shall be made by
the Supreme Court. A majority of a division constitutes a
quorum and the concurrence of a majority of the division is
necessary for a decision. There shall be at least one
division in each Judicial District and each division shall
sit at times and places prescribed by rules of the Supreme
Court.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. APPELLATE COURT - JURISDICTION
    Appeals from final judgments of a Circuit Court are a
matter of right to the Appellate Court in the Judicial
District in which the Circuit Court is located except in
cases appealable directly to the Supreme Court and except
that after a trial on the merits in a criminal case, there
shall be no appeal from a judgment of acquittal. The Supreme
Court may provide by rule for appeals to the Appellate Court
from other than final judgments of Circuit Courts. The
Appellate Court may exercise original jurisdiction when
necessary to the complete determination of any case on
review. The Appellate Court shall have such powers of direct
review of administrative action as provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. JUDICIAL CIRCUITS
    (a) The State shall be divided into Judicial Circuits
consisting of one or more counties. The First Judicial
District shall constitute a Judicial Circuit. The Judicial
Circuits within the other Judicial Districts shall be as
provided by law. Circuits composed of more than one county
shall be compact and of contiguous counties. The General
Assembly by law may provide for the division of a circuit for
the purpose of selection of Circuit Judges and for the
selection of Circuit Judges from the circuit at large.
    (b) Each Judicial Circuit shall have one Circuit Court
with such number of Circuit Judges as provided by law. Unless
otherwise provided by law, there shall be at least one
Circuit Judge from each county. In the First Judicial
District, unless otherwise provided by law, Cook County,
Chicago, and the area outside Chicago shall be separate units
for the selection of Circuit Judges, with at least twelve
chosen at large from the area outside Chicago and at least
thirty-six chosen at large from Chicago.
    (c) Circuit Judges in each circuit shall select by
secret ballot a Chief Judge from their number to serve at
their pleasure. Subject to the authority of the Supreme
Court, the Chief Judge shall have general administrative
authority over his court, including authority to provide for
divisions, general or specialized, and for appropriate times
and places of holding court.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. ASSOCIATE JUDGES
    Each Circuit Court shall have such number of Associate
Judges as provided by law. Associate Judges shall be
appointed by the Circuit Judges in each circuit as the
Supreme Court shall provide by rule. In the First Judicial
District, unless otherwise provided by law, at least
one-fourth of the Associate Judges shall be appointed from,
and reside, outside Chicago. The Supreme Court shall provide
by rule for matters to be assigned to Associate Judges.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 9. CIRCUIT COURTS - JURISDICTION
    Circuit Courts shall have original jurisdiction of all
justiciable matters except when the Supreme Court has
original and exclusive jurisdiction relating to redistricting
of the General Assembly and to the ability of the Governor to
serve or resume office. Circuit Courts shall have such power
to review administrative action as provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 10. TERMS OF OFFICE
    The terms of office of Supreme and Appellate Court Judges
shall be ten years; of Circuit Judges, six years; and of
Associate Judges, four years.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 11. ELIGIBILITY FOR OFFICE
    No person shall be eligible to be a Judge or Associate
Judge unless he is a United States citizen, a licensed
attorney-at-law of this State, and a resident of the unit
which selects him. No change in the boundaries of a unit
shall affect the tenure in office of a Judge or Associate
Judge incumbent at the time of such change.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 12. ELECTION AND RETENTION
    (a) Supreme, Appellate and Circuit Judges shall be
nominated at primary elections or by petition. Judges shall
be elected at general or judicial elections as the General
Assembly shall provide by law. A person eligible for the
office of Judge may cause his name to appear on the ballot as
a candidate for Judge at the primary and at the general or
judicial elections by submitting petitions. The General
Assembly shall prescribe by law the requirements for
petitions.
    (b) The office of a Judge shall be vacant upon his
death, resignation, retirement, removal, or upon the
conclusion of his term without retention in office. Whenever
an additional Appellate or Circuit Judge is authorized by
law, the office shall be filled in the manner provided for
filling a vacancy in that office.
    (c) A vacancy occurring in the office of Supreme,
Appellate or Circuit Judge shall be filled as the General
Assembly may provide by law. In the absence of a law,
vacancies may be filled by appointment by the Supreme Court.
A person appointed to fill a vacancy 60 or more days prior to
the next primary election to nominate Judges shall serve
until the vacancy is filled for a term at the next general or
judicial election. A person appointed to fill a vacancy less
than 60 days prior to the next primary election to nominate
Judges shall serve until the vacancy is filled at the second
general or judicial election following such appointment.
    (d) Not less than six months before the general election
preceding the expiration of his term of office, a Supreme,
Appellate or Circuit Judge who has been elected to that
office may file in the office of the Secretary of State a
declaration of candidacy to succeed himself. The Secretary of
State, not less than 63 days before the election, shall
certify the Judge's candidacy to the proper election
officials. The names of Judges seeking retention shall be
submitted to the electors, separately and without party
designation, on the sole question whether each Judge shall be
retained in office for another term. The retention elections
shall be conducted at general elections in the appropriate
Judicial District, for Supreme and Appellate Judges, and in
the circuit for Circuit Judges. The affirmative vote of
three-fifths of the electors voting on the question shall
elect the Judge to the office for a term commencing on the
first Monday in December following his election.
    (e) A law reducing the number of Appellate or Circuit
Judges shall be without prejudice to the right of the Judges
affected to seek retention in office. A reduction shall
become effective when a vacancy occurs in the affected unit.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 13. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES
    (a) The Supreme Court shall adopt rules of conduct for
Judges and Associate Judges.
    (b) Judges and Associate Judges shall devote full time
to judicial duties. They shall not practice law, hold a
position of profit, hold office under the United States or
this State or unit of local government or school district or
in a political party. Service in the State militia or armed
forces of the United States for periods of time permitted by
rule of the Supreme Court shall not disqualify a person from
serving as a Judge or Associate Judge.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 14. JUDICIAL SALARIES AND
EXPENSES - FEE OFFICERS ELIMINATED
    Judges shall receive salaries provided by law which shall
not be diminished to take effect during their terms of
office. All salaries and such expenses as may be provided by
law shall be paid by the State, except that Appellate,
Circuit and Associate Judges shall receive such additional
compensation from counties within their district or circuit
as may be provided by law. There shall be no fee officers in
the judicial system.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 15. RETIREMENT - DISCIPLINE
    (a) The General Assembly may provide by law for the
retirement of Judges and Associate Judges at a prescribed
age. Any retired Judge or Associate Judge, with his or
her consent, may be assigned by the Supreme Court to
judicial service for which he or she shall receive the
applicable compensation in lieu of retirement benefits.
A retired Associate Judge may be assigned only as an
Associate Judge.
    (b) A Judicial Inquiry Board is created. The Supreme
Court shall select two Circuit Judges as members and the
Governor shall appoint four persons who are not lawyers and
three lawyers as members of the Board. No more than two of
the lawyers and two of the non-lawyers appointed by the
Governor shall be members of the same political party. The
terms of Board members shall be four years. A vacancy on the
Board shall be filled for a full term in the manner the
original appointment was made. No member may serve on the
Board more than eight years.
    (c) The Board shall be convened permanently, with
authority to conduct investigations, receive or initiate
complaints concerning a Judge or Associate Judge, and file
complaints with the Courts Commission. The Board shall not
file a complaint unless five members believe that a
reasonable basis exists (1) to charge the Judge or Associate
Judge with willful misconduct in office, persistent failure
to perform his duties, or other conduct that is prejudicial
to the administration of justice or that brings the judicial
office into disrepute, or (2) to charge that the Judge or
Associate Judge is physically or mentally unable to perform
his duties. All proceedings of the Board shall be
confidential except the filing of a complaint with the Courts
Commission. The Board shall prosecute the complaint.
    (d) The Board shall adopt rules governing its
procedures. It shall have subpoena power and authority to
appoint and direct its staff. Members of the Board who are
not Judges shall receive per diem compensation and necessary
expenses; members who are Judges shall receive necessary
expenses only. The General Assembly by law shall appropriate
funds for the operation of the Board.
    (e) An independent Courts Commission is created
consisting of one Supreme Court Judge selected by that Court
as a member and one as an alternate, two Appellate Court
Judges selected by that Court as members and three as
alternates, two Circuit Judges selected by the Supreme Court
as members and three as alternates, and two citizens selected
by the Governor as members and two as alternates. Members and
alternates who are Appellate Court Judges must each be from a
different Judicial District. Members and alternates who are
Circuit Judges must each be from a different Judicial
District. Members and alternates of the Commission shall not
be members of the Judicial Inquiry Board. The members of the
Commission shall select a chairperson to serve a two-year
term.
    The Commission shall be convened permanently to hear
complaints filed by the Judicial Inquiry Board. The
Commission shall have authority after notice and public
hearing, (1) to remove from office, suspend without pay,
censure or reprimand a Judge or Associate Judge for willful
misconduct in office, persistent failure to perform his or
her duties, or other conduct that is prejudicial to the
administration of justice or that brings the judicial office
into disrepute, or (2) to suspend, with or without pay, or
retire a Judge or Associate Judge who is physically or
mentally unable to perform his or her duties.
    (f) The concurrence of four members of the Commission
shall be necessary for a decision. The decision of the
Commission shall be final.
    (g) The Commission shall adopt comprehensive rules to
ensure that its procedures are fair and appropriate. These
rules and any amendments shall be public and filed with the
Secretary of State at least 30 days before becoming effective.
    (h) A member of the Commission shall disqualify himself
or herself, or the other members of the Commission shall
disqualify a member, with respect to any proceeding in which
disqualification or recusal would be required of a Judge
under rules of the Supreme Court, under rules of the
Commission, or by law.
    If a Supreme Court Judge is the subject of a proceeding,
then there shall be no Supreme Court Judge sitting as a
member of the Commission with respect to that proceeding.
Instead, an alternate Appellate Court Judge not from the same
Judicial District as the subject Supreme Court Judge shall
replace the subject Supreme Court Judge. If a member who is
an Appellate Court Judge is the subject of a proceeding, then
an alternate Appellate Court Judge shall replace the subject
Appellate Court Judge. If an Appellate Court Judge who is not
a member is the subject of a proceeding and an Appellate
Court Judge from the same Judicial District is a member, then
an alternate Appellate Court Judge shall replace that member.
If a member who is a Circuit Judge is the subject of a
proceeding, then an alternate Circuit Judge shall replace the
subject Circuit Judge. If a Circuit Judge who is not a member
is the subject of a proceeding and a Circuit Judge from the
same Judicial District is a member, then an alternate Circuit
Judge shall replace that member.
    If a member of the Commission is disqualified under this
Section with respect to any proceeding, that member shall be
replaced by an alternate on a rotating basis in a manner
provided by rule of the Commission. The alternate shall act
as member of the Commission with respect to that proceeding
only.
    (i) The Commission shall have power to issue subpoenas.
    (j) Members and alternates of the Commission who are not
Judges shall receive per diem compensation and necessary
expenses; members and alternates who are Judges shall receive
necessary expenses only. The General Assembly shall provide
by law for the expenses and compensation of the Commission.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 3,
1998.)

SECTION 16. ADMINISTRATION
    General administrative and supervisory authority over all
courts is vested in the Supreme Court and shall be exercised
by the Chief Justice in accordance with its rules. The
Supreme Court shall appoint an administrative director and
staff, who shall serve at its pleasure, to assist the Chief
Justice in his duties. The Supreme Court may assign a Judge
temporarily to any court and an Associate Judge to serve
temporarily as an Associate Judge on any Circuit Court. The
Supreme Court shall provide by rule for expeditious and
inexpensive appeals.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 17. JUDICIAL CONFERENCE
    The Supreme Court shall provide by rule for an annual
judicial conference to consider the work of the courts and to
suggest improvements in the administration of justice and
shall report thereon annually in writing to the General
Assembly not later than January 31.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 18. CLERKS OF COURTS
    (a) The Supreme Court and the Appellate Court Judges of
each Judicial District, respectively, shall appoint a clerk
and other non-judicial officers for their Court or District.
    (b) The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
election, or for the appointment by Circuit Judges, of clerks
and other non-judicial officers of the Circuit Courts and for
their terms of office and removal for cause.
    (c) The salaries of clerks and other non-judicial
officers shall be as provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 19. STATE'S ATTORNEYS - SELECTION, SALARY
    A State's Attorney shall be elected in each county in
1972 and every fourth year thereafter for a four year term.
One State's Attorney may be elected to serve two or more
counties if the governing boards of such counties so provide
and a majority of the electors of each county voting on the
issue approve. A person shall not be eligible for the office
of State's Attorney unless he is a United States citizen and
a licensed attorney-at-law of this State. His salary shall be
provided by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE VII
                      LOCAL GOVERNMENT

SECTION 1. MUNICIPALITIES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
    "Municipalities" means cities, villages and incorporated
towns. "Units of local government" means counties,
municipalities, townships, special districts, and units,
designated as units of local government by law, which
exercise limited governmental powers or powers in respect to
limited governmental subjects, but does not include school
districts.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. COUNTY TERRITORY, BOUNDARIES AND SEATS
    (a) The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
formation, consolidation, merger, division, and dissolution
of counties, and for the transfer of territory between
counties.
    (b) County boundaries shall not be changed unless
approved by referendum in each county affected.
    (c) County seats shall not be changed unless approved by
three-fifths of those voting on the question in a county-wide
referendum.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. COUNTY BOARDS
    (a) A county board shall be elected in each county. The
number of members of the county board shall be fixed by
ordinance in each county within limitations provided by law.
    (b) The General Assembly by law shall provide methods
available to all counties for the election of county board
members. No county, other than Cook County, may change its
method of electing board members except as approved by
county-wide referendum.
    (c) Members of the Cook County Board shall be elected
from two districts, Chicago and that part of Cook County
outside Chicago, unless (1) a different method of election is
approved by a majority of votes cast in each of the two
districts in a county-wide referendum or (2) the Cook County
Board by ordinance divides the county into single member
districts from which members of the County Board resident in
each district are elected. If a different method of election
is adopted pursuant to option (1) the method of election may
thereafter be altered only pursuant to option (2) or by
county-wide referendum. A different method of election may be
adopted pursuant to option (2) only once and the method of
election may thereafter be altered only by county-wide
referendum.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. COUNTY OFFICERS
    (a) Any county may elect a chief executive officer as
provided by law. He shall have those duties and powers
provided by law and those provided by county ordinance.
    (b) The President of the Cook County Board shall be
elected from the County at large and shall be the chief
executive officer of the County. If authorized by county
ordinance, a person seeking election as President of the Cook
County Board may also seek election as a member of the Board.
    (c) Each county shall elect a sheriff, county clerk and
treasurer and may elect or appoint a coroner, recorder,
assessor, auditor and such other officers as provided by law
or by county ordinance. Except as changed pursuant to this
Section, elected county officers shall be elected for terms
of four years at general elections as provided by law. Any
office may be created or eliminated and the terms of office
and manner of selection changed by county-wide referendum.
Offices other than sheriff, county clerk and treasurer may be
eliminated and the terms of office and manner of selection
changed by law. Offices other than sheriff, county clerk,
treasurer, coroner, recorder, assessor and auditor may be
eliminated and the terms of office and manner of selection
changed by county ordinance.
    (d) County officers shall have those duties, powers and
functions provided by law and those provided by county
ordinance. County officers shall have the duties, powers or
functions derived from common law or historical precedent
unless altered by law or county ordinance.
    (e) The county treasurer or the person designated to
perform his functions may act as treasurer of any unit of
local government and any school district in his county when
requested by any such unit or school district and shall so
act when required to do so by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. TOWNSHIPS
    The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
formation of townships in any county when approved by
county-wide referendum. Townships may be consolidated or
merged, and one or more townships may be dissolved or
divided, when approved by referendum in each township
affected. All townships in a county may be dissolved when
approved by a referendum in the total area in which township
officers are elected.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. POWERS OF HOME RULE UNITS
    (a) A County which has a chief executive officer elected
by the electors of the county and any municipality which has
a population of more than 25,000 are home rule units. Other
municipalities may elect by referendum to become home rule
units. Except as limited by this Section, a home rule unit
may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to
its government and affairs including, but not limited to, the
power to regulate for the protection of the public health,
safety, morals and welfare; to license; to tax; and to incur
debt.
    (b) A home rule unit by referendum may elect not to be a
home rule unit.
    (c) If a home rule county ordinance conflicts with an
ordinance of a municipality, the municipal ordinance shall
prevail within its jurisdiction.
    (d) A home rule unit does not have the power (1) to
incur debt payable from ad valorem property tax receipts
maturing more than 40 years from the time it is incurred or
(2) to define and provide for the punishment of a felony.
    (e) A home rule unit shall have only the power that the
General Assembly may provide by law (1) to punish by
imprisonment for more than six months or (2) to license for
revenue or impose taxes upon or measured by income or
earnings or upon occupations.
    (f) A home rule unit shall have the power subject to
approval by referendum to adopt, alter or repeal a form of
government provided by law, except that the form of
government of Cook County shall be subject to the provisions
of Section 3 of this Article. A home rule municipality shall
have the power to provide for its officers, their manner of
selection and terms of office only as approved by referendum
or as otherwise authorized by law. A home rule county shall
have the power to provide for its officers, their manner of
selection and terms of office in the manner set forth in
Section 4 of this Article.
    (g) The General Assembly by a law approved by the vote
of three-fifths of the members elected to each house may deny
or limit the power to tax and any other power or function of
a home rule unit not exercised or performed by the State
other than a power or function specified in subsection (l) of
this section.
    (h) The General Assembly may provide specifically by law
for the exclusive exercise by the State of any power or
function of a home rule unit other than a taxing power or a
power or function specified in subsection (l) of this
Section.
    (i) Home rule units may exercise and perform
concurrently with the State any power or function of a home
rule unit to the extent that the General Assembly by law does
not specifically limit the concurrent exercise or
specifically declare the State's exercise to be exclusive.
    (j) The General Assembly may limit by law the amount of
debt which home rule counties may incur and may limit by law
approved by three-fifths of the members elected to each house
the amount of debt, other than debt payable from ad valorem
property tax receipts, which home rule municipalities may
incur.
    (k) The General Assembly may limit by law the amount and
require referendum approval of debt to be incurred by home
rule municipalities, payable from ad valorem property tax
receipts, only in excess of the following percentages of the
assessed value of its taxable property: (1) if its population
is 500,000 or more, an aggregate of three percent; (2) if its
population is more than 25,000 and less than 500,000, an
aggregate of one percent; and (3) if its population is 25,000
or less, an aggregate of one-half percent. Indebtedness which
is outstanding on the effective date of this Constitution or
which is thereafter approved by referendum or assumed from
another unit of local government shall not be included in the
foregoing percentage amounts.
    (l) The General Assembly may not deny or limit the power
of home rule units (1) to make local improvements by special
assessment and to exercise this power jointly with other
counties and municipalities, and other classes of units of
local government having that power on the effective date of
this Constitution unless that power is subsequently denied by
law to any such other units of local government or (2) to
levy or impose additional taxes upon areas within their
boundaries in the manner provided by law for the provision of
special services to those areas and for the payment of debt
incurred in order to provide those special services.
    (m) Powers and functions of home rule units shall be
construed liberally.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES OTHER
           THAN HOME RULE UNITS
    Counties and municipalities which are not home rule units
shall have only powers granted to them by law and the powers
(1) to make local improvements by special assessment and to
exercise this power jointly with other counties and
municipalities, and other classes of units of local
government having that power on the effective date of this
Constitution unless that power is subsequently denied by law
to any such other units of local government; (2) by
referendum, to adopt, alter or repeal their forms of
government provided by law; (3) in the case of
municipalities, to provide by referendum for their officers,
manner of selection and terms of office; (4) in the case of
counties, to provide for their officers, manner of selection
and terms of office as provided in Section 4 of this Article;
(5) to incur debt except as limited by law and except that
debt payable from ad valorem property tax receipts shall
mature within 40 years from the time it is incurred; and (6)
to levy or impose additional taxes upon areas within their
boundaries in the manner provided by law for the provision of
special services to those areas and for the payment of debt
incurred in order to provide those special services.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. POWERS AND OFFICERS OF SCHOOL
           DISTRICTS AND UNITS OF LOCAL
           GOVERNMENT OTHER THAN COUNTIES
           AND MUNICIPALITIES
    Townships, school districts, special districts and units,
designated by law as units of local government, which
exercise limited governmental powers or powers in respect to
limited governmental subjects shall have only powers granted
by law. No law shall grant the power (1) to any of the
foregoing units to incur debt payable from ad valorem
property tax receipts maturing more than 40 years from the
time it is incurred, or (2) to make improvements by special
assessments to any of the foregoing classes of units which do
not have that power on the effective date of this
Constitution. The General Assembly shall provide by law for
the selection of officers of the foregoing units, but the
officers shall not be appointed by any person in the Judicial
Branch.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 9. SALARIES AND FEES
    (a) Compensation of officers and employees and the
office expenses of units of local government shall not be
paid from fees collected. Fees may be collected as provided
by law and by ordinance and shall be deposited upon receipt
with the treasurer of the unit. Fees shall not be based upon
funds disbursed or collected, nor upon the levy or extension
of taxes.
    (b) An increase or decrease in the salary of an elected
officer of any unit of local government shall not take effect
during the term for which that officer is elected.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 10. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION
    (a) Units of local government and school districts may
contract or otherwise associate among themselves, with the
State, with other states and their units of local government
and school districts, and with the United States to obtain or
share services and to exercise, combine, or transfer any
power or function, in any manner not prohibited by law or by
ordinance. Units of local government and school districts may
contract and otherwise associate with individuals,
associations, and corporations in any manner not prohibited
by law or by ordinance. Participating units of government may
use their credit, revenues, and other resources to pay costs
and to service debt related to intergovernmental activities.
    (b) Officers and employees of units of local government
and school districts may participate in intergovernmental
activities authorized by their units of government without
relinquishing their offices or positions.
    (c) The State shall encourage intergovernmental
cooperation and use its technical and financial resources to
assist intergovernmental activities.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 11. INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
    (a) Proposals for actions which are authorized by this
Article or by law and which require approval by referendum
may be initiated and submitted to the electors by resolution
of the governing board of a unit of local government or by
petition of electors in the manner provided by law.
    (b) Referenda required by this Article shall be held at
general elections, except as otherwise provided by law.
Questions submitted to referendum shall be adopted if
approved by a majority of those voting on the question unless
a different requirement is specified in this Article.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 12. IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES
    The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
transfer of assets, powers and functions, and for the payment
of outstanding debt in connection with the formation,
consolidation, merger, division, dissolution and change in
the boundaries of units of local government.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                        ARTICLE VIII
                           FINANCE

SECTION 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
    (a) Public funds, property or credit shall be used only
for public purposes.
    (b) The State, units of local government and school
districts shall incur obligations for payment or make
payments from public funds only as authorized by law or
ordinance.
    (c) Reports and records of the obligation, receipt and
use of public funds of the State, units of local government
and school districts are public records available for
inspection by the public according to law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. STATE FINANCE
    (a) The Governor shall prepare and submit to the General
Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State budget for the
ensuing fiscal year. The budget shall set forth the estimated
balance of funds available for appropriation at the beginning
of the fiscal year, the estimated receipts, and a plan for
expenditures and obligations during the fiscal year of every
department, authority, public corporation and quasi-public
corporation of the State, every State college and university,
and every other public agency created by the State, but not
of units of local government or school districts. The budget
shall also set forth the indebtedness and contingent
liabilities of the State and such other information as may be
required by law. Proposed expenditures shall not exceed funds
estimated to be available for the fiscal year as shown in the
budget.
    (b) The General Assembly by law shall make
appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the
State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed
funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available
during that year.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. STATE AUDIT AND AUDITOR GENERAL
    (a) The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
audit of the obligation, receipt and use of public funds of
the State. The General Assembly, by a vote of three-fifths of
the members elected to each house, shall appoint an Auditor
General and may remove him for cause by a similar vote. The
Auditor General shall serve for a term of ten years. His
compensation shall be established by law and shall not be
diminished, but may be increased, to take effect during his
term.
    (b) The Auditor General shall conduct the audit of
public funds of the State. He shall make additional reports
and investigations as directed by the General Assembly. He
shall report his findings and recommendations to the General
Assembly and to the Governor.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. SYSTEMS OF ACCOUNTING, AUDITING AND REPORTING
    The General Assembly by law shall provide systems of
accounting, auditing and reporting of the obligation, receipt
and use of public funds. These systems shall be used by all
units of local government and school districts.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE IX
                           REVENUE

SECTION 1. STATE REVENUE POWER
    The General Assembly has the exclusive power to raise
revenue by law except as limited or otherwise provided in
this Constitution. The power of taxation shall not be
surrendered, suspended, or contracted away.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. NON-PROPERTY TAXES - CLASSIFICATION,
           EXEMPTIONS, DEDUCTIONS, ALLOWANCES
           AND CREDITS
    In any law classifying the subjects or objects of
non-property taxes or fees, the classes shall be reasonable
and the subjects and objects within each class shall be taxed
uniformly. Exemptions, deductions, credits, refunds and other
allowances shall be reasonable.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. LIMITATIONS ON INCOME TAXATION
    (a) A tax on or measured by income shall be at a
non-graduated rate. At any one time there may be no more than
one such tax imposed by the State for State purposes on
individuals and one such tax so imposed on corporations. In
any such tax imposed upon corporations the rate shall not
exceed the rate imposed on individuals by more than a ratio
of 8 to 5.
    (b) Laws imposing taxes on or measured by income may
adopt by reference provisions of the laws and regulations of
the United States, as they then exist or thereafter may be
changed, for the purpose of arriving at the amount of income
upon which the tax is imposed.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. REAL PROPERTY TAXATION
    (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, taxes
upon real property shall be levied uniformly by valuation
ascertained as the General Assembly shall provide by law.
    (b) Subject to such limitations as the General Assembly
may hereafter prescribe by law, counties with a population of
more than 200,000 may classify or continue to classify real
property for purposes of taxation. Any such classification
shall be reasonable and assessments shall be uniform within
each class. The level of assessment or rate of tax of the
highest class in a county shall not exceed two and one-half
times the level of assessment or rate of tax of the lowest
class in that county. Real property used in farming in a
county shall not be assessed at a higher level of assessment
than single family residential real property in that county.
    (c) Any depreciation in the value of real estate
occasioned by a public easement may be deducted in assessing
such property.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXATION
    (a) The General Assembly by law may classify personal
property for purposes of taxation by valuation, abolish such
taxes on any or all classes and authorize the levy of taxes
in lieu of the taxation of personal property by valuation.
    (b) Any ad valorem personal property tax abolished on or
before the effective date of this Constitution shall not be
reinstated.
    (c) On or before January 1, 1979, the General Assembly
by law shall abolish all ad valorem personal property taxes
and concurrently therewith and thereafter shall replace all
revenue lost by units of local government and school
districts as a result of the abolition of ad valorem personal
property taxes subsequent to January 2, 1971. Such revenue
shall be replaced by imposing statewide taxes, other than ad
valorem taxes on real estate, solely on those classes
relieved of the burden of paying ad valorem personal property
taxes because of the abolition of such taxes subsequent to
January 2, 1971. If any taxes imposed for such replacement
purposes are taxes on or measured by income, such replacement
taxes shall not be considered for purposes of the limitations
of one tax and the ratio of 8 to 5 set forth in Section 3(a)
of this Article.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. EXEMPTIONS FROM PROPERTY TAXATION
    The General Assembly by law may exempt from taxation only
the property of the State, units of local government and
school districts and property used exclusively for
agricultural and horticultural societies, and for school,
religious, cemetery and charitable purposes. The General
Assembly by law may grant homestead exemptions or rent
credits.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. OVERLAPPING TAXING DISTRICTS
    The General Assembly may provide by law for fair
apportionment of the burden of taxation of property situated
in taxing districts that lie in more than one county.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. TAX SALES
    (a) Real property shall not be sold for the nonpayment
of taxes or special assessments without judicial proceedings.
    (b) The right of redemption from all sales of real
estate for the nonpayment of taxes or special assessments,
except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), shall exist in
favor of owners and persons interested in such real estate
for not less than 2 years following such sales.
    (c) The right of redemption from the sale for nonpayment
of taxes or special assessments of a parcel of real estate
which: (1) is vacant non-farm real estate or (2) contains an
improvement consisting of a structure or structures each of
which contains 7 or more residential units or (3) is
commercial or industrial property; shall exist in favor of
owners and persons interested in such real estate for not
less than one year following such sales.
    (d) The right of redemption from the sale for nonpayment
of taxes or special assessments of a parcel real estate
which: (1) is vacant non-farm real estate or (2) contains an
improvement consisting of a structure or structures each of
which contains 7 or more residential units or (3) is
commercial or industrial property; and upon which all or a
part of the general taxes for each of 2 or more years are
delinquent shall exist in favor of owners and persons
interested in such real estate for not less than 6 months
following such sales.
    (e) Owners, occupants and parties interested shall be
given reasonable notice of the sale and the date of
expiration of the period of redemption as the General
Assembly provides by law.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 6,
1990.)

SECTION 9. STATE DEBT
    (a) No State debt shall be incurred except as provided
in this Section. For the purpose of this Section, "State
debt" means bonds or other evidences of indebtedness which
are secured by the full faith and credit of the State or are
required to be repaid, directly or indirectly, from tax
revenue and which are incurred by the State, any department,
authority, public corporation or quasi-public corporation of
the State, any State college or university, or any other
public agency created by the State, but not by units of local
government, or school districts.
    (b) State debt for specific purposes may be incurred or
the payment of State or other debt guaranteed in such amounts
as may be provided either in a law passed by the vote of
three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the
General Assembly or in a law approved by a majority of the
electors voting on the question at the next general election
following passage. Any law providing for the incurring or
guaranteeing of debt shall set forth the specific purposes
and the manner of repayment.
    (c) State debt in anticipation of revenues to be
collected in a fiscal year may be incurred by law in an
amount not exceeding 5% of the State's appropriations for
that fiscal year. Such debt shall be retired from the
revenues realized in that fiscal year.
    (d) State debt may be incurred by law in an amount not
exceeding 15% of the State's appropriations for that fiscal
year to meet deficits caused by emergencies or failures of
revenue. Such law shall provide that the debt be repaid
within one year of the date it is incurred.
    (e) State debt may be incurred by law to refund
outstanding State debt if the refunding debt matures within
the term of the outstanding State debt.
    (f) The State, departments, authorities, public
corporations and quasi-public corporations of the State, the
State colleges and universities and other public agencies
created by the State, may issue bonds or other evidences of
indebtedness which are not secured by the full faith and
credit or tax revenue of the State nor required to be repaid,
directly or indirectly, from tax revenue, for such purposes
and in such amounts as may be authorized by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 10. REVENUE ARTICLE NOT LIMITED
    This Article is not qualified or limited by the
provisions of Article VII of this Constitution concerning the
size of the majorities in the General Assembly necessary to
deny or limit the power to tax granted to units of local
government.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                          ARTICLE X
                          EDUCATION

SECTION 1. GOAL - FREE SCHOOLS
    A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the
educational development of all persons to the limits of their
capacities.
    The State shall provide for an efficient system of high
quality public educational institutions and services.
Education in public schools through the secondary level shall
be free. There may be such other free education as the
General Assembly provides by law.
    The State has the primary responsibility for financing
the system of public education.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION - CHIEF STATE EDUCATIONAL
OFFICER
    (a) There is created a State Board of Education to be
elected or selected on a regional basis. The number of
members, their qualifications, terms of office and manner of
election or selection shall be provided by law. The Board,
except as limited by law, may establish goals, determine
policies, provide for planning and evaluating education
programs and recommend financing. The Board shall have such
other duties and powers as provided by law.
    (b) The State Board of Education shall appoint a chief
state educational officer.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. PUBLIC FUNDS FOR SECTARIAN PURPOSES FORBIDDEN
    Neither the General Assembly nor any county, city, town,
township, school district, or other public corporation, shall
ever make any appropriation or pay from any public fund
whatever, anything in aid of any church or sectarian purpose,
or to help support or sustain any school, academy, seminary,
college, university, or other literary or scientific
institution, controlled by any church or sectarian
denomination whatever; nor shall any grant or donation of
land, money, or other personal property ever be made by the
State, or any such public corporation, to any church, or for
any sectarian purpose.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE XI
                         ENVIRONMENT

SECTION 1. PUBLIC POLICY - LEGISLATIVE RESPONSIBILITY
    The public policy of the State and the duty of each
person is to provide and maintain a healthful environment for
the benefit of this and future generations. The General
Assembly shall provide by law for the implementation and
enforcement of this public policy.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS
    Each person has the right to a healthful environment.
Each person may enforce this right against any party,
governmental or private, through appropriate legal
proceedings subject to reasonable limitation and regulation
as the General Assembly may provide by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE XII
                           MILITIA

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP
    The State militia consists of all able-bodied persons
residing in the State except those exempted by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. SUBORDINATION OF MILITARY POWER
    The military shall be in strict subordination to the
civil power.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. ORGANIZATION, EQUIPMENT AND DISCIPLINE
    The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
organization, equipment and discipline of the militia in
conformity with the laws governing the armed forces of the
United States.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND OFFICERS
    (a) The Governor is commander-in-chief of the organized
militia, except when they are in the service of the United
States. He may call them out to enforce the laws, suppress
insurrection or repel invasion.
    (b) The Governor shall commission militia officers who
shall hold their commissions for such time as may be provided
by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. PRIVILEGE FROM ARREST
    Except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace,
persons going to, returning from or on militia duty are
privileged from arrest.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                        ARTICLE XIII
                     GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 1. DISQUALIFICATION FOR PUBLIC OFFICE
    A person convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury or other
infamous crime shall be ineligible to hold an office created
by this Constitution. Eligibility may be restored as provided
by law.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC INTERESTS
    All candidates for or holders of state offices and all
members of a Commission or Board created by this Constitution
shall file a verified statement of their economic interests,
as provided by law. The General Assembly by law may impose a
similar requirement upon candidates for, or holders of,
offices in units of local government and school districts.
Statements shall be filed annually with the Secretary of
State and shall be available for inspection by the public.
The General Assembly by law shall prescribe a reasonable time
for filing the statement. Failure to file a statement within
the time prescribed shall result in ineligibility for, or
forfeiture of, office. This Section shall not be construed as
limiting the authority of any branch of government to
establish and enforce ethical standards for that branch.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF OFFICE
    Each prospective holder of a State office or other State
position created by this Constitution, before taking office,
shall take and subscribe to the following oath or
affirmation:
    "I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the
Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of
the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge
the duties of the office of .... to the best of my ability."
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY ABOLISHED
    Except as the General Assembly may provide by law,
sovereign immunity in this State is abolished.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. PENSION AND RETIREMENT RIGHTS
    Membership in any pension or retirement system of the
State, any unit of local government or school district, or
any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an
enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which
shall not be diminished or impaired.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. CORPORATIONS
    Corporate charters shall be granted, amended, dissolved,
or extended only pursuant to general laws.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 7. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
    Public transportation is an essential public purpose for
which public funds may be expended. The General Assembly by
law may provide for, aid, and assist public transportation,
including the granting of public funds or credit to any
corporation or public authority authorized to provide public
transportation within the State.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. BRANCH BANKING
    Branch banking shall be authorized only by law approved
by three-fifths of the members voting on the question or a
majority of the members elected, whichever is greater, in
each house of the General Assembly.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                         ARTICLE XIV
                   CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION

SECTION 1. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
    (a) Whenever three-fifths of the members elected to each
house of the General Assembly so direct, the question of
whether a Constitutional Convention should be called shall be
submitted to the electors at the general election next
occurring at least six months after such legislative
direction.
    (b) If the question of whether a Convention should be
called is not submitted during any twenty-year period, the
Secretary of State shall submit such question at the general
election in the twentieth year following the last submission.
    (c) The vote on whether to call a Convention shall be on
a separate ballot. A Convention shall be called if approved
by three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority
of those voting in the election.
    (d) The General Assembly, at the session following
approval by the electors, by law shall provide for the
Convention and for the election of two delegates from each
Legislative District; designate the time and place of the
Convention's first meeting which shall be within three months
after the election of delegates; fix and provide for the pay
of delegates and officers; and provide for expenses
necessarily incurred by the Convention.
    (e) To be eligible to be a delegate a person must meet
the same eligibility requirements as a member of the General
Assembly. Vacancies shall be filled as provided by law.
    (f) The Convention shall prepare such revision of or
amendments to the Constitution as it deems necessary. Any
proposed revision or amendments approved by a majority of the
delegates elected shall be submitted to the electors in such
manner as the Convention determines, at an election
designated or called by the Convention occurring not less
than two nor more than six months after the Convention's
adjournment. Any revision or amendments proposed by the
Convention shall be published with explanations, as the
Convention provides, at least one month preceding the
election.
    (g) The vote on the proposed revision or amendments
shall be on a separate ballot. Any proposed revision or
amendments shall become effective, as the Convention
provides, if approved by a majority of those voting on the
question.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. AMENDMENTS BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
    (a) Amendments to this Constitution may be initiated in
either house of the General Assembly. Amendments shall be
read in full on three different days in each house and
reproduced before the vote is taken on final passage.
Amendments approved by the vote of three-fifths of the
members elected to each house shall be submitted to the
electors at the general election next occurring at least six
months after such legislative approval, unless withdrawn by a
vote of a majority of the members elected to each house.
    (b) Amendments proposed by the General Assembly shall be
published with explanations, as provided by law, at least one
month preceding the vote thereon by the electors. The vote on
the proposed amendment or amendments shall be on a separate
ballot. A proposed amendment shall become effective as the
amendment provides if approved by either three-fifths of
those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in
the election.
    (c) The General Assembly shall not submit proposed
amendments to more than three Articles of the Constitution at
any one election. No amendment shall be proposed or submitted
under this Section from the time a Convention is called until
after the electors have voted on the revision or amendments,
if any, proposed by such Convention.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 3. CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE FOR LEGISLATIVE ARTICLE
    Amendments to Article IV of this Constitution may be
proposed by a petition signed by a number of electors equal
in number to at least eight percent of the total votes cast
for candidates for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial
election. Amendments shall be limited to structural and
procedural subjects contained in Article IV. A petition shall
contain the text of the proposed amendment and the date of
the general election at which the proposed amendment is to be
submitted, shall have been signed by the petitioning electors
not more than twenty-four months preceding that general
election and shall be filed with the Secretary of State at
least six months before that general election. The procedure
for determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition
shall be provided by law. If the petition is valid and
sufficient, the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the
electors at that general election and shall become effective
if approved by either three-fifths of those voting on the
amendment or a majority of those voting in the election.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES
    The affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members
elected to each house of the General Assembly shall be
required to request Congress to call a Federal Constitutional
Convention, to ratify a proposed amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, or to call a State
Convention to ratify a proposed amendment to the Constitution
of the United States. The General Assembly shall not take
action on any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the
United States submitted for ratification by legislatures
unless a majority of the members of the General Assembly
shall have been elected after the proposed amendment has been
submitted for ratification. The requirements of this Section
shall govern to the extent that they are not inconsistent
with requirements established by the United States.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

                     TRANSITION SCHEDULE

    The following Schedule Provisions shall remain part of
this Constitution until their terms have been executed. Once
each year the Attorney General shall review the following
provisions and certify to the Secretary of State which, if
any, have been executed. Any provisions so certified shall
thereafter be removed from the Schedule and no longer
published as part of this Constitution.
    Section 1. (Removed)
    Section 2. Prospective Operation of Bill of Rights.
    Section 3. (Removed)
    Section 4. Judicial Offices.
    Section 5. Local Government.
    Section 6. Authorized Bonds.
    Section 7. (Removed)
    Section 8. Cumulative Voting for Directors.
    Section 9. General Transition.
    Section 10. (Removed)
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 2. PROSPECTIVE OPERATION OF BILL OF RIGHTS
    Any rights, procedural or substantive, created for the
first time by Article I shall be prospective and not
retroactive.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 4. JUDICIAL OFFICES
    (a) On the effective date of this Constitution,
Associate Judges and magistrates shall become Circuit Judges
and Associate Judges, respectively, of their Circuit Courts.
All laws and rules of court theretofore applicable to
Associate Judges and magistrates shall remain in force and be
applicable to the persons in their new offices until changed
by the General Assembly or the Supreme Court, as the case may
be.
    (b) (Removed)
    (c) (Removed)
    (d) Until otherwise provided by law and except to the
extent that the authority is inconsistent with Section 8 of
Article VII, the Circuit Courts shall continue to exercise
the non-judicial functions vested by law as of December 31,
1963, in county courts or the judges thereof.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
    (a) The number of members of a county board in a county
which, as of the effective date of this Constitution, elects
three members at large may be changed only as approved by
county-wide referendum. If the number of members of such a
county board is changed by county-wide referendum, the
provisions of Section 3(a) of Article VII relating to the
number of members of a county board shall govern thereafter.
    (b) In Cook County, until (1) a method of election of
county board members different from the method in existence
on the effective date of this Constitution is approved by a
majority of votes cast both in Chicago and in the area
outside Chicago in a county-wide referendum or (2) the Cook
County Board by ordinance divides the county into single
member districts from which members of the County Board
resident in each district are elected, the number of members
of the Cook County Board shall be fifteen except that the
county board may increase the number if necessary to comply
with apportionment requirements. If either of the foregoing
changes is made, the provisions of Section 3(a) of Article
VII shall apply thereafter to Cook County.
    (c) Townships in existence on the effective date of this
Constitution are continued until consolidated, merged,
divided or dissolved in accordance with Section 5 of Article
VII.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 6. AUTHORIZED BONDS
    Nothing in Section 9 of Article IX shall be construed to
limit or impair the power to issue bonds or other evidences
of indebtedness authorized but unissued on the effective date
of this Constitution.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 8. CUMULATIVE VOTING FOR DIRECTORS
    Shareholders of all corporations heretofore organized
under any law of this State which requires cumulative voting
of shares for corporate directors shall retain their right to
vote cumulatively for such directors.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

SECTION 9. GENERAL TRANSITION
    The rights and duties of all public bodies shall remain
as if this Constitution had not been adopted with the
exception of such changes as are contained in this
Constitution. All laws, ordinances, regulations and rules of
court not contrary to, or inconsistent with, the provisions
of this Constitution shall remain in force, until they shall
expire by their own limitation or shall be altered or
repealed pursuant to this Constitution. The validity of all
public and private bonds, debts and contracts, and of all
suits, actions and rights of action, shall continue as if no
change had taken place. All officers filling any office by
election or appointment shall continue to exercise the duties
thereof, until their offices shall have been abolished or
their successors selected and qualified in accordance with
this Constitution or laws enacted pursuant thereto.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
END

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

We, the people of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, do establish this Constitution.

Sec. 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property: and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people; and they have the right to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.

Sec. 3. The right of trial by jury shall be secured to all, and remain inviolate forever; but a jury trial may be waved by the parties, in all civil cases, in the manner to be prescribed by law.

Sec. 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State: and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience, hereby secured, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State.

Sec. 5. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require its suspension.

Sec. 6. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted, nor shall witnesses be unreasonably detained.

Sec. 7. All persons shall be bailable, by sufficient sureties: unless for capital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great.

Sec. 8. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of militia when in actual service, and the land naval forces in time of war, or which this State may keep with the consent of Congress in time of peace, and in cases of petit larceny under the regulation of the Legislature) unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury; and in any trial in any court whatever, the party accused shall be allowed to appear and defend in person and with counsel, as in civil actions. No person shall be subject to be twice put jeopardy for the same offence; nor shall he be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

Sec. 9. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions on indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libellous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.

Sec. 10. The people shall have the right freely to assemble together, to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives, and to petition the legislature for redress of grievances.

Sec. 12. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power. No standing army shall be kept up by this State in time of peace; and in time of war no appropriation for a standing army shall be for a longer time than two years.

Sec. 13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, except in the manner to be prescribed by law.

Sec. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, in any civil action on mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud; and no person shall be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace.

Sec. 16. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed.

Sec. 17. Foreigners who are, of who may hereafter become bona fide residents if this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native born citizens,

Sec. 18. Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State.

Sec. 19. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable seizures and searches, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons and things to be seized.

Sec. 20. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless the evidence of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court.

Sec. 21. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.

Sec. 1. Every white male citizen of the United States, and every white male citizen of Mexico, who shall have elected to become a citizen of the United States, under the treaty of peace exchanged and ratified at Queretaro, on the 30^th day of May, 1848 of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State six months next preceding the election, and the county or district in which he claims his vote thirty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are now or hereafter may authorized by law: Provided, nothing herein contained, shall be construed to prevent the Legislature, by a two-thirds concurrent vote, from admitting to the right of suffrage, Indians or the descendants of Indians, in such special cases as such proportion of the legislative body may deem just and proper.

Sec. 2. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the days of the election, during their attendance at such election, going to and returning therefrom.

Sec. 3. No elector shall be obliged to perform militia duty on the day of election, except in time of war or public danger.

Sec. 4. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the United States; nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State, or of the United States, or of the high seas; nor while a student of any seminary of learning; nor while kept at any almshouse, or other asylum, at public expense; nor while confined in any public prison.

Sec. 5. No idiot or insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, shall be entitled to the privilege of an elector.

The powers of the Government of the State of California shall be divided into three separate departments: the Legislative, the Executive, and Judicial; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any functions appertaining to either of the others, except in the cases hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

Sec. 1. The Legislative power of this State shall be vested in a Senate and Assembly, which shall be designated the Legislature of the State of California; and enacting clause of every law shall be as follows: " The people of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows."

Sec. 2. The sessions of the Legislature shall be annual, and shall commence on the first Monday of January, next ensuing the election of its members, unless the Governor of the State shall, in the interim, convene the Legislature by proclamaltion.

Sec. 3. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen annually, by the qualified electors of their respective districts, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, unless otherwise ordered by the Legislature, and their term of office shall be one year.

Sec. 4. Senators and Members of Assembly shall be duly qualified electors in the respective counties and districts which they represent.

Sec. 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of two years, at the same time and places as Members if Assembly; and no person shall be a member of the Senate or Assembly, who has not been a citizen and inhabitant of the State one year, and of the country or district for which he shall be chosen six months next before his election.

Sec. 6. The number of Senators shall not be less than one-third, nor more than one-half, of that of the Members of the Assembly; and at the first session of the Legislature after this Constitution takes effect, the Senators shall be divided by lot as equally as may be, into two classes; the seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the first year, so that one-half shall be chosen annually.

Sec. 7. When the number of Senators is increased, they shall be apportioned by lot, so as to keep the two classes as nearly equal in number as possible.

Sec. 8. Each house shall choose its own officers and judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its own members.

Sec. 9. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide.

Sec. 10. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, and may, with the concurrence of two thirds of all members elected, expel a member.

Sec. 11. Each house shall keep a journal of its own proceedings, and publish the same; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall at the desire of any three members present be entered on the journal.

Sec. 12. Members of the Legislature shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, and they shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the Legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

Sec. 13. When vacancies occur in either house, the Governor, or the person exercising the functions of the Governor, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

Sec. 14. The doors of each house shall be open, except on such occasions as, in the opinion of the House, may require secrecy.

Sec. 15. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.

Sec. 16. Any bill may originate in either house of the Legislature, and all bills passed by one house may be amended in the other.

Sec. 17. Every bill which may have passed the Legislature, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve it, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the same upon the journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, it again pass both houses, by yeas and nays, by a majority of two-thirds of the members of each house present, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the Governor's objections. If any bill shall not be returned within ten days after it shall have been presented to him, (Sunday excepted,) the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevent such return.

Sec. 18. The Assembly shall have the sole power of impeachment; and all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted, without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

Sec. 19. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Surveyor General, Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the District Courts, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases shall extend only to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit, under the State; but the party convicted, or aquitted, shall nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. All other civil officers shall be tried, for misdemeanors in office, in such manner as the Legislature may provide.

Sec. 20. No Senator, or member of Assembly, shall during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of profit, under this State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during such term, except such office as may be filled by elections by the people.

Sec. 21. No person holding any lucrative office under the United States, or any other power, shall be eligible to any civil office of profit, under this State: provided, that officers in the militia, to which there is attached no annual slarary, or local officers and postmasters whose compensation does not exceed five hundred dollars per annum, shall not be deemed lucrative.

Sec. 22. No person who shall be convicted of the embezzlement, or defalcation of the public funds of this State, shall ever be eligible to any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State; and the Legislature shall, as soon as practicable, pass a law providing for the punishment of such embezzlement, or defalcation, as a felony.

Sec. 23. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys, shall be attached to and published with the laws at every regular session of the Legislature.

Sec. 24. The members of the Legislature shall receive for their services, a compensation to be fixed by law, and paid out of the public treasury; but no increase of the compensation shall take effect during the term for which the members of either house shall have been elected.

Sec. 25. Every law enacted by the Legislature shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in the title; and no law shall be revised, or amended, by reference to its title; but in such case, the act revised, or section amended shall be re-enacted and published at length.

Sec. 27. No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed.

Sec. 28. The enumeration of the inhabitants of this State shall be taken, under the direction of the Legislature, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and these enumerations, together with the census that may be taken, under the direction of the Congress of the United States, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and every subsequent ten years, shall serve as the basis of representation in both houses of the Legislature.

Sec. 29. The number of Senators and members of Assembly, shall, at first session of the Legislature, holden after the enumerations herein provided for are made, be fixed by the Legislature, and apportioned among the several counties and districts to be established by law, according to the number of white inhabitants. The number of members of Assembly shall not be less than twenty four, nor more than thirty- six, until the number of inhabitants within this State, shall amount to one hundred thousand; and after that period, at such ratio that the whole number of members of Assembly shall never be less than thirty, nor more than eighty.

Sec. 30. When a congressional, senatorial, or assembly district, shall be composed of two or more counties, it shall not be separated by any county belonging to another district; and no county shall be divided, in forming a congressional, senatorial, or assembly district.

Sec. 31. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes. All general laws and special acts passed pursuant to this section may be altered from time to time, or repealed.

Sec. 32. Dues from corporations shall be secured by such individual liability of the corporators, and other means, as may be prescribed by law.

Sec. 33. The term corporations as used in this article shall be construed to include all associations and joint-stock companies, having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships. And all corporations shall have the right to sue, and shall be subject to be sued, in all courts, in like cases as natural persons.

Sec. 34. The Legislature shall have no power to pass any act granting any charter for banking purposes; but associations may be formed, under general laws, for the deposite of gold and silver, but no such association shall make, issue, or put in circulation, any bill, check, ticket, certificate, promissory note, or other paper, or the paper of any bank, to circulate as money.

Sec.35. The Legislature of this State shall prohibit, by law, any person or persons, association, company, or corporation, from exercising the privileges of banking, or creating paper to circulate as money.

Sec. 36. Each stockholder of a corporation, or joint-stock association, shall be individually and personally liable for his proportion of all its debts and liabilities.

Sec. 37. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide for the organization of cities and incorporated villages, and to restrict their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in assessments and in contracting debts by such municipal corporations.

Sec. 38. In all elections by the Legislature, the members thereof shall voto viva voce, and the votes shall be entered on the journal.

Sec. 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a Chief Magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of California.

Sec. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors, at the time and places of voting for members of Assembly, and shall hold his office two years from the time of his installation, and until his successor shall be qualified.

Sec. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of the Governor, (except at the first election) who has not been a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State two years next preceding the election, and attained the age of twenty-five years at the time of said election.

Sec. 4. The returns of every election for Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the speaker of the Assembly, who shall, during the first week of the session, open and publish them in presence of both houses of the Legislature. The person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor; but in case any two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes, the Legislature shall, by joint vote of both houses, choose one of said persons, so having an equal and the highest number of votes, for Governor.

Sec. 5. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, the army and navy of this State.

Sec. 6. He shall transact all executive business with the officers of Government, civil and military, and may require information in writing from the officers of the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Sec. 8. When any office shall, from any cause become vacant, and no mode is provided by the Constitution and laws for filling such vacancy, the Governor shall have power to fill such vacancy by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the Legislature, or at the next election by the people.

Sec. 9. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature by proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled, the purpose for which they shall have been convened.

Sec. 10. He shall communicate by message to the Legislature, at every session, the condition of the State, and recommend such matters as he shall deem expedient.

Sec. 11. In case of a disagreement between the two houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor shall have power to adjourn the Legislature to such time as he may think proper; provided, it be not beyond the time fixed for the meeting of the next Legislature.

Sec. 12. No person shall, while holding any office under the United States, or this State, exercise the office of Governor, except as hereinafter expressly provided.

Sec. 13. The Governor shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, for all offences except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions and limitations, as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason he shall have the power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the Legislature at its next meeting, when the Legislature shall either pardon, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall communicate to the Legislature, at the beginning of every session, every case of reprieve or pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted , the sentence, and its date, and the date of the pardon or reprieve.

Sec. 14. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him officially, and shall be called "The great seal of the State of California."

Sec. 15. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the people of the State of California, sealed with the great seal of the State, signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Secretary of State.

Sec. 16. A Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the time and places, and in the same manner as the Governor; and his term of office, and his qualifications of eligibility shall also be the same. He shall be President of the Senate, but shall only have a casting vote therein. If, during a vacancy of the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die or become incapable of performing the duties of his office, or be absent from the State, the President of the Senate shall act as Governor, until the vacancy be filled, or the disability shall cease.

Sec. 17. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, or his removal from office, death, inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, resignation, or absence from the State, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall cease. But when the Governor shall, with the consent of the Legislature, be out of the State in time of war, at the head of any military force thereof, he shall continue commander-in-chief of the military force of the State.

Sec. 18. A Secretary of State, a Comptroller, a Treasurer, an Attorney General, and Surveyor General, shall be chosen in the manner provided in this Constitution; and the term of office, and eligibility of each shall be the same as are prescribed for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Sec. 19. The Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall keep a fair record of the official acts of the legislative and executive departments of the Government, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all matters relative thereto, before either branch of the Legislature; and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned him by law.

Sec. 20. The Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Surveyor General, shall be chosen by joint vote of the two houses of the Legislature, at their first session under this Constitution, and thereafter shall be elected at the same time and places, and in the same manner as the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Sec. 21. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Surveyor General, shall each at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected; but neither of these officers shall receive for his own use any fees for the performance of his official duties.

Sec. 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, in District Courts, in County Courts, and in Justices of the Peace. The Legislature may also establish such municipal and other inferior courts as may be deemed necessary.

Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum.

Sec. 3. The justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected at the general election, by the qualified electors of the State, and shall hold their office for the term of six years from the first day of January next after their election; provided that the Legislature shall, at its first meeting, elect a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, by joint vote of both houses, and so classify them that one shall go out of office every two years. After the first election the senior Justice in commission shall be the Chief Justice.

Sec. 4. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all cases when the matter in dispute exceeds two hundred dollars, when the legality of any tax, toll, or impost or municipal fine is in question, and in all criminal cases amounting to felony or questions of law alone. And the said Court, and each of the Justices thereof, as well as all district and county judges, shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus at the instance of any person held in actual custody. They shall also have power to issue all other writs and process necessary to the exercise of their appellate jurisdiction, and shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

Sec. 5. The State shall be divided by the first Legislature into a convenient number of districts subject to such alteration from time to time as the public good may require, for each of which a district judge shall be appointed by the joint vote of the Legislature, at its first meeting, who shall hold his office for two years from the first day of January next after his election; after which, said judges shall be elected by the qualified electors of their respective districts, at the general election, and shall hold their office for the term of six years.

Sec. 6. The District Courts shall have original jurisdiction, in law and equity, in all civil cases where the amount in dispute exceeds two hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. In all criminal cases not otherwise provided for, and in all issues of fact joined in the probate courts, their jurisdiction shall be unlimited.

Sec. 7. The Legislature shall provide for the election, by the people, of a Clerk of the Supreme Court, and County Clerks, District Attorneys, Sheriffs, Coroners, and other necessary officers; and shall fix by law their duties and compensation. County Clerks shall be, ex officio, clerks of the District Courts in and for their respective counties.

Sec. 8. There shall be elected in each of the organized counties of this State, one County Judge, who shall hold his office for four years. He shall hold the County Court, and perform the duties of Surrogate, or Probate Judge. The County Judge, with two Justices of the Peace, to be designated according to law, shall hold courts of sessions, with such criminal jurisdiction as the Legislature shall prescribe, and he shall perform such other duties as shall be required by law.

Sec. 9. The County Courts shall have such jurisdiction, in cases arising in Justices Courts, and in special cases, as the Legislature may prescribe, but shall have no original civil jurisdiction, except in such special cases.

Sec. 10. The times and places of holding the terms of the Supreme Court, and the general and special terms of the District Courts within the several districts, shall be provided for by law.

Sec. 11. No judicial officer, except a Justice of the Peace, shall receive, to his own use, any fees or perquisites of office.

Sec. 12. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of all statute laws, and of such judicial decisions as it may deem expedient; and all laws and judicial decisions shall be free for publication by any person.

Sec. 13. Tribunals for conciliation may be established, with such powers and duties as may be prescribed by law; but such tribunals shall have no power to render judgment to be obligatory on the parties, except they voluntarily submit their matters in difference, and agree to abide the judgment, or assent thereto in the presence of such tribunal, in such cases as shall be prescribed by law.

Sec. 14. The Legislature shall determine the number of Justices of the Peace, to be elected in each county, city, town, and incorporated village of the State, and fix by law their powers, duties, and responsibilities. It shall also determine in what cases appeals may be made from Justices Courts to the County Court.

Sec. 15. The Justices of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the District Court, shall severally, at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for their services a compensation, to be paid out of the treasury, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected. The county Judges shall also severally, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation to be paid out of the county treasury of their respective counties, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected.

Sec. 16. The Justices of the Supreme Court and District Judges shall be ineligible to any other office, during the term for which they shall have been elected.

Sec. 17. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law.

Sec. 18. The style of all process shall be "The People of the State of California;" all the prosecutions shall be conducted in the name and by the authority of the same.

Sec. 1. The Legislature shall provide by law for organising and disciplining the militia, in such manner as they shall deem expedient, not incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Sec. 2. Officers of the militia shall be elected, or appointed, in such a manner as the Legislature shall from time to time direct, and shall be commissioned by the governor.

Sec. 3. The governor shall have power to call forth the militia, to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

The Legislature shall not in any manner create any debt or debts, liability or liabilities, which shall singly, or in the aggregate, with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, except in case of war, to repel invasion or suppress insurrection, unless the same shall be authorised by some law for some single object or work, to be distinctly specified therein, which law shall provide ways and means, exclusive of loans, for the payment of the interest of such debt or liability , as it falls due, and also pay and discharge the principal of such debt or liability within twenty years from the time of the contracting thereof, and shall be irrepealable until the principal and interest thereon shall be paid and discharged; but no such law shall take effect until, at a general election, it shall have been submitted to the people, and have received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such election; and all money raised by authority of such law, shall be applied only to the specific object therein stated, or to the payment of the debt thereby created; and such law shall be published in at least one newspaper in each judicial district, if one be published therein, throughout the State, for three months next preceding the election at which it is submitted to the people.

Sec. 1. The Legislature shall provide for the election, by the people, of a superintendent of public instruction, who shall hold his office for three years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law, and who shall receive such compensation as the Legislature may direct.

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall encourage, by all suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural improvement. The proceeds of all land that may be granted by the United States to this State for the support of schools, which may be sold or disposed of, and the five hundred thousand acres of land granted to the new States, under an act of Congress distributing the proceeds of the public lands among the several States of the Union, approved A.D. 1841; and all estates of deceased persons who may have died without leaving a will, or heir, and also such per cent. as may be granted by Congress on the sale of lands in this State, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with all the rents of the unsold lands, and such other means as the Legislature may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of common schools throughout the State.

Sec. 3. The Legislature shall provide for a system of common schools, by which a school be kept up and supported in each district at least three months in every year, and any school neglecting to keep and support such a school, may be deprived of its proportion of the interest of the public fund during such neglect.

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall take measures for the protection, improvement, or disposition of such lands as have been, or may hereafter be reserved of granted by the United States, or any person of persons to the State for the use of a University; and the funds accruing from the rents or sale of such lands, or from any other source for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent fund, the interest of which shall be applied to the support of said University, with such branches as the public convenience may demand, for the promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, as may be authorised by the terms of such grant. And it shall be the duty of the Legislature, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds of said University.

Sec. 1. Any amendment, or amendments to this Constitution, may be proposed in the Senate or Assembly; and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendments, shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature then next to be chosen, and shall be published for three months next preceding the time of making such choice. And if, in the Legislature next chosen as aforesaid, such proposed amendment of amendments, shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amendment of amendments to the people, in such manner, and at such time as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature, voting thereon, such amendment of amendments, shall become part of the Constitution.

Sec. 2. And if, at any time two-thirds of the Senate and Assembly shall think it necessary to revise and change this entire Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors, at the next election for members of the Legislature, to vote for or against the convention ; and if it shall appear that a majority of the electors voting at such election have voted in favor of calling a convention, the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling a convention, to be holden within six months after the passage of such law; and such convention shall consist of a number of members not less than that of both branches of the Legislature.

Sec. 1. The first session of the Legislature shall be at the Pueblo de San Jose; which place shall be the permanent seat of government, until removed by law: Provided, however, that two-thirds of all members elected to each house of the Legislature shall concur in the passage of such law.

Sec. 2. Any citizen of this State who shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send, or accept a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, either within this State or out of it; or who shall act as second, or knowingly aid or assist in any manner those thus offending, shall not be allowed to hold any office of profit, or to enjoy the right of suffrage under this Constitution.

Sec. 3. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective officers, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:

" I do solemnly swear ( or affirm, as the case may be, ) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of California, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of , according to the best of my ability."

And no other oath, declaration, or test, shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall establish a system of county and town governments, which shall be as nearly as practicable, throughout the State.

Sec. 5. The Legislature shall have the power to provide for the election of a board of supervisors in each county; and these supervisors shall jointly and individually perform such duties as may be prescribed by law.

Sec. 6. All officers whose election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, and all officers whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed as the Legislature may direct.

Sec. 7. When the duration of any office is not provided for by this Constitution, it may be declared by law, and if not so declared, such office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the appointment; nor shall the duration of any office not fixed by this Constitution ever exceed four years.

Sec. 9. Each county, town, city, and incorporated village, shall make provision for the support of its own officers, subject to such restrictions and regulations as the Legislature may prescribe.

Sec. 10. The credit of the State shall not, in any manner, be given or loaned to or in aid of any individual, association, or corporation; nor shall the State directly of indirectly become a stockholder in any association or corporation.

Sec. 11. Suits may be brought against the State in such manner, and in such courts, as shall be directed by law.

Sec. 12. No contract of marriage, if otherwise duly made, shall be invalidated for want of conformity to the requirements of any religious sect.

Sec. 13. Taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. All property in this State shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as directed by law; but assessors and collectors of town, county, and State taxes, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district, county, or town, in which the property taxed for State, county, or town purposes is situated.

Sec. 14. All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned or claimed by marriage, and that acquired afterwards by gift, devise, or descent, shall be her separate property; and laws shall be passed more clearly defining the rights of the wife, in relation as well to her separate property as to that held in common with her husband. Laws shall also be passed providing for the registration of the wife's separate property.

Sec. 15. The Legislature shall protect by law, from forced sale, a certain portion of the homestead and other property of all heads of families.

Sec. 17. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of profit in this State, who shall have been convicted of having given, or offered a bribe, to procure his election or appointment.

Sec. 18. Laws shall be made to exclude from office, serving on juries, and from the right of suffrage, those who shall hereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes. The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practice.

Sec. 19. Absence from this State on business of the State, or of the United States, shall not affect the question of residence of any person.

Sec. 20. A plurality of the votes given at an election shall constitute a choice, where not otherwise directed in this Constitution.

Sec. 21. All laws, decrees, regulations, and provisions, which from their nature require publication, shall be published in English and Spanish.

Commencing at this point of intersection of 42d degree of north latitude with the 120^th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and running south on the line of said 120^th degree of west longitude until it intersects the 39^th degree of north latitude; thence running in a straight line in a south easterly direction to the River Colorado, at a point where it intersects the 35^th degree of north latitude; thence down the middle of the channel of said river, to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, as established by the Treaty of May 30^th, 1848; thence running west and along said boundary line to the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein three English miles; thence running in a northwesterly direction, and following the direction of the Pacific Coast to the 42d degree of north latitude, thence on the line of said 42d degree of north latitude to the place of beginning. Also all the islands, harbors, and bays, along adjacent to the Pacific Coast.

Sec. 1. All rights, prosecutions, claims and contracts, as well of individuals as of bodies corporate, and all laws in force at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith, until altered or repealed by the Legislature, shall continue as if the same had not been adopted.

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide for the removal of all causes which may be pending when this Constitution goes into effect, to courts created by the same.

Sec. 3. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service, from the taking effect of this Constitution, no office shall be superceded thereby, nor the laws relative to the duties of the several officers be changed, until the entering into office of the new officers to be appointed under this Constitution.

Sec. 4. The provisions of this Constitution concerning the term of residence necessary to enable persons to hold certain offices therein mentioned, shall not be held to apply to officers chosen by the people at the first election, or by the Legislature at its first session.

Sec. 5. Every citizen of California, declared a legal voter by this Constitution, and every citizen of the United States, a resident of this State on the day of election, shall be entitled to vote at the first general election under this Constitution, and on the question of the adoption thereof.

Sec. 6. This Constitution shall be submitted to the people, for their ratification or rejection, at the general election to be held on Tuesday, the thirteenth day of November next. The Executive of the existing Government of California is hereby requested to issue a proclamation to the people, directing the Prefects of the several districts, or in case of vacancy, the Sub-Prefects, or senior Judge of first Instance, to cause such election to be held, the day aforesaid, in the respective districts. The election shall be conducted in the manner which was prescribed for the election of Delegates to this Convention, except that the Prefect, Sub-Perfect, or senior Judge of first Instance ordering such election in each district, shall have power to designate any additional number of places for opening the polls, and that, in every place of holding the election, a regular poll-list shall be kept by the judges and inspectors of election. It shall also be the duty of these judges and inspectors of election, on the day aforesaid, to receive the votes of the electors qualified to vote at such election. Each voter shall express his opinion, by depositing in the ballot-box a ticket, whereon shall be written, or printed "For the Constitution," or "Against the Constitution," or some such words as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. These Judges and Inspectors shall also receive the votes for the several officers to be voted for at the said election as herein provided. At the close of the election, the judges and Inspectors shall carefully count each ballot, and forthwith make duplicate returns thereof to the Prefect, Sub-Prefect, or senior Judge of first Instance, as the case may be, of their respective districts; and said Prefect, Sub-Prefect, or senior Judge of first Instance shall transmit one of the same, by the most safe and rapid conveyance, to the Secretary of State. Upon the receipt of said returns, or on the tenth day of December next, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of a board of canvassers, to consist of the Secretary of State, one of the Judges of the Superior Court, the Perfect, Judge of first Instance, and an Alcalde of the District of Monterey, or any three of the aforementioned officers, in the presence of all who shall choose to attend, to compare the votes given at said election, and to immediately publish an abstract of the same in one or more of the newspapers of California. And the Executive will also immediately after ascertaining that the Constitution has been ratified by the people, make proclamation of the fact; and thenceforth this Constitution shall be ordained and established as the Constitution of California.

Sec. 7. If this Constitution shall be ratified by the people of California, the Executive of the existing government is hereby requested immediately after, the same shall be ascertained, in the manner herein directed, to cause a fair copy thereof to be forwarded to the President of the United States, in order that he may lay it before the Congress of the United States.

Sec. 8. At the general election aforesaid, viz: the thirteenth day of November next, there shall be elected a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, members of the Legislature, and also two Members of Congress.

Sec. 9. If this Constitution shall be ratified by the People of California, the Legislature shall assemble at the seat of government on the fifteenth day of December next, and in order to complete the organization of that body, the Senate shall elect a President pro tempore, until the Lieutenant-Governor shall be installed into office.

Sec. 10. On the organization of the Legislature, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, to lay before each house, a copy of the abstract made by the board of canvassers, and if called for, the original returns of election, in order that each house may judge of the correctness of the report of said board of canvassers.

Sec. 11. The Legislature, at its first session, shall elect such officers as may be ordered by this Constitution, to be elected by that body, and within four days after it organization, proceed to elect two Senators to the Congress of the United States. But no law passed by this Legislature shall take effect until signed by the Governor after his installation into office.

Sec. 12. The Senators and Representatives to the Congress of the United State, elected by the Legislature and People of California, as herein directed, shall be furnished with certified copies of this Constitution, when ratified, which they shall lay before the Congress of the United States, requesting, in the name of the People of California, the admission of the State of California into the American Union.

Sec. 13. All officers of this State, other than members of the Legislature, shall be installed into office on the fifteenth day of December next, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

Sec. 14. Until the Legislature shall divide the State into counties, and senatorial and assembly districts, as directed by this Constitution, the following shall be the apportionment of the two houses of the Legislature, viz: the districts of San Diego and Los Angelos, shall jointly elect two senators; the districts of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, shall jointly elect one senator; the district of Monterey, one senator; the district of San Jose, one senator; the district of San Francisco, two senators, the district of Sonoma, one senator; the district of Sacramento, four senators; and the district of San Joaquin, four senators. And the district of San Diego shall elect one member of assembly; the district of Los Angelos, two members of assembly; the district of Santa Barbara, two members of assembly; the district of San Luis Obispo, one member of assembly; the district of Monterey, two members of assembly: the district of San Jose, three members of assembly; district of San Francisco, five members of assembly; the district of Sonoma, two members of assembly ; the district of Sacramento, nine members of assembly; and the district of San Joaquin nine members of assembly.

Sec. 15. Until the Legislature shall otherwise direct, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, the salary of the Governor shall be ten thousand dollars per annum; and the salary of the Lieutenant-Governor shall be double the pay of a State senator; and the pay of members of the Legislature shall be sixteen dollars per diem, while in attendance, and sixteen dollars for every twenty miles travel by the usual route from their residences, to the place of holding the session of the Legislature, and in returning therefrom. And the Legislature shall fix the salaries of all officers, other than those elected by the people, at the first election.

Sec. 16. The limitation of the powers of the Legislature, contained in article 8^th of this Constitution, shall not extend to the first Legislature elected under the same, which is hereby authorised to negotiate for such amount as may be necessary to pay the expenses of the State Government.

J. ARAM,
B. S. LIPPINCOTT
C. T. BOTTS,
M. M. McCARVER,
E. BROWN,
JOHN McDOUGAL,
J. A. CARRILLO,
B.F. MOORE,
J. M. COVARRUBIAS,
MYRON NORTON,
E. O. CROSBY,
P. ORD,
P. DE LA GUERRA,
MIGUEL PEDRORENA,
L. DENT,
A. M. PICO,
M. DOMINGUEZ,
R. M. PRICE,
K. H. DIMMICK,
HUGO REID,
A. J. ELLIS,
JACINTO RODRIGUEZ,
S. C. FOSTER,
PEDRO SANSEVAINE,
E. GILBERT,
W. E. SHANNON,
W. M. GWIN,
W. S. SHERWOOD,
H. W. HALLECK,
J. R. SNYDER,
JULIAN HANKS,
A. STEARNS,
L. W. HASTINGS,
W. M. STEUART,
HENRY HILL,
J. A. SUTTER,
J. HOBSON,
HENRY A. TEFFT,
J. McH. HOLLINSWORTH,
S. L. VERMULE,
J. D. HOPPE,
M. G. VALLEJO,
J. M. JONES,
J. WALKER,
T. O. LARKIN,
O. M. WOZENCRAFT,
FRANCIS J. LIPPITT.

*The 1849 State Constitution was California's first state constitution. The State currently operates under a constitution adopted in 1879.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

Presented by the Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows:

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts

John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York

William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey

Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland

Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia

George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina

William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia

Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

For additional information about the Declaration of Independence, see these sites:

Contents

The Constitution of the United States

Preamble Note

Article. I. - The Legislative Branch Note

Article. II. - The Executive Branch Note

Article III. - The Judicial Branch Note

Article. IV. - The States

Article. V. - Amendment Note1 - Note2 - Note3

Article. VI. - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths

Article. VII. - Ratification Documents

The Amendments Note

Amendment I

Amendment II

Amendment III

Amendment IV

Amendment V

Amendment VI

Amendment VII

Amendment VIII

Amendment IX

Amendment X

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia