We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the
Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for his goodness, do, for the
better government of the State, establish this Constitution.
ARTICLE I
BOUNDARIES
SECTION 1. The boundaries of the State as
heretofore established by law, are hereby ratified and confirmed. The State
shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the river Mississippi, and every other
river bordering on the State, so far as the said rivers shall form a common
boundary to this State and any other State or States; and the river Mississippi
and the navigable rivers and waters leading to the same shall be common
highways and forever free to the citizens of this State and of the United
States, without any tax, duty, impost or toll therefor, imposed by this State.
ARTICLE
II
BILL
OF RIGHTS
In order to assert our rights, acknowledge our duties, and
proclaim the principles on which our government is founded, we declare:
SECTION 1. That all political power is vested in and derived
from the people; that all government of right originates from the people, is
founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the
whole.
SEC. 2. That the people of this State have the inherent,
sole and exclusive right to regulate the internal government and police
thereof, and to alter and abolish their Constitution and form of government
whenever they may deem it necessary to their safety and happiness; Provided,
such change be not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.
SEC. 3. That Missouri is a free and independent State,
subject only to the Constitution of the United States; and as the preservation
of the States and the maintenance of their governments are necessary to an
indestructible Union, and were intended to co-exist with
Verified
by " The Constitution of the State of Missouri. Adopted by a vote of the
people. October 30, 1875. Went into operation November 30, 1875. Jefferson
City, Mo.: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders. 1891."
pp. 62.
2230 Missouri-1875
it, the
Legislature is not authorized to adopt, nor will the people of this Stateever
assent to, any amendment or change of the Constitution of the United States
which may in anywise impair the right of local self-government belonging to the
people of this State.
SEC. 4. That all constitutional government is intended to
promote the general welfare of the people; that all persons have a natural
right to life, liberty and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry;
that to give security to these things is the principal office of government,
and that when government does not confer this security, it fails of its chief
design.
SEC. 5. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right
to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience;
that no person can, on account of his religious opinions, be rendered
ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this State, nor be disqualified
from testifying, or from serving as a juror; that no human authority can
control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person ought, by
any law, to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious
persuasion or profession; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall
not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify
practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of this State, or
with the rights of others.
SEC. 6. That no person can be compelled to erect, support or
attend any place or system of worship, or to maintain or support any priest,
minister, preacher or teacher of any sect, church, creed or denomination of
religion; but if any person shall voluntarily make a contract for any such
object, he shall be held to the performance of the same.
SEC. 7. That no money shall ever be taken from the public
treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of
religion, or in aid of any priest, preacher, minister or teacher thereof as
such; and that no preference shall be given to, nor any discrimination made against,
any church, sect or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or
worship.
SEC. 8. That no religious corporation can be established in
this State, except such as may be created under a general law for the purpose
only of holding the title to such real estate as may be prescribed by law for
church edifices, parsonages and cemeteries.
SEC. 9. That all elections shall be free and open; and no
power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise
of the right of suffrage.
SEC. 10. The courts of justice shall be open to every
person, and certain remedy afforded for every injury to person, property or
character, and that right and justice should be administered without sale,
denial or delay.
SEC. 11. That the people shall be secure in their persons,
papers, homes and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no
warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without
describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized, as
nearly as may be; nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation
reduced to writing.
SEC. 12. That no person shall, for felony, be proceeded
against criminally otherwise than by indictment, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in
Missouri-18752231
time of war or public danger; in all other cases, offenses
shall be prosecuted criminally by indictment or information as concurrent
remedies.
SEC. 13. That treason against the State can consist only in
levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and
comfort; that no person can be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on his confession in open court; that
no person can be attainted of treason or felony by the General Assembly; that
no conviction can work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate; that the
estates of such persons as may destroy their own lives shall descend or vest as
in cases of natural death; and when any person shall be killed by casualty,
there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof.
SEC. 14. That no law shall be passed impairing the freedom
of speech; that every person shall be free to say, write or publish whatever
he will on any subject, being responsible for all abuse of that liberty; and
that in all suits and prosecutions for libel the truth thereofmay be given in evidence, and the jury,
under the direction of the court, shall determine the law and the fact.
SEC. 15. That no ex post facto law, nor law impairing
the obligation of contracts, or retrospective in its operation, or making any
irrevocable grant of special privileges or immunities, can be passed
by the
General Assembly.
SEC. 16. That imprisonment for debt shall not be allowed,
except for the non-payment of fines and penalties imposed for violation of law.
SEC. 17. That the right of no citizen to keep and bear arms
in defense of his home, person and property, or in aid of the civil power, when
thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question; but nothing herein
contained is intended to justify the practice of wearing concealed weapons.
SEC. 18. That no person elected or appointed to any office
or employment of trust or profit under the laws of this State, or any
ordinance of any municipality in this State, shall hold such office without
personally voting his time to the performance of the duties to the same
belonging.
SEC. 19. That no person who is now or may hereafter become a
collector or receiver of public money, or assistant or deputy of such collector
or receiver, shall be eligible to any office of trust or profit in the State of
Missouri under the laws thereof, or of any municipality therein, until he shall
have accounted for and paid over all the public money for which he may be
accountable.
SEC. 20. That no private property can be taken for public
use, with or without compensation, unless by the consent of the owner, except
for private ways of necessity, and except for drains and ditches across the
lands of others for agricultural and sanitary purposes, in such manner as may
be prescribed by law; and that whenever an attempt is made to take private
property for a use alleged to be public, the question whether the contemplated
use be really public shall be a judicial question, and as such judicially
determined, without regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public.
SEC. 21. That private property shall not be taken or damaged
for public use without just compensation. Such compensation shall be
2232 Missouri-1875
ascertained by a jury or board of commissioners of not less
than three freeholders, in such manner as may be prescribed by law; and until
the same shall be paid to the owner, or into court for the owner, the property
shall not be disturbed or the proprietary rights of the owner therein divested.
The fee of land taken for railroad tracks without consent of the owner thereof
shall remain in such owner, subject to the use for which it is taken.
SEC. 22. 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; to meet the witnesses against
him face to face; to have process to compel the attendance of witnesses in his
behalf; and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county.
SEC. 23. That no person shall be
compelled to testify against himself in a criminal cause, nor shall any person
after being once acquitted by a jury be again, for the same offense, put in
jeopardy of life or liberty; but if the jury to which the question of his guilt
or innocence is submitted fail to render a verdict, the court before which the
trial is had may, in its discretion, discharge the jury and commit or bail the
prisoner for trial at the next term of court, or if the state of business will
permit, at the same term; and if judgment be arrested after a verdict of guilty
on a defective indictment, or if judgment on a verdict of guilty be reversed
for error in law, nothing herein contained shall prevent a new trial of the
prisoner on a proper indictment, or according to correct principles of law.
SEC. 24. That all persons shall be
bailable by sufficient sureties except for capital offenses, when the proof is
evident or the presumption great.
SEC. 25. That excessive bail shall not
be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment
inflicted.
SEC.26. That the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus shall never be suspended.
SEC.27. That the military shall always
be in strict subordination to the civil power; that 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 prescribed by law.
SEC. 28. The right of trial by jury,
as heretofore enjoyed, shall remain inviolate; but a jury for the trial of
criminal or civil cases in courts not of record, may consist of less than
twelve men, as may be prescribed by law. Hereafter, a grand jury shall consist
of twelve men, any nine of whom concurring may find an indictment or a true
bill.
SEC. 29. That the people have the
right peaceably to assemble for their common good, and to apply to those
invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, by petition
or remonstrance.
SEC. 30. That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty
or property without due process of law.
SEC. 31. That
there cannot be in this State either slavery or involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been dulyconvicted.
SEC. 32. The
enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to
deny, impair or disparage others retained by the people.
Missouri-18752233
ARTICLE III
THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS
The powers of government shall be divided into three
distinct departments–the legislative, executive and judicial–each of which shall be confided to a
separate magistracy, and no person, or collection of persons, charged with the
exercise of powers properly belonging to one of those departments, shall
exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the
instances in this Constitution expressly directed or permitted.
ARTICLE IV
LEGISLATIVE
DEPARTMENT
SECTION 1. The legislative power, subject to the limitations
herein contained, shall be vested in a Senate and House of Representatives, to
be styled "The General Assembly of the State of Missouri."
REPRESENTATION AND APPORTIONMENT
SEC. 2. The House of Representatives shall consist of
members to be chosen every second year by the qualified voters of the several
counties, and apportioned in the following manner: The ratio of representation
shall be ascertained at each apportioning session of the General Assembly, by
dividing the whole number of inhabitants of the State, as ascertained by the
last decennial census of the United States, by the number two hundred. Each
county having one ratio, or less, shall be entitled to one Representative; each
county having two and a half times said ratio shall be entitled to two
Representatives; each county having four times said ratio shall be entitled to
three Representatives; each county having six times such ratio shall be
entitled to four representatives, and so on above that number, giving one
additional member for every two and a half additional ratios.
SEC. 3. When any county shall be entitled to more than one
Representative, the county court shall cause such county to be subdivided into
districts of compact and contiguous territory, corresponding in number to the
Representatives to which such county is entitled, and in population as nearly
equal as may be, in each of which the qualified voters shall elect one
Representative, who shall be a resident of such district: Provided, that
when any county shall be entitled to more than ten Representatives, the circuit
court shall cause such county to be subdivided into districts, so as to give
each district not less than two nor more than four Representatives, who shall be
residents of such district–the population of the districts to be proportioned to the
number of Representatives to be elected therefrom.
SEC. 4. No person shall be a member of the House of
Representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-four years, who
shall not be a male citizen of the United States, who shall not have been a
qualified voter of this State two years, and an inhabitant of the county or
district which he may be chosen to represent one year next before the day of
his election–if such county or district shall have
2234
Missouri-1875
been so long established, but if not, then of the county or
district from which the same shall have been taken–and who shall not have paid a State
and county tax within one year next preceding the election.
SEC. 5. The Senate shall consist of thirty-four members, to
be chosen by the qualified voters of their respective districts for four
years.For the election of Senators the
State shall be divided into convenient districts, as nearly equal in population
as may be, the same to be ascertained by the last decennial census taken by the
United States.
SEC. 6. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained the age of thirty years, who shall not be a male citizen of the United
States, who shall not have been a qualified voter of this State three years,
and an inhabitant of the district which he may be chosen to represent one year
next before the day of his election–if such district shall have been so long established, but
if not, then of the district or districts from which the same shall have been
taken–and
who shall not have paid a State and county tax within one year next preceding
the election. When any county shall be entitled to more than one Senator, the
circuit court shall cause such county to be subdivided into districts of
compact and contiguous territory, and of population as nearly equal as may be,
corresponding in number with the Senators to which such county may be entitled;
and in each of these one Senator, who shall be a resident of such district,
shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof.
SEC. 7. Senators and Representatives shall be chosen
according to the rule of apportionment established in this Constitution, until
the next decennial census by the United States shall have been taken, and the
result thereof as to this State ascertained, when the apportionment shall be
revised and adjusted on the basis of that census, and every ten years
thereafter upon the basis of the United States census, or if such census be not
taken, or is delayed, then on the basis of a State census–such apportionment to be made at the
first session of the General Assembly after each such census: Provided, that
if at any time, or from any cause, the General Assembly shall fail or refuse to
district the State for Senators, as required in this section, it shall be the
duty of the Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney-General, within thirty
days after the adjournment of the General Assembly on which such duty
devolved, to perform said duty, and to file in the office of the Secretary of
State a full statement of the districts formed by them, including the names of
the counties embraced in each district, and the numbers thereof–said statement to be signed by them,
and attested by the Great Seal of the State, and upon the proclamation of the
Governor, the same shall be as binding and effectual as if done by the General
Assembly.
SEC. 8. Until an apportionment of Representatives can be
made, in accordance with the provisions of this article, the House of Representatives
shall consist of one hundred and forty-three members, which shall be divided
among the several counties of the State as follows: The county of St. Louis
shall have seventeen; the county of Jackson four; the county of Buchanan three;
the counties of Franklin, Greene, Johnson, Lafayette, Macon, Marion, Pike and
Saline, each two, and each of the other counties in the State one.
SEC. 9. Senatorial and representative districts may be
altered, from time to time, as public convenience may require. When any sena-
Missouri-18752235
torial district shall be composed of two or more counties,
they shall be contiguous–such districts to be as compact as may be–and in the formation of the same no
county shall be divided.
SEC. 10. The first election of Senators and Representatives,
under this Constitution, shall be held at the general election in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, when the whole number of
Representatives, and the Senators from the districts having odd numbers, who shall
compose the first class, shall be chosen; and in one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-eight, the Senators from the districts having even numbers, who shall
compose the second class; and so on at each succeeding general election, half
the Senators provided for by this Constitution shall be chosen.
SEC. 11. Until the State shall be divided into senatorial
districts, in accordance with the provisions of this article, said districts
shall be constituted and numbered as follows:
The First district shall be composed of the counties of
Andrew, Holt, Nodaway and Atchison.
Second district–The counties of Buchanan, DeKalb, Gentry and Worth.
Third district–The counties of Clay, Clinton and Platte.
Fourth district–The counties of Caldwell, Ray, Daviess and Harrison.
Fifth district–The counties of Livingston, Grundy, Mercer and Carroll.
Sixth district–The counties of Linn, Sullivan, Putnam and Chariton.
Seventh district–The counties of Randolph, Howard and Monroe.
Eighth district–The counties of Adair, Macon and Schuyler.
Ninth district–The counties of Audrain, Boone and Callaway.
Tenth district–The counties of St. Charles and Warren.
Eleventh district–The counties of Pike, Lincoln and Montgomery.
Twelfth district–The counties of Lewis, Clark, Scotland and Knox.
Thirteenth district–The counties of Marion, Shelby and Ralls.
Fourteenth district–The counties of Bates, Cass and Henry.
Fifteenth district–The county of Jackson.
Sixteenth district–The counties of Vernon, Barton, Jasper, Newton and
McDonald.
Seventeenth district–The counties of Lafayette and Johnson.
Eighteenth district–The counties of Greene, Lawrence, Barry, Stone and
Christian.
Nineteenth district–The counties of Saline, Pettis and Benton.
Twentieth district–The counties of Polk, Hickory, Dallas, Dade, Cedar and St.
Clair.
Twenty-first district-The counties of Laclede, Webster,
Wright, Texas, Douglas, Taney, Ozark and Howell.
Twenty-second district–The counties of Phelps, Miller, Maries, Camden, Pulaski,
Crawford and Dent.
Twenty-third district–The counties of Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, New Madrid,
Pemiscot, Dunklin, Stoddard and Scott.
Twenty-fourth district–The counties of Iron, Madison, Bollinger, Wayne, Butler,
Reynolds, Carter, Ripley, Oregon and Shannon.
Twenty-fifth
district–The counties of Franklin, Gasconade and Osage.
2236 Missouri-1875
Twenty-sixth district–Thecounties of Washington, Jefferson, St. Francois,
Ste. Genevieve and Perry.
Twenty-eighth
district–The counties of Cooper, Moniteau, Morgan and Cole.
St. Louis
county shall be divided into seven districts, numbered, respectively, as
follows:
Twenty-seventh,
Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second, Thirty-third and
Thirty-fourth.
SEC.12.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he shall have
been elected, be appointed to any office under this State, or any municipality
thereof; and no member of Congress or person holding any lucrative office under
the United States, or this State, or any municipality thereof (militia officers,
justices of the peace and notaries public excepted), shall be eligible to
either house of the General Assembly, or remain a member thereof, after having
accepted any such office or seat in either house of Congress.
SEC.13.
If any Senator or Representative remove his residence from the district or
county for which he was elected, his office shall thereby be vacated.
SEC. 14.
Writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the
General Assembly shall be issued by the Governor.
SEC.15.
Every Senator and Representative elect, before entering upon the duties of his
office, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: " I do
solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will support the Constitution of the United
States and of the State of Missouri, and faithfully perform the duties of my
office; and that I will not knowingly receive, directly or indirectly, any
money or other valuable thing, for the performance or non-performance of any
act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by
law." The oath shall be administered in the halls of their respective
houses, to the members thereof, by some judge of the Supreme court, or the
Circuit court or the County court of Cole county, or, after the organization,
by the presiding officer of either house, and shall be filed in the office of
the Secretary of State. Any member of either house refusing to take said oath
or affirmation shall be deemed to have thereby vacated his office, and any
member convicted of having violated his oath or affirmation shall be deemed
guilty of perjury, and be forever thereafter disqualified from holding any
office of trust or profit in this State.
SEC.16.
The members of the General Assembly shall severally receive from the public
treasury such compensation for their services as may, from time to time, be
provided by law, not to exceed five dollars per day for the first seventy days
of each session, and after that not to exceed one dollar per day for the
remainder of the session, except the first session held under this
Constitution, and during revising sessions, when they may receive five dollars
per day for one hundred and twenty days, and one dollar per day for the
remainder of such sessions. In addition to per diem, the members shall be
entitled to receive traveling expenses or mileage, for any regular and extra
session, not greater than now provided by law; but no member shall be entitled
to traveling expenses or mileage for any extra session that may be called
within one day after an adjournment of a regular
Missouri-18752237
session. Committees of either house, or joint committees of
both houses, appointed to examine the institutions of the State, other than
those at the seat of government, may receive their actual expenses, necessarily
incurred while in the performance of such duty–the items of such expenses to be returned to the chairman of
such committee, and by him certified to the State Auditor, before the same, or
any part thereof, can be paid. Each member may receive at each regular session
an additional sum of thirty dollars, which shall be in full for all stationery
used in his official capacity, and all postage, and all other incidental
expenses and perquisites; and no allowance or emoluments, for any purpose
whatever, shall be made to or received by the members, or any member of either
house, or for their use, out of the contingent fund or otherwise, except as
herein expressly provided; and no allowance or emolument, for any purpose
whatever, shall ever be paid to any officer, agent, servant or employee of
either house of the General Assembly, or of any committee thereof, except such
per diem as may be provided for by law, not to exceed five dollars.
SEC.
17. Each house shall appoint its own officers; shall be sole judge of the
qualifications, election and returns of its own members; may determine the
rules of its own proceedings, except as herein provided; may arrest and punish
by fine not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding ten days, or both, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty
of disrespect to the house by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its
presence during its sessions; may punish its members for disorderly conduct,
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all members elect, may expel a
member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause.
SEC. 18. A majority of the whole
number of members 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. 19. The sessions of each house
shall be held with open doors, except in cases which may require secrecy.
SEC. 20. The General Assembly elected
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six shall meet on the first
Wednesday after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-seven; and thereafter the General Assembly shall meet in regular session
once only in every two years; and such meeting shall be on the first Wednesday
after the first day of January next after the elections of the members
thereof.
SEC. 21. Every adjournment or recess
taken by the General Assembly for more than three days shall have the effect
of and be an adjournment sine die.
SEC. 22. Every adjournment or recess
taken by the General Assembly for three days or less shall be construed as not
interrupting the session at which they are had or taken, but as continuing the
session for all the purposes mentioned in section sixteen of this article.
SEC. 23. Neither house shall, without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days at any one time, nor
to any other place than that in which the two houses may be sitting.
2238 Missouri-1875
LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS
SEC. 24. The style of the laws of this State shall be:"Be
it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows."
SEC. 25. No law shall be passed, except by bill, and no bill
shall be so amended in its passage through either house as to change its
original purpose.
SEC. 26. Bills may originate in either house, and may be
amended or rejected by the other; and every bill shall be read on three different
days in each house.
SEC. 27. No bill shall be considered for final passage
unless the same has been reported upon by a committee and printed for the use
of the members.
SEC. 28. No bill (except general appropriation bills, which
may embrace the various subjects and accounts for and on account of which
moneys are appropriated, and except bills passed under the third subdivision of
section forty-four of this article) shall contain more than one subject, which
shall be clearly expressed in its title.
SEC. 29. All amendments adopted by either house to a bill
ending and originating in the same shall be incorporated with the bill by engrossment,
and the bill, as thus engrossed, shall be printed for the use of the members
before its final passage. The engrossing and printing shall be under the
supervision of a committee, whose report to the house shall set forth, in
writing, that they find the bill truly engrossed, and that the printed copy
furnished to the members is correct.
SEC. 30. If a bill passed by either house be returned
thereto, amended by the other, the house to which the same is returned shall
cause the amendment or amendments so received to be printed under the same
supervision as provided in the next preceding section, for the use of the
members, before final action on such amendments.
SEC. 31. No bill shall become a law unless on its final
passage the vote be taken by yeas and nays, the names of the members voting for
and against the same be entered on the journal, and a majority of the members
elected to each house be recorded thereon as voting in its favor.
SEC. 32. No amendment to bills by one house shall be
concurred in by the other, except by a vote of a majority of the members
elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and
against recorded upon the journal thereof; and reports of committees of
conference shall be adopted in either house only by the vote of a majority of
the members elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those
voting recorded u on the journal.
SEC. 33. No act shall be revived or re-enacted by mere
reference to the title thereof, but the same shall be set forth at length, as if
it were an original act.
SEC. 34. No act shall be amended by providing that
designated words thereof be stricken out, or that designated words be inserted,
or that designated words be stricken out and others inserted in lieu thereof;
but the words to be stricken out, or the words to be inserted, or the words to
be stricken out and those inserted in lieu thereof, together with the act or
section amended, shall be set forth in full as amended.
Missouri–18752239
SEC. 35. When a bill is put upon its final passage in either
house, and, failing to pass, a motion is made to reconsider the vote by which
it was defeated, the vote upon such motion to reconsider shall be immediately
taken, and the subject finally disposed of before the house proceeds to any
other business.
SEC. 36. No law passed by the General Assembly, except the
general appropriation act, shall take effect or go into force until ninety days
after the adjournment of the session at which it was enacted, unless in case of
an emergency (which emergency must be expressed in the preamble or in the body
of the act), the General Assembly shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the
members elected to each house, otherwise direct–said vote to be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the
journal.
SEC. 37. No bill shall become a law
until the same shall have been signed by the presiding officer of each of the
two houses in open session; and before such officer shall affix his signature
to any bill, he shall suspend all other business, declare that such bill will
now be read, and that, if no objections be made, he will sign the same to the
end that it may become a law. The bill shall then be read at length, and if no
objections be made, he shall, in presence of the house in open session, and
before any other business is entertained, affix his signature, which fact shall
be noted on the journal, and the bill immediately sent to the other house.
When it reaches the other house, the presiding officer thereof shall immediately
suspend all other business, announce the reception of the bill, and the same
proceedings shall thereupon be observed, in every respect, as in the house in
which it was first signed. If in either house any member shall object that any
substitution, omission or insertion has occurred, so that the bill proposed to
be signed is not the same in substance and form as when considered and passed
by the house, or that any particular clause of this article of the Constitution
has been violated in its passage, such objection shall be passed upon by the
house, and if sustained, the presiding officer shall withhold his signature;
but if such objection shall not be sustained, then any five members may embody
the same, over their signatures, in a written protest, under oath, against the
signing of the bill. Said protest, when offered in the house, shall be noted
upon the journal, and the original shall be annexed to the bill, to be
considered by the governor in connection therewith.
SEC. 38. When the bill has been signed,
as provided for in the preceding section, it shall be the duty of the Secretary
of the Senate, if the bill originated in the Senate, and of the Chief Clerk of
the House of Representatives, if the bill originated in the House, to present
the same in person, on the same day on which it was signed as aforesaid, to the
Governor, and enter the fact upon the journal. Every bill presented to the
Governor, and returned within ten days to the house in which the same
originated, with the approval of the Governor, shall become a law, unless it be
in violation of some provision of this Constitution.
SEC. 39. Every bill presented as
aforesaid, but returned without the approval of the Governor, and with his
objections thereto, shall stand as reconsidered in the house to which it is
returned. The house shall cause the objections of the Governor to be entered at
large upon the journal, and proceed, at its convenience, to consider the
question
2240
Missouri-1875
pending, which shall be in this form:
" Shall the bill pass, the objections of the Governor thereto
notwithstanding? " The vote upon this question shall be taken by yeas and
nays, and the names entered upon the journal, and if two-thirds of all the
members elected to the house vote in the affirmative, the presiding officer of
that house shall certify that fact on the roll, attesting the same by his
signature, and send the bill, with the objections of the Governor, to the other
house, in which like proceedings shall be had in relation thereto; and if the
bill receive a like majority of the votes of all the members elected to that
house, the vote being taken by yeas and nays, the presiding officer therof
shall, in like manner, certify the fact upon the bill. The bill thus certified
shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, as an authentic
act, and shall become a law in the same manner and with like effect as if it
had received the approval of the Governor.
SEC. 40.
Whenever the Governor shall fail to perform his duty, as prescribed in section
twelve, Article V of this Constitution, in relation to any bill presented to
him for his approval, the General Assembly may, by joint resolution, reciting
the fact of such failure and the bill at length, direct the Secretary of State
to enroll the same as an authentic act, in the archives of the State, and such
enrollment shall have the same effect as an approval by the Governor: Provided,
that such joint resolution shall not be submitted to the Governor for his
approval.
SEC. 41.
Within five years after the adoption of this Constitution, all the statute laws
of a general nature, both civil and criminal, shall be revised, digested and
promulgated in such manner as the General Assembly shall direct; and a like
revision, digest and promulgation shall be made at the expiration of every
subsequent period of ten years.
SEC. 42. Each
house shall, from time to time, publish a journal of its proceedings, and the
yeas and nays on any question shall be taken an entered on the journal at the
motion of any two members. Whenever the yeas and nays are demanded, the whole
list of members shall be called, and the names of the absentees shall be noted
and published in the journal.
LIMITATION OF LEGISLATIVE POWER
SEC. 43. All revenue collected and moneys received by the
State, from any source whatsoever, shall go into the treasury, and the General
Assembly shall have no power to divert the same, or to permit money to be drawn
from the treasury, except in pursuance of regular appropriations made by law.
All appropriations of money by the successive General Assemblies shall be made
in the following order:
First–For the payment of all interest upon the bonded debt of the
State that may become due during the term for which each General Assembly is
elected.
Second–For thebenefit of the sinking fund, which shall not
be less annually than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Third–For free public school purposes.
Fourth–For thepayment of the cost of assessing and
collecting the revenue.
Fifth–Forthe payment of the civil list.
Missouri-18752241
Sixth–For the support of the
eleemosynary institutions of the State.
Seventh–For the pay of the
General Assembly, and such other purposes, not herein prohibited, as it may
deem necessary; but no General Assembly shall have power to make any
appropriation of money for any purpose whatsoever, until the respective sums
necessary for the purposes in this section specified have been set apart and
appropriated, or to give priority in its action to a succeeding over a
preceding item as above enumerated.
SEC. 44. The General Assembly shall
have no power to contract or to authorize the contracting of any debt or
liability on behalf of the State, or to issue bonds or other evidences of
indebtedness thereof, except in the following cases:
First–In renewal of existing
bonds, when they cannot be paid at maturity, out of the sinking fund or other
resources.
Second–On the occurring of an unforseen
emergency, or casual deficiency of the revenue when the temporary liability
incurred, upon the recommendation of the Governor first had, shall not exceed
the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for any one year, to be paid
in not more than two years from and after its creation.
Third–On theoccurring
of any unforeseen emergency or casual deficiency of the revenue, when the
temporary liability incurred or to be incurred shall exceed the sum of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for any one year, the General Assembly may
submit an act providing for the loan, or for the contracting of the liability,
and containing a provision for levying a tax sufficient to pay the interest
and principal when they become due (the latter in not more than thirteen years
from the date of its creation), to the qualified voters of the State, and when
the act so submitted shall have been ratified by a two-thirds majority, at an
election held for that purpose, due publication having been made of the
provisions of the act for at least three months before such election, the act
thus ratified shall be irrepealable until the debt thereby incurred shall be
paid, principal and interest.
SEC. 45. The General Assembly shall
have no power to give or to lend, or to authorize the giving or lending of the
credit of the State in aid of or to any person, association or corporation,
whether municipal or other, or to pledge the credit of the State in any manner,
whatsoever, for the payment of the liabilities, present or prospective, of any
individual, association of individuals, municipal or other corporation
whatsoever.
SEC. 46. The General Assembly shall
have no power to make any grant or to authorize the making of any grant of
public money or thing of value to any individual, association of individuals,
municipal or other corporation whatsoever: Provided, that this shall not
be so construed as to prevent the grant of aid in a case of public calamity.
SEC. 47. The General Assembly shall
have no power to authorize any county, city, town or township, or other
political corporation or subdivision of the State now existing, or that may be
hereafter established, to lend its credit or to grant public money or thing of
value in aid of or to any individual, association or corporation whatsoever, or
to become a stockholder in such corporation, association or company.
a
See amendment, 1892.
7253-VOL
3–07----27
2242 Missouri-1875
SEC. 48. The GeneralAssembly shall have no power to
grant or to authorize any county or municipal authority to grant any extra
compensation, fee or allowance to a public officer, agent, servant or
contractor, after service has been rendered or a contract has been entered into
and performed in whole or in part, nor pay nor authorize the payment of any
claim hereafter created against the State, or any county or municipality of the
State, under any agreement or contract made without express authority of law; and
all such unauthorized agreements or contracts shall be null and void.
SEC. 49. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter
to subscribe or authorize the subscription of stock on behalf of the State, in
any corporation or association, except for the purpose of securing loans
heretofore extended to certain railroad corporations by the State.
SEC. 50. The General Assembly shall have no power to release
or alienate the lien held by the State upon any railroad, or in anywise change
the tenor or meaning or pass any act explanatory thereof ; but the same shall
be enforced in accordance with the original terms upon which it was acquired.
SEC. 51. The General Assembly shall have no power to release
or extinguish, or authorize the releasing or extinguishing, in whole or in
part, the indebtedness, liability or obligation of any corporation or
individual to this State, or to any county or other municipal corporation
therein.
SEC. 52. The General Assembly shall have no power to make
any appropriation of money, or to issue any bonds or other evidences of
indebtedness for the payment or on account or in recognition of any claims
audited or that may hereafter be audited by virtue of act entitled "An act
to audit and adjust the war debt of the State," approved March 19, 1874,
or an act of a similar nature, until after the claims so audited shall have
been presented to and paid by the Government of the United States to the State
of Missouri.
SEC. 53. The General Assembly shall not pass any local or
special law:
Authorizing the creation, extension or impairing of liens;
Regulating the affairs of counties, cities, townships, wards
or school districts;
Changing the names of persons or places;
Changing the venue in civil or criminal cases;
Authorizing the laying out, opening, altering or maintaining
roads, highways, streets or alleys;
Relating to ferries or bridges, or incorporating ferry or
bridge companies, except for the erection of bridges crossing streams which
form boundaries between this and any other State;
Vacating roads, town plats, streets or alleys;
Relating to cemeteries, grave-yards or public grounds not of
the State;
Authorizing the adoption or legitimation of children;
Locating or changing county seats,
Incorporating cities, towns or villages, or changing their
charters;
For the opening and conducting of elections, or fixing or
changing the places of voting;
Missouri-18752243
Granting divorces;
Erecting new townships, or changing township lines, or the
lines of school districts;
Creating offices, or prescribing the powers and duties of
officers in counties, cities, townships, election or school districts;
Changing the law of descent or succession ;
Regulating the practice or jurisdiction of or changing the
rules of evidence in any judicial proceeding or inquiry before courts, justices
,of the peace, sheriffs, commissioners, arbitrators or other tribunals, or
providing or changing methods for the collection of debts, or the enforcing of
judgments, or prescribing the effect of judicial sales of real estate;
Regulating the fees or extending the powers and duties of
aldermen, justices of the peace, magistrates or constables;
Regulating the management of public schools, the building or
repairing of school-houses, and the raising of money for such purposes;
Fixing the rate of interest;
Affecting the estates of minors or persons under disability;
Remitting fines, penalties and forfeitures, or refunding
moneys legally paid into the treasury;
Exempting property from taxation;
Regulating labor, trade, mining or manufacturing;
Creating corporations, or amending, renewing, extending or
explaining the charter thereof;
Granting to any corporation, association or individual any
special or exclusive right, privilege or immunity, or to any corporation, association
or individual the right to lay down a railroad track;
Declaring any named person of age;
Extending the time for the assessment or collection of
taxes, or otherwise relieving any assessor or collector of taxes from the due
performance of their official duties, or their securities from liability;
Giving effect to informal or invalid wills or deeds;
Summoning, or empanneling grand or petit juries;
For limitation of civil actions;
Legalizing the unauthorized or invalid acts of any officer
or agent of the State, or of any county or municipality thereof. In all other
cases where a general law can be made applicable, no local or special law shall
be enacted; and whether a general law could have been made applicable in any
case is hereby declared a judicial question, and as such shall be judicially
determined without regard to any legislative assertion on that subject;
Nor shall the General Assembly indirectly enact such special
or local law by the partial repeal of a general law; but laws repealing local
or special acts may be passed.
SEC. 54. No local or special law shall be passed unless
notice of the intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the
locality where the matter or thing to be affected may be situated, which notice
shall state the substance of the contemplated law, and shall be published at
least thirty days prior to the introduction into the General Assembly of such
bill, and in the manner to be provided by law. The evidence of such notice
having been published shall be exhibited in the General Assembly before such
act shall be passed, and the notice shall be recited in the act according to
its tenor.
2244 Missouri-1875
SEC. 55. The General Assembly shall have no power, when convened
in extra session by the Governor, to act upon subjects other than those
specially designated in the proclamation by which the session is called, or
recommended by special message to its consideration by the Governor after it
shall have been convened.
SEC. 56. The General Assembly shall have no power to remove
the seat of government of this State from the City of Jefferson.
ARTICLE V
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
SECTION 1. The Executive department shall consist of a
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer,
Attorney-General and Superintendent of Public Schools, all of whom, except the
Lieutenant-Governor, shall reside at the seat of government during their term
of office, and keep the public records, books and papers there, and shall
perform such duties as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. The term of office of the Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer,
Attorney-General and Superintendent of Public Schools shall be four years from
the second Monday of January next after their election, and until their
successors are elected and qualified; and the Governor and State Treasurer
shall be ineligible to re-election as their own successors. At the general
election to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and
every four years thereafter, all of such officers, except the Superintendent of
Public Schools, shall be elected, and the Superintendent of Public Schools
shall be elected at the general election in the year one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-eight, and every four years thereafter.
SEC. 3.The returns of every election for the above named
officers, shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers to the
Secretary of State, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
who shall, immediately after the organization of the House, and before
proceeding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a
majority of each house of the General Assembly, who shall for that purpose
assemble in the hall of the House of Representatives. The person having the
highest number of votes for either of said offices shall be declared duly
elected; but if two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of
votes, the General Assembly shall, by joint vote, choose one of such persons
for said office.
SEC. 4. The supreme executive power shall be vested in a
chief magistrate, who shall be styled "The Governor of the State of Missouri.”
SEC. 5. The Governor shall be at least thirty-five years
old, a male, and shall have been a citizen of the United States ten years, and
a resident of this State seven years next before his election.
SEC. 6. The Governor shall take care that the laws are
distributed and faithfully executed; and he shall be a conservator of the peace
throughout the State.
SEC. 7. The
Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the in militia of this-State, except
when they shall be called into the service of the
Missouri-18759245
United States, and maycall out the same to execute
the laws, suppress insurrection and repel invasion; but he need not command in
person unless directed so to do by a resolution of the General Assembly.
SEC. 8. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves
commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses, except
treason and cases of impeachment, upon such condition 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. He shall, at
each session of the General Assembly, communicate to that body each case of
reprieve, commutation or pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the
crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, the date of the
commutation, pardon or reprieve, and the reason for granting the same. SEC. 9. The Governor shall, from time to time,
give to the General Assembly information relative to the state of the
government, and shall recommend to its consideration such measures as be shall
deem necessary and expedient. On extraordinary occasions he may convene the
General Assembly by proclamation, wherein he shall state specifically each
matter concerning which the action of that body is deemed necessary.
SEC. 10. The Governor shall, at the
commencement of each session of the General Assembly, and at the close of his
term of office, give information by message of the condition of the State, and
shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. He shall account to
the General Assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, for all
moneys received and paid out by him from any funds subject to his order, with
vouchers, and at the commencement of each regular session, present estimates of
the amount of money required to be raised by taxation for all purposes.
SEC. 11. When any office shall become
vacant, the Governor, unless otherwise provided by law, shall appoint a person
to fill such vacancy, who shall continue in office until a successor shall
have been duly elected or appointed and qualified according to law.
SEC. 12.The Governor shall consider all bills and
joint resolutions which, having been passed by both houses of the General
Assembly, shall be presented to him.He
shall, within ten days after the same shall have been presented to him, return
to the house in which they respectively originated all such bills and joint
resolutions, with his approval indorsed thereon, or accompanied by his
objections: Provided, that if the General Assembly shall finally adjourn
within ten days after such presentation, the Governor may, within thirty days
thereafter, return such bills and resolutions to the office of the Secretary of
State, with his approval or reasons for disapproval.
SEC. 13.If any bill presented to the Governor
contain several items of appropriation of money, he may object to one or more
items while approving other portions of the bill. In such case he shall append
to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the items to which he
objects, and the appropriations so objected to shall not take effect. If the
General Assembly be in session, he shall transmit to the house in which the
bill originated a copy of such statement, and the items objected to shall be
separately reconsidered. If it be not in ses-
2246 Missouri-1875
sion,
then he shall transmit the same within thirty days to the office of Secretary
of State, with his approval or reasons for disapproval.
SEC. 14. Every resolution to which the
concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, except
on questions of adjournment, of going into joint session and of amending this
Constitution, shall be presented to the Governor, and before the same shall
take effect shall be proceeded upon in the same manner as in the case of a
bill: Provided, that no resolution shall have the effect to repeal,
extend, alter or amend any law.
SEC. 15. The Lieutenant-Governor shall
possess the same qualifications as the Governor, and by virtue of his office shall
be President of the Senate. In committee of the whole he may debate all questions;
and when there is an equal division he shall give the casting vote in the
Senate, and also in joint vote of both houses.
SEC. 16.In case of death, conviction or impeachment, failure to qualify,
resignation, absence from the State, or other disability of the Governor, the
powers, duties and emoluments of the office for the residue of the term, or
until the disability shall be removed, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor.
SEC. 17. The Senate shall choose a
President pro tempore to preside in cases of the absence or impeachment
of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he shall hold the office of Governor. If
there be no Lieutenant-Governor, or the Lieutenant-Governor shall, for any of
the causes specified in section sixteen of this article, become incapable of
performing the duties of the office, the President of the Senate shall act as
Governor until the vacancy is filled or the disability removed; and if the
President of the Senate, for any of the above named causes, shall become
incapable of performing the duties of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the same manner and with the same
powers and compensation as are prescribed in the case of the office devolving
upon the Lieutenant-Governor.
SEC. 18. The Lieutenant-Governor or
the President pro tempore of the Senate, while presiding in the Senate,
shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed to the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
SEC. 19. No person shall be eligible
to the office of Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer,
Attorney-General, or Superintendent of Public Schools, unless he be a male
citizen of the United States and at least twenty-five years old, and shall have
resided in this State at least five years next before his election.
SEC. 20. The Secretary of State shall
be the custodian of the seal of the State, and authenticate therewith all
official acts of the Governor, his approval of laws excepted. The said seal
shall be called the " Great Seal of the State of Missouri, " and the
emblems and devices thereof, heretofore prescribed by law, shall not be subject
to change.
SEC. 21. The Secretary of State shall
keep a register of the official acts of the Governor, and when necessary, shall
attest them, and lay copies of the same, together with copies of all papers
relative thereto, before either house of the General Assembly whenever required
to do so.
SEC. 22. An account shall be kept by
the officers of the Executive department of all moneys and choses in action
disbursed or otherwise disposed of by them, severally, from all sources, and
for every
Missouri –18752247
serviceperformed;
and a semi-annual report thereof shall be made to the Governor under oath. The
Governor may at any time require information in writing, under oath, from the
officers of the Executive department, and all officers and managers of State
institutions, upon any subject relating to the condition, management and
expenses of their respective offices and institutions; which information, when
so required, shall be furnished by such officers and managers; and any officer
or manager who at any time shall make a false report shall be guilty of perjury
and punished accordingly.
SEC. 23. The Governor shall commission all officers not
otherwise provided for by law. All commissions shall run in the name and by the
authority of the State of Missouri, be signed by the Governor, sealed with the
Great Seal of the State of Missouri, and attested by the Secretary of State.
SEC. 24. The officers named in this article shall receive
for their services a salary to be established by law, which shall not be
increased or diminished during their official terms; and they shall not, after
the expiration of the terms of those in office at the adoption of this Constitution,
receive to their own use any fees, costs, perquisites of office, or other
compensation. All fees that may hereafter be payable by law for any service
performed by any office provided for in this article shall be paid in advance
into the State treasury.
SEC. 25. Contested elections of Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor shall be decided by a joint vote of both houses of the
General Assembly, in such manner as may be provided by law; and contested
elections of Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Attorney-General
and Superintendent of Public Schools shall be decided before such tribunal and
in such manner as may be provided by law.
ARTICLE VI
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT a
SECTION 1. The judicial power of the State, as to matters of
lawand equity, except as in this Constitution otherwise provided, shallbe vested in a Supreme court, the St. Louis court of appeals, circuit
courts, criminal courts, probate courts, county courts, and municipal
corporation courts.
SEC. 2. The Supreme court, except in cases otherwise
directed by this Constitution, shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which
shallbe co-extensive with the State, under the restrictions and
limitations in this Constitution provided.
SEC. 3. The Supreme court shall have a general
superintending control over all inferior courts. It shall have power to issue
writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, and other
original remedial writs, and to hear and determine the same.
SEC. 4. The judges of the Supreme court shall hold office
for the term of ten years. The judge oldest in commission shall be Chief
Justice of the court; and, if there be more than one commission of the same
date, the court may select the Chief Justice from the judges holding the same.
a
See amendment, 1890.
2248
Missouri-1875
SEC. 5. The Supreme court, shall consist of five judges, any
three of whom shall constitute aquorum; and said judges shall be conservators of the peace, throughout
the State, and shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof.
SEC. 6 The judges of the Supreme court shall be citizens of
the United States, not less than thirty years old, and shall have been citizens
of this State for five years next preceding their election or appointment, and
shall be learned in the law.
SEC. 7. The full terms of the judges of the Supreme court
shall commence on the first day of January next ensuing their election, and
those elected to fill any vacancy shall also enter upon the discharge of their
duties on the first day of January next ensuing such election. Those appointed
shall enter upon the discharge of their duties as soon as qualified.
SEC. 8. The present judges of the
Supreme court shall remain in office until the expiration of their respective
terms of office. To fill their places as their terms expire, one judge shall be
elected at the general election in eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and one
every two years thereafter.
SEC. 9. The Supreme court shall be
held at the seat of government at such times as may be prescribed by law; and
until otherwise directed by law, the terms of said court shall commence on the
third Tuesday in October and April of each year.
SEC. 10.The State shall provide a suitable court-room at the seat of
government, in which the Supreme court shall hold its sessions; also a clerk’s office, furnished offices for the
judges, and the use of the State library.
SEC. 11. If, in any cause pending in
the Supreme court or the St. Louis court of appeals, the judges sitting shall
be equally divided in opinion, no judgment shall be entered therein based on
such division; but the parties to the cause may agree upon some person, learned
in the law, to act as special judge in the cause, who shall therein sit with
the court, and give decision in the same manner and with the same effect as one
of the judges. If the parties cannot agree upon a special judge, the court
shall appoint one.
SEC. 12. There is hereby established
in the city of St. Louis an appellate court, to be known as the "St. Louis
court of appeals," the jurisdiction of which shall be co-extensive with
the city of St. Louis and the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Lincoln and
Warren. Said court shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, quo
warranto, mandamus, certiorari, and other original remedial writs, and to
hear and determine the same, and shall have a superintending control over all
inferior courts of record in said counties. Appeals shall lie, from the decisions
of the St. Louis court of appeals to the Supreme court, and writs of error may
issue from the supreme court to said court in the following cases only: In all
cases where the amount in dispute, exclusive of costs, exceeds the sum of two
thousand five hundred dollars; in cases involving the constitution of the
United States or of this State; in cases where the validity of a treaty or
statute of or authority exercised under the United States is drawn in question;
in cases involving the construction of the revenue laws of this State, or the
title to any office under this State; in cases involving the title to real
estate; in cases where a
Missouri- 18752249
county or other political subdivision
of the State or any State officer is a party, and in all cases of felony.
SEC. 13. The St. Louis court of
appeals shall consist of three judges, to be elected by the qualified voters of
the city of St. Louis, and the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Lincoln and
Warren, who shall hold their offices for the period of twelve years. They shall
be residents of the district composed of said counties, shall possess the same
qualifications as judges ofthe Supreme
court, and each shall receive the same compensation as is now, or may be,
provided by law for the judges of the circuit court of St. Louis county, and be
paid from the same sources: Provided, that each of said counties shall
pay its proportional part of the same, according to its taxable property.
SEC. 14. The judges of said court shall be
conservators of the peace throughout said counties. Any two of said judges
shall constitute a quorum. There shall be two terms of said court to be held
each year, on the first Monday of March and October, and the first term of said
court shall be held on the first Monday in January, 1876.
SEC.15. The
opinions of said court shall be filed in the cases in which they shall be
respective1y made, and become parts of their records, and all laws relating to
the practice in the Supreme court shall apply to this court, so far as the same
may be applicable.
SEC. 16. At the first general election
held in said city and counties after the adoption of this Constitution, three
judges of said court shall be elected, who shall determine by lot the duration
of their several terms of office, which shall be respectively, four, eight and
twelve years, and certify the result to the Secretary of State; and every four
years thereafter one judge of said court shall be elected, to hold office for
the term of twelve years. The term of office of such judges shall begin on the
first Monday in January next ensuing their election. The judge having the
oldest license to practice law in this State shall be the presiding judge of
said court.
SEC. 17. Upon the adoption of this
Constitution the Governor shall appoint three judges for said court, who shall
hold their offices until the first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and
seventy-seven, and until their successors shall be duly qualified.
SEC. 18. The clerk of the Supreme
court at St. Louis shall be the clerk of the St. Louis court of appeals until
the expiration of the term for which he was appointed clerk of the Supreme
court, and until his successor shall be duly qualified.
SEC. 19. All cases which may be pending in the Supreme court
at St. Louis at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, which by its
terms would come within the final appellate jurisdiction of the St. Louis court
of appeals, shall be certified and transferred to the St. Louis court of
appeals, to be heard and determined by said court.
SEC. 20.All cases coming to said court by appeal or
writ of error shall be triable at the expiration of fifteen days from the
filing of the transcript in the office of the clerk of said court.
SEC. 21. Upon
the adoption of this Constitution, and after the close of the next regular
terms of the Supreme court at St. Louis and St. Joseph, as now established by
law, the office of the clerk of the Supreme court at St. Louis and St. Joseph
shall be vacated, and said clerks shall transmit, to the clerk of the Supreme
court at Jefferson
2250 Missouri-1875
City all the books, documents, transcripts and papers
belonging to their respective offices, except those required by section
nineteen of this article to be turned over to the St. Louis court of appeals
and said records, documents, transcripts and papers shall become part of the
records, documents, transcripts and papers of said Supreme court at Jefferson
City, and said court shall bear and determine all the cases thus transferred as
other cases.
SEC. 22. The circuit court shall have
jurisdiction over all criminal cases not otherwise provided for by law,
exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil cases not otherwise provided for,
and such concurrent jurisdiction with and appellate jurisdiction from inferior
tribunals and justices of the peace as is or may be provided by law. It shall
hold its terms at such times and places in each county as may be by law
directed; but at least two terms shall be held every year in each county.
SEC. 23. The circuit court shall
exercise a superintending control over criminal courts, probate courts, county
courts, municipal corporation courts, justices of the peace, and all inferior
tribunals in each county in their respective circuits.
SEC. 24. The State, except as
otherwise provided in this Constitution, shall be divided into convenient
circuits of contiguous counties, in each of which circuits one circuit judge
shall be elected; and such circuits may be changed, enlarged, diminished or
abolished, the office of the judge of such circuit shall cease.
SEC. 25. The judges of the circuit
courts shall be elected by the qualified voters of each circuit; shall hold
their offices for the term of six years, and shall reside in and be
conservators of the peace within their respective circuits.
SEC. 26. No person shall be eligible
to the office of judge of the circuit court who shall not have attained the
age of thirty years, been a citizen of the United States five years, a
qualified voter of this State for three years, and who shall not be a resident
of the circuit in which he may be elected or appointed.
SEC. 27. The circuit court of St.
Louis county shall be composed of five judges, and such additional number as
the General Assembly may, from time to time, provide. Each of said judges shall
sit separately for the trial of causes and the transaction of business in special
term. The judges of said circuit court may sit in general term, for the purpose
of making rules of court, and or the transaction of such other business as may
be provided by law, at such time as they may determine; but shall have no power
to review any order, decision or proceeding of the court in special term. The
St. Louis court of appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all appeals
from and writs of error to the circuit courts of St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren
counties, and the circuit court of St. Louis county, in special term, and all
courts of record having criminal jurisdiction in said counties.
SEC. 28. In any circuit composed of a
single county, the General Assembly may, from time to time, provide for one or
more additional judges, as the business shall require; each of whom shall
separately try cases and perform all other duties imposed upon circuit judges.
SEC. 29. If there be a vacancy in the
office of judge of any circuit or if the judge be sick, absent, or from any
cause unable to hold any term or part of term of court, in any county in his
circuit, such term
Missouri–18752251
or part of
term of court may be held by a judge of any other circuit; and at the request
of the judge of any circuit any term of court or part of term in his circuit
may be held by the judge of any other circuit; and in all such cases, or in
any case where the judge cannot preside, the General Assembly shall make such
additional provision for holding court as may be found necessary.
SEC. 30. The election of judges of all
courts of record shall be held as is or may be provided by law, and in case of
a tie or contested election between the candidates, the same shall be
determined as prescribed by law.
SEC. 31. The General Assembly shall have no power to
establish criminal courts, except in counties having a population exceeding
fifty thousand.
SEC. 32. In case the office of judge of any court of record
become vacant by death, resignation removal failure to qualify, or otherwise,
such vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided by law.
SEC. 33. The judges of the Supreme, appellate and circuit courts,
and of all other courts of record receiving a salary, shall, at stated times,
receive such compensation for their services as is or may be prescribed by law;
but it shall not be increased or diminished during the period for which they
were elected.
SEC 34. The General Assembly shall establish in every county
a probate court, which shall be a court of record, and consist of one judge,
who shall be elected. Said court shall have jurisdiction over all matters
pertaining to probate business, to granting letters testamentary and of
administration, the appointment of guardians and curators of minors and persons
of unsound mind, settling the accounts of executors, administrators, curators
and guardians, and the sale or leasing of lands by administrators, curators and
guardians; and, also, jurisdiction over all matters relating to apprentices: Provided,
that until the General Assembly shall provide by law for a uniform system
of probate courts, the jurisdiction of probate courts heretofore established
shall remain as now provided by law.
SEC.35. Probate courts shall be uniform in their
organization, jurisdiction, duties and practice, except that a separate clerk
may be provided for, or the judge may be required to act, ex officio, as
his own clerk.
SEC. 36. In each county there shall be a county court, which
shall be a court of record, and shall have jurisdiction to transact all county
and such other business as may be prescribed by law.The court shall consist of one or more judges, not exceeding
three, of whom the probate judge may be one, as may be provided by law.
SEC. 37 . In each county there shall be appointed, or
elected, as many justices of the peace as the public good may require, whose
powers, duties and duration in office shall be regulated by law.
SEC. 38. All writs and process shall run and all
prosecutions shall be conducted in the name of the " State of Missouri ;” all writs shall be attested by the
clerk of the court from which they shall be issued ; and all indictments shall
conclude, "against the peace and dignity of the State."
SEC. 39. The St. Louis court of appeals and Supreme court
shall appoint their own clerks. The clerks of all other courts of record shall
be elective, for such terms and in suchmanner as may be directed by law: Provided, that the
term of office of no existing clerk
2252 Missouri-1875
of any court of records, not abolished by this Constitution,
shall be affected by such law.
SEC. 40. In case there be a tie or a
contested election between candidates for clerk of any court of record, the
same shall be determined in such manner as may be directed by law.
SEC. 41. In case of the inability of
any judge of a court of record to discharge the duties of his office with
efficiency, by reason of continued sickness, or physical or mental infirmity,
it shall be in the power of the General Assembly, two-thirds of the members of
each house concurring, with the approval of the Governor, to remove such judge
from office; but each house shall state on its respective journal the cause for
which it shall wish his removal, and give him notice thereof, and he shall have
the right to be heard in his defense, in such manner as the General Assembly
shall by law direct.
SEC. 42. All courts now existing in
this State, not named or provided for in this Constitution, shall continue
until the expiration of the terms of office of the several judges; and as such
terms expire, the business of said courts shall vest in the court having
jurisdiction thereof in the counties where said courts now exist, and all the
records and papers shall be transferred to the proper courts.
SEC. 43. The Supreme court of the
State shall designate what opinions delivered by the court, or the judges
thereof, may be, printed at the expenseof the State; and the General Assembly shall make no provision for
payment by the State for the publication of any case decided by said court, not
so designated.
SEC. 44: All judicial decisions in
this State shall be freefor publication by any person.
ARTICLE VII
IMPEACHMENTS
SECTION 1. The Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer,
Attorney-General, Superintendent of Public Schools and Judges of the Supreme,
circuit and criminal courts, and of the St. Louis court of appeals, shall be
liable to impeachment for high crimes or misdemeanors, and for misconduct,
habits of drunkenness, or oppression in office.
SEC. 2. The House of Representatives shall have the sole
power of impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and when
sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be sworn to do justice, according
to law and evidence. When the Governor of the State is on trial, the Chief
Justice of the Supreme court shall preside. No person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present. But judgment in
such cases shall not extend any further than removal from office, and
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under this State.
The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to
prosecution, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
ARTICLE VIII
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS
SECTION 1. The general election shall
be held biennially on the Tuesday next following the first Monday in November.
The first
Missouri-18752253
general election under this Constitution shall be held on
that day in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six; but the
General Assembly may, by law, fix a different day–two-thirds of all the members of each house consenting
thereto.
SEC. 2. Every male citizen of the United States, and
every male person of foreign birth, who may have declared his intention to become
a citizen of the United States according to law, not less than one year nor
more than five years before he offersto vote, who is over the age of
twenty-one years, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to
vote at all elections by the people:
First–He shall have resided in the State one year immediately preceding
the election at which he offers to vote.
Second–He shallhave resided in the county, city or town
where he shall offer to vote, at least sixty days immediately preceding the
election.
SEC.3. All elections by the people shall be by
ballot; every ballot voted shall be numbered in the order in which it shall be
received and the number recorded by the election officers on the list of
voters, opposite the name of the voter who presents the ballot. The election
officers shall be sworn or affirmed not to disclose how any voter shall have
voted, unless required to do so as witnesses in judicial proceeding: Provided,
thatin all eases of contested elections the ballots cast may be
counted, compared with the list of voters, and examined under such safeguards
and regulations as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 4. Voters shall, in all cases except treason,
felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at elections, and in going to and returning therefrom.
SEC. 5. The General Assembly shall provide, by law,
for the registration of all voters in cities and counties having a population
of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, and may provide for such
registration in cities having a population exceeding twenty-five thousand
inhabitants and not exceeding one hundred thousand, but not otherwise.
SEC. 6. All elections, by persons in a representative
capacity, shall be viva voce.
SEC. 7.For the purpose of voting, no person shall be
deemed to have gained a residence by reason of his presence, or lost it by
reason of his absence, while employed in the service, either civil or military,
of this State or of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of
the waters of the State or of the United States, or of the high seas, nor while
a student of any institution of learning, nor while kept in a poor-house or
other asylum at public expense, norwhile confined in public prison.
SEC. 8. No person, while kept at any poor-house or other
asylum at public expense, nor while confined in any public prison, shall be
entitled to vote at any election under the laws of this State.
SEC. 9. The trial and determination of contested elections
of all public officers, whether State, judicial, municipal or local, except
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, shall be by the courts of law, or by one or
more of the judges thereof. The General Assembly shall, by general law,
designate the court or judge by whom the several classes of election contests
shall be tried, and regulate the manner of trial and all matters incident
thereto; but no such law, assigning jurisdiction or regulating its exercise,
shall apply to any contest arising out of any election held before said law
shall take effect.
2254 Missouri-1875
SEC. 10. The
General Assemblymay enact laws excluding from the right of voting all
persons convicted of felony or other infamous crime, or misdemeanors connected
with the exercise of the right of suffrage.
SEC. 11. No
officer, soldier or marine, in the regular army or navy of the United States,
shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State.
SEC. 12. No person shall be elected or appointed to any
office in this State, civil or military, who is not a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not have resided in this State one year next preceding
his election or appointment.
ARTICLE IX
COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS
SECTION 1. The several counties of
this State, as they now exist, are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of
the State.
SEC. 2. The General Assembly shall
have no power to remove the county seat of any county, but the removal of
county seats shall be provided for by general law; and no county seat shall be
removed unless two-thirds of the qualified voters of the county, voting on the
proposition at a general election, vote therefor; and no such proposition
shall be submitted oftener than once in five years. All additions to a town
which is a county seat shall be included, considered and regarded as part of
the county seat.
SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall
have no power to establish any new county with a territory of less than four
hundred and ten square miles, nor to reduce any county, now established, to a
less area or less population than required for a ratio of representation
existing at the time; but when a new county is formed, having a population less
than a ratio of representation, it shall be attached for representative
purposes to the county from which the greatest amount of territory is taken
until such ratio shall be obtained. No county shall be divided or have any
portion stricken therefrom, without submitting the question to a vote of the people
of the county, nor unless a majority of all the qualified voters of the county
or counties thus affected, voting on the question, shall vote therefor; nor
shall any new county be established, any line of which shall run within ten
miles of the then existing county seat of any county. In all cases of the
establishment of any new county, the new county shall be held for and obliged
to pay its ratable proportion of all the liabilities then existing of the
county or counties from which said new county shall be formed.
SEC. 4. No part of the territory of
any county shall be stricken off and added to an adjoining county, without
submitting the question to the qualified voters of the counties immediately
interested, norunless a majority of
all the qualified voters of thus affected, voting on the question, shall vote
therefor. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to another
county, the part stricken off shall be holden for and obliged to pay its
proportion of all the liabilities then existing of the county from which it is
taken.
SEC. 5. When any new county, formed from contiguous
territory, taken from older counties, or when any county to which territory
Missouri-18752255
shall be added taken from an adjoining county, shall fail to
pay the proportion of indebtedness of such territory to the county or counties
from which it is taken, then it may be lawful for any county from which such
territory has been taken, to levy and collect, by taxation, the due proportion
of indebtedness of such territory, in the same manner as if the territory had
not been stricken off.
SEC. 6. No county, township, city or other municipality
shall here after become a subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or
other corporation or association, or make appropriation or donation or loan its
credit to or in aid of any such corporation or association, or to or in aid of
any college or institution of learning or other institution, whether created for
or to be controlled by the State or others. All authority heretofore conferred
for any of the purposes aforesaid by the General Assembly, or by the charter of
any corporation, is hereby repealed: Provided, however that nothing in
this Constitution contained shall affect the right of any such municipality to
make such subscription, where the same has been authorized under existing laws
by a vote of the people of such municipality prior to its adoption, or to
prevent the issue of renewal bonds or the use of such other means as are or may
be prescribed by law, for the liquidation or payment of such subscription, or
of any existing indebtedness.
SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall provide, by general laws,
for the organization and classification of cities and towns. The number of such
classes shall not exceed four; and the power of each class shall be defined by
general laws, so that all such municipal corporations of the same class shall
possess the same powers and be subject to the same restrictions. The General
Assembly shall also make provisions, by general law, whereby any city, town or
village, existing by virtue of any special or local law, may elect to become
subject to and be governed by the general laws relating to such corporations.
SEC. 8. The General Assembly may provide, by general law,
for township organization, under which any county may organize whenever a
majority of the legal voters of such county, voting at any general election,
shall so determine; and whenever any county shall adopt township organization,
so much of this Constitution as provides for the management of county affairs,
and the assessment and collection of the revenue by county officers, in
conflict with such general law for township organization, may be dispensed
with, and the business of said county, and the local concerns of the several
townships therein, may be transacted in such manner as may be prescribed by
law: Provided, that the justices of the county court in such case shall
not exceed three in number.
SEC. 9. In any county which shall have adopted township
organization, the question of continuing the same may be submitted to a vote
of the electors of such county at a general election, in the manner that shall
be provided by law; and if a majority of all the votes cast upon that question
shall be against township organization, it shall cease in said county, and all
laws in force in relation to counties not having township organization shall
immediately take effectand be in force in such count
SEC. 10. There shall be elected by the qualified voters in
each county, at the time and places of electing representatives, a sheriff and
coroner. They shall serve for two years, and until their successors be
2256 Missouri-1875
duly elected and qualified, unless sooner removed for
malfeasancein office, and shall be eligible only four years in any
period of six. Before entering on the duties of their office, they shall give
security in the amount and in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Whenever
a county shall be hereafter established, the Governor shall appoint a sheriff
and a coroner therein, who shall continue in office until the next succeeding
general election, and until their successors shall be duly elected and
qualified.
SEC. 11. Whenever a vacancy shall happen in the office of
sheriff or coroner, the same shall be filled by the county court. If such
vacancy happen in the office of sheriff more than nine months prior to the time
of holding a general election, such county court shall immediately order a
special election to fill the same, and the person by it appointed shall hold
office until the person chosen at such election shall be duly qualified;
otherwise, the person appointed by such county court shall hold office until
the person chosen at such general election shall be duly qualified. If any
vacancy happen in the office of coroner, the same shall be filled for the
remainder of the term by such county court. No person elected or appointed to
fill a vacancy in either of said offices shall thereby be rendered ineligible
for the next succeeding term.
SEC. 12. The General Assembly shall, by a law uniform in its
operation, provide for and regulate the fees of all county officers, and for
this purpose may classify the counties by population.
SEC. 13. The fees of no executive or ministerial officer of
any county or municipality, exclusive of the salaries actually paid to his
necessary deputies, shall exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars for any one
year. Every such officer shall make return, quarterly, to the county court of
all fees by him received, and of the salaries by him actually paid to his
deputies or assistants, stating the same in detail, and verifying the same by
his affidavit; and for any statement or omission in such return, contrary to truth,
such officer shall be liable to the penalties of willful and corrupt perjury.
SEC. 14. Except as otherwise directed by this Constitution,
the General Assembly shall provide for the election or appointment of such
other county, township and municipal officers as public convenience may
require; and their terms of office and duties shall be prescribed by law; but
no term of office shall exceed four years.
SEC. 15. In all counties having a city therein containing
over one hundred thousand inhabitants, the city and county government thereof
may be consolidated in such manner as may be provided by law.
SEC. 16. Any city having a population of more than one
hundred thousand inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government,
consistent with and subject to the Constitution and laws or this State, by
causing a board of thirteen freeholders, who shall have been for at least five
years qualified voters thereof, to be elected by the qualified voters of such
city at any general or special election; which board shall, within ninety days
after such election, return to the chief magistrate of such city a draft of
such charter, signed by the members of such board, or a majority of them.
Within thirty days thereafter, such proposed charter shall be submitted to the
qualified voters of such city at a general or special election, and if
four-sevenths of such qualified voters voting thereat shall ratify the same, it
shall, at the
Missouri-18752257
end of thirty days thereafter, become the charter of such
city, and supersede any existing charter and amendments thereof. A duplicate
certificate shall be made, setting forth the charter proposed and its
ratification, which shall be signed by the chief magistrate of such city and
authenticated by its corporate seal. One of such certificates shall be
deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, and the other, after being
recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which such
city lies, shall be deposited among the archives of such city, and all courts
shall take judicial notice thereof. Such charter, so adopted, may be amended by
a proposal therefor, made bythe lawmaking authorities of such city,
published for at least thirty days in three newspapers of largest circulation
in such city, one of which shall be a newspaper printed in the German language,
and accepted by three-fifths of the qualified voters of such city, voting at a
general or special election, and not otherwise; but such charter shall always
be in harmony with and subject to the Constitution and laws of the State.
SEC. 17. It shall be a feature of all such charters that
they shall provide, among other things, for a mayor or chief magistrate and two
houses of legislation, one of which at least shall be elected by general
ticket; and in submitting any such charter or amendment, thereto to the
qualified voters of such city, any alternative section or article may be
presented for the choice ofthe voters, and may be voted on separately,
and accepted or rejected separately, without prejudice to other articles or
sections of the charter or any amendment thereto.
SEC. 18. In cities or counties having more than two hundred
thousand inhabitants, no person shall, at the same time, be a State officer
and an officer of any county, city or other municipality; and no person shall,
at the same time, fill two municipal offices, either in the same or different
municipalities; but this section shall not apply to notaries public, justices
of the peace or officers of the militia.
SEC. 19. The corporate authorities of any county, city or
other municipal subdivision of this State having more than two hundred thousand
inhabitants, which has already exceeded the limit of indebtedness prescribed
in section twelve of article X of this Constitution, may, in anticipation of
the customary annual revenue thereof, appropriate during any fiscal year,
toward the general governmental expenses thereof, a sum not exceeding
seven-eighths of the entire revenue applicable to general governmental purposes
(exclusive of the payment of the bonded debt of such county, city or
municipality) that was actually raised by taxation alone during the preceding
fiscal year; but until such excess of indebtedness cease, no further bonded
debt shall be incurred, except for the renewal of other bonds.
ST. LOUIS
SEC. 20. The city of St. Louis may extend its limits so as
to embrace the parks now without its boundaries, and other convenient and
contiguous territory, and frame a charter for the government of thecity
thus enlarged, upon the following conditions, that is to say: The council of
the city and county court of the county of St. Louis, shall, at the request of
the mayor of the city of St. Louis, meet in joint session and order an election
to be held as provided for
7253-VOL 3—07-----28
2258 Missouri–1875
general elections by the qualified voters of the city and
county, of a board of thirteen free-holdersof such city or county,
whose duty shall be to propose a scheme for the enlargement and definition of
the boundaries of the city, the reorganization of the government of the county,
the adjustment of the relations between the city thus enlarged and the residue
of St. Louis county, and the government of the city thus enlarged, by a charter
in harmony with and subject to the Constitution and laws of Missouri, which
shall, among other things, provide for a chief executive and two houses of
legislation, one of which shall be elected by general ticket; which scheme and
charter shall be signed in duplicate by said board, or a majority of them, and
one of them returned the mayor of the city and the other to the presiding
justice of county court within ninety days after the election of such board.
Within thirty days thereafter the city council and county court shall submit such
scheme to the qualified voters of the whole county, and such charter to the
qualified voters of the city so enlarged, at an election to be held not less
than twenty nor more than thirty days after the order therefor; and if a
majority of such qualified voters, voting at such election, shall ratify such
scheme and charter, then such scheme shall become the organic law of the count
and city, and such charter the organic law of the city, and at the end of sixty
days thereafter shall take the place of and supersede the charter of St.
Louis, and all amendments thereof, and all special laws relating to St. Louis
county inconsistent with such scheme.
SEC. 21. A copy of such scheme and charter, with a
certificate thereto appended, signed by the mayor and authenticated by the seal
of the city, setting for the submission of such scheme and charter to the
qualified voters of such county and city, and its ratification by them, shall
be made in duplicate, one of which shall be deposited in the office of the
Secretary of State, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the
recorder of deeds of St. Louis county, shall be deposited among the archives of
the city, and thereafter all courts shall take judicial notice thereof.
SEC. 22. The charter so ratified may be amended, at
intervals of not less than two years, by proposals therefor, submitted b the
lawmaking authorities of the city to the qualified voters thereof at a general
or special election, held at least sixty days after the publication of such
proposals, and accepted by at least three-fifths of the qualified voters voting
thereat.
SEC. 23. Such charter and amendments shall always be in
harmony with and subject to the Constitution and laws of Missouri, except only
that provision may be made for the graduation of the rate of taxation for city
purposes in the portions of the city which are added thereto by the proposed
enlargement of its boundaries. In the adjustment of the relations between city
and county, the city shall take upon itself the entire park tax; and in
consideration of the city becoming the proprietor of all the county buildings
and property within its enlarged limits, it shall assume the whole of the
existing county debt, and thereafter the city and county of St. Louis shall be
independent of each other. The city shall be exempted from all county taxation.
Missouri-18752259
The judges of the county court shall be elected by the
qualified voters outside of the city. The city, as enlarged, shall be entitled
to the same representation in the General Assembly, collect the State revenue
and perform all other functions in relation to the State in the same manner as
if it were a county as in this Constitution defined; and the residue of the
county shall remain a legal county of the State of Missouri, under the name of
the county of St. Louis. Until the next apportionment for Senators and
Representatives in the General Assembly, the city shall have six Senators and
fifteen Representatives, and the county one Senator and two Representatives,
the same being the number of Senators and Representatives to which the county
of St. Louis, as now organized, is entitled under sections eight and eleven of
article IV of this Constitution.
SEC. 24. The county
and city of St. Louis, as now existing, shall continue to constitute the Eighth
judicial circuit, and the jurisdiction of all courts of record, except the
county court, shall continue until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 25. Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, the
General Assembly shall have the same power over the city and county of St.
Louis that it has over other cities and counties of this State.
ARTICLE X
REVENUE AND TAXATION
SECTION 1. The taxing power may be exercised by the General
Assembly for State purposes, and by counties and other municipal corporations,
under authority granted to them by the General Assembly, for county and other
corporate purposes.
SEC. 2. The power to tax corporations and corporate property
shall not be surrendered or suspended by act of the General Assembly.
SEC. 3. Taxes may be levied and collected for public
purposes only. They shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the
territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and all taxes shall be
levied and collected by general laws.
SEC. 4. All property subject to taxation shall be taxed in
proportion to its value.
SEC. 5. All railroad corporations in this State, or doing
business therein, shall be subject to taxation for State, county, school,
municipal and other purposes, on the real and personal property owned or used
by them, and on their gross earnings, their net earnings, their franchises and
their capital stock.
SEC. 6. The property, real and personal, of the State,
counties and other municipal corporations and cemeteries shall be exempt from
taxation. Lots in incorporated cities or towns, or within one mile of the
limits of any such city or town, to the extent of one acre and lots one mile or
more distant from such cities or towns, to the extent of five acres, with the
building thereon, may be exempted from taxation, when the same are used
exclusively for religious worship, for schools, or for purposes purely
charitable; also such property, real or personal, as may be used exclusively
for agricultural or horticultural societies: Provided, that such exemptions
shall be only by general law.
2260 Missouri-1875
SEC. 7. All laws exempting property from taxation, other
than the property above enumerated, shall be void.
SEC. 8. The State tax on property,exclusive of the
tax necessary to pay the bonded debt of the State, shall not exceed twenty
cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and whenever the taxable property of
the State shall amount to nine hundred million dollars, the rate shall not
exceed fifteen cents.
SEC. 9. No county, city, town or other municipal
corporation, nor the inhabitants thereof, nor the property therein, shall be
released or discharged from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be
levied for State purposes, nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized
in any form whatsoever.
SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall not impose taxes upon
counties, cities, towns or other municipal corporations, or upon the
inhabitants or property thereof, for county, city, town or other municipal
purposes; but may, by general laws, vest in the corporate authorities thereof
the power to assess and collect taxes for such purposes.
SEC. 11. Taxes for county, city, town and school purposes
may be levied on all subjects and objects of taxation; but the valuation of
property therefor shall not exceed the valuation of the same property in such
town, city or school district for State and county purposes. For county
purposes the annual rate on property, in counties having six million dollars or
less, shall not, in the aggregate, exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars
valuation; in counties having six million dollars and under ten million
dollars, said rate shall not exceed forty cents on the hundred dollars
valuation; in counties having ten million dollars and under thirty million
dollars, said rate shall not exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars
valuation; and in counties having thirty million dollars or more said rate
shall not exceed thirty-five cents on the hundred dollars valuation. For city
and town purposes, the annual rate on property in cities and towns having
thirty thousand inhabitants or more shall not, in the aggregate exceed one
hundred cents on the hundred dollars valuation; in cities and towns having less
than thirty thousand and over ten thousand inhabitants said rate shall not
exceed sixty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; in cities and towns having
less than ten thousand and more than one thousand inhabitants, said rate shall
not exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and in towns having
one thousand inhabitants or less, said rate shall not exceed twenty-five cents
on the hundred dollars valuation. For school purposes in districts, the annual
rate on property shall not exceed forty cents on the hundred dollars valuation:
Provided, the aforesaid annual rates for school purposes may be
increased, in districts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not to exceed
one dollar on the hundred dollars valuation, and in other districts to an
amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the hundred dollars valuation, on the
condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-payers, voting at an
election held to decide the question, vote for said increase. For the purpose
of erecting public buildings in counties, cities or school districts, the rates
of taxation herein limited may be increased when the rate of such increase and
the purpose for which it is intended shall have been submitted to a vote of the
people, and two-thirds of the, qualified voters of such county, city or school
district, voting at such election, shall
Missouri2261
vote
therefor. The rate herein allowed to each county shall be ascertained by the
amount of taxable property therein, according to the last assessment for the
State and county purposes, and the rate allowed to each city or town by the
number of inhabitants, according to the last census taken under the authority
of the State, or of the United States; said restrictions, as to rates, shall
apply to taxes of every kind and description, whether general or special,
except taxes to pay valid indebtedness now existing or bonds which may be
issued in renewal of such indebtedness.
SEC. 12. No county, city, town, township, school district or
other political corporation or subdivision of the State shall be allowed to
become indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount exceeding in any
year the income and revenue provided for such year, without the assent of
two-thirds of the voters thereof voting at an election to be held for that
purpose; nor in cases requiring such assent shall any indebtedness be allowed to
be incurred to an amount, including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate
exceeding five per centum on the value of the taxable property therein, to be
ascertained by the assessment next before the last assessment for State and
county purposes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness: Provided,
that with such assent any county may be allowed to become indebted to a larger
amount for the erection of a court-house or jail, and provided further, that
any county, city, town, township, school district, or other political
corporation or subdivision of the State, incurring any indebtedness requiring
the assent of the voters as aforesaid, shall, before or at the time of doing
so, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on
such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for
payment of the principal thereof within twenty years from the time of
contracting the same.
SEC. 13.Private
property shall not be taken or sold for the payment of the corporate debt of a
municipal corporation.
SEC. 14.The tax
authorized by the sixth section of the ordinance adopted June sixth, one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, is hereby abolished, and hereafter there
shall be levied and collected an annual tax sufficient to pay the accruing
interest upon the bonded debt of the State, and to reduce the principal thereof
each year by a sum not less than two hundred and fifty-thousand dollars; the
proceeds of which tax shall be paid into the State treasury, and appropriated
and paid out for the purposes expressed in the first and second subdivisions of
section forty-three of article IV of this Constitution.The funds and resources now in the State
Interest and State Sinking funds shall be appropriated to the same purposes;
and whenever said bonded debt is extinguished, or a sum sufficient therefor has
been raised, the tax provided for in this section shall cease to be assessed.
SEC. 15.All moneys now or at any time hereafter in
the State treasury belonging to the State shall, immediately on receipt
thereof, be deposited by the Treasurer to the credit of the State for the
benefit of the funds to which they respectively belong, in such bank or banks
as he may, from time to time, with the approval of the Governor and
Attorney-General, select–the said bank or banks giving security, satisfactory to the
Governor and Attorney-General, for the safe-keeping and payment of such
deposit, when demanded by the State Treas-
2262 Missouri-1875
urer on his check–such bank to pay a bonus for the use of such deposits not
less than the bonus paid by other banks for similar deposits;and the
same, together with such interest and profits as may accrue thereon, shall be
disbursed by said Treasurer for the purposes of the State, according to law,
upon warrants drawn by the State Auditor, and not otherwise.
SEC. 16. The Treasurer shall keep a separate account of the
funds, and the number and amount of warrants received, and from whom; and shall
publish, in such manner as the Governor may designate quarterly statements,
showing the amount of State moneys and where the same are kept or deposited.
SEC. 14. The making of profit out of State, county, city,
town or school district money, or using the same for any purpose not authorized
by law, by any public officer, shall be deemed a felony, and shall be punished
as provided by law.
SEC. 18. There shall be a State Board of Equalization,
consisting of the Governor, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State
and Attorney-General. The duty of said Board shall be to adjust and equalize
the valuation of real and personal property among the several counties in the
State, and it shall perform such other duties as are or may be prescribed by
law.
SEC. 19. No moneys shall ever be paid out of the treasury of
this State, or any of the funds under its management, except in pursuance of an
appropriation by law, nor unless such payment be made, or a warrant shall have
issued therefor, within two years after the passage of such appropriation act;
and every such law, making a new appropriation, or continuing or reviving an
appropriation, shall distinctly specify the sum appropriated, and the object to
which it is to be applied; and it shall not be sufficient to refer to any
other law to fix such sum or object. A regular statement and account of the
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to
time.
SEC. 20. The moneys arising from any loan, debt or liability
contracted by the State, or any county, city, town or other municipal
corporation, shall be applied to the purposes for which they were obtained, or
to the repayment of such debt or liability, and not otherwise.
SEC. 21. No corporation, company or association, other than
those formed for benevolent, religious, scientific or educational purposes,
shall be created or organized under the laws of this State, unless the persons
named as corporators shall, at or before the filing of the articles of
association or incorporation, pay into the State treasury fifty dollars for the
first fifty thousand dollars or less of capital stock, and a further sum of
five dollars for every additional ten thousand dollars of its capital stock.
And no such corporation, company or association shall increase its capital
stock without first paying into the treasury five dollars for every ten
thousand dollars of increase: Provided, that nothing contained in this
section shall be construed to prohibit the General Assembly from levying a
further tax on the franchises of such corporation.
Missouri-18752263
ARTICLE
XI
EDUCATION
SECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence
being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people,
the General Assembly shall establish and maintain free public schools for the
gratuitous instruction of all persons in this State between the ages of six and
twenty years.
SEC. 2. The income of all the funds provided by the State
for the support of free public schools shall be paid annually to the several
county treasurers, to be disbursed according to law; but no school district in
which a free public school has not been maintained at least three months during
the year for which the distribution is made, shall be entitled to receive any
portion of such funds.
SEC. 3. Separate free public schools shall be established
for the education of children of African descent.
SEC. 4. The supervision of instruction in the public schools
shall be vested in a "Board of Education," whose powers and duties
shall be prescribed by law. The Superintendent of Public Schools shall be
president of the board. The Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney-General
shall be ex officio members, and, with the Superintendent, compose said
Board of Education.
SEC. 5. The General Assembly shall, whenever the Public
School fund will permit, and the actual necessity of the same may require, aid
and maintain the State University, now established,with its present departments. The government of the State
University shall be vested in a Board of Curators, to consist of nine members,
to be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate.
SEC. 6. The proceeds of all lands that have been or
hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State, and not otherwise
appropriated by this State or the United States; also, all moneys, stocks,
bonds, lands, and other property now belonging to any State fund for purposes
of education; also, the net proceeds of all sales of lands and other property
and effects that may accrue to the State by escheat, from unclaimed dividends
and distributive shares of the estates of deceased persons; also, any proceeds
of the sales of the public lands which may have been or hereafter may be paid
over to this State (if Congress will consent to such appropriation) ; also, all
other grants, gifts or devises that have been or hereafter may be made to this
State,and not otherwise appropriated by the State or the terms of the
grant,gift or devise, shall be paid into the State treasury, and
securely invested and sacredly reserved as a Public School fund; the annual
income of which fund, together with so much of the ordinary revenue of the
State as may be by law set apart for that purpose, shall be faithfully
appropriated for establishing and maintaining the free public schools and the
State University in this article provided for, and for no other uses or
purposes whatsoever.
SEC. 7. In case the Public School fund now provided and set
apart by law for the support of free public schools shall be insufficient to
sustain a free school at least four months in every year in each school
2264 Missouri-1875
district in this State, the General Assembly may provide for
such deficiency in accordance with section eleven of the article on revenue and
taxation; but in no case shall there be set apart less than twenty five of the
State revenue, exclusive of the Interest and Sinking fund, to be applied
annually to the support of the public schools.
SEC. 8. All moneys, stocks, bonds, lands and other property
belonging to a county school fund; also, the net proceeds from the sale of
estrays; also, the clear proceeds of all penalties and forfeitures, and of all
fines collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal or military
laws of the State, and all moneys which shall be paid by persons as an
equivalent for exemption from military duty, shall belong to and be securely
invested and sacredly preserved in the several counties, as a county public
school fund; the income of which fund shall be faithfully appropriated for
establishment and maintaining free public schools in the several counties of
this state.
SEC. 9. No part of the Public School fund of the State shall
ever be invested in the stock or bonds or other obligations of any other State,
or of an county, city, town or corporation; and the proceeds of the sales of
any lands or other property which now belong, or may hereafter belong to said
school fund, shall be invested in the, bonds of the State of Missouri, or of
the United States.
SEC. 10. All county school funds shall be loaned only upon
unencumbered real estate security, of double the value of the loan, with
personal security in addition thereto.
SEC. 11. Neither the General Assembly, nor any county, city,
town, township, school district or other municipal corporation, shall ever make
an appropriation or pay from any public fund whatever anything in aid of any
religious creed, church or sectarian purpose; or to help to support or sustain
any private or public school, academy, seminar college, university or other
institution of learning, controlled any religious creed, church or sectarian
denomination whatever; nor shall any grant or donation of personal property or
real estate ever be made by the State, or any county, city, town or other
municipal corporation, for any religious creed, church or sectarian purpose
whatever.
ARTICLE XII
CORPORATIONS
SECTION 1. All existing charters, or grants of special or
exclusive privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not
have taken place, and business been commenced in good faith, at the adoption of
this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity.
SEC. 2. No corporation, after the adoption of this
Constitution, shall be created by special laws; nor shall any existing charter
be extended, changed or amended by special laws, except those for charitable,
penal or reformatory purposes, which are under the patronage and control of the
State.
SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture
of the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend such forfeited
charter, or pass any other general or special laws for the benefit of such
corporations.
Missouri-18752265
SEC. 4. The exercise of the power and right of
eminent domainshall never be so construed or abridged as to
prevent the taking, by the General Assembly, of the property and franchises of
incorporated companies already organized, or that may be hereafter organized,
and subjecting them to the public use, the same as that of individuals.The right of trial by jury shall be held
inviolate in all trials of claims for compensation, when in the exercise of
said right of eminent domain, any incorporated company shall be interested
either for or against the exercise of said right.
SEC. 5The exercise of the police power of the State
shall never be abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct
their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals,
or the general well-being of the State.
SEC. 6. In all elections for directors or managers of any
incorporated company, each shareholder shall have the right to cast as many
votes in the aggregate asshall equal the number of shares so held by
him or her in said company, multiplied by the number of directors or managers to
be elected at such election; and each share holder may cast the whole number
of votes, either in person or by proxy, for one candidate, or distribute such
votes among two or more candidates; and such directors or managers shall not be
elected in any other manner.
SEC. 7. No corporation shall engage in business, other than
that expressly authorized in its charter or the law under which it may have
been or hereafter may be organized, nor shall it hold any real estate for any
period longer than six years, except such as may be necessary and proper for
carrying on its legitimate business.
SEC. 8. No corporation shall issue stock or bonds, except
for money paid, labor done or property actually received, and all fictitious increase
of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock and bonded indebtedness of
corporations shall not be increased, except in pursuance of general law, nor
without the consent of the persons holding the larger amount in value of the
stock first obtained at a meeting called for the purpose, first giving sixty
days public notice, as may be provided by law.
SEC. 9. Dues from private corporations shall be secured by
such means as may be prescribed by law, but in no case shall any stockholder be
individually liable in any amount over or above the amount of stock owned by
him or her.
SEC. 10. No corporation shall issue preferred stock
without the consent of all the stockholders.
SEC. 11. The term "corporation," as used in
this article, shall be construed to include all joint stock companies or
associations having any powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or
partnerships.
RAILROADS
SEC. 12. It shall not be lawful in this Stateforany
railway company to charge for freight or passengers a greater amount, for the
transportation of the same, for a less distance than the amount charged for any
greater distance; and suitable laws shall be passed by the General Assembly to
enforce this provision; but excursion and commutation tickets may be issued at
special rates.
2266 Missouri-1875
SEC. 13. Any railroad corporation or
association, organized for the purpose, shall have the right to construct and
operate a railroad between any points within this State, and to connectat
theState line with railroads of other States. Every railroad company
shall have the right, with its road, to intersect, connect with or cross any
other railroad, and shall receive and transport each the other's passengers,
tonnage and cars, loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination.
SEC. 14. Railways heretofore
constructed, or that may hereafter be constructed in this State, are hereby
declared public highways, and railroad companies common carriers. The General
Assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination
and extortion in the rates of freight and passenger tariffs on the different
railroads in this State, and shall, from time to time, pass laws establishing
reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and
freight on said railroads, and enforce all such laws by adequate penalties.
SEC. 15. Every railroad or other
corporation, organized or doing business in this State under the laws or
authority thereof, shall have and maintain a public office or place in this
State for the transaction of its business, where transfers of stock shall be
made, and where shall be kept, for public inspection, books in which shall be
recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed, the names of the owners of the
stock, the amounts owned by them respectively, the amount of stock paid, and by
whom, the transfer of said stock, with the date of transfer, the amount of its
assets and liabilities, and the names and places of residence of its officers.
The directors of every railroad company shall hold one meeting annually in this
State, public notice of which shall be given thirty days previously, and shall
report annually, under oath, to the State Auditor, or some officer designated
by law, all of their acts and doings, which report shall include such matters
relating to railroads as may be prescribed by law. The General Assembly shall
pass laws enforcing, by suitable penalties, the provisions of this section.
SEC. 16. The rolling
stock and all other movable property belonging to any railroad company or
corporation in this State shall be considered personal property, and shall be
liable to execution and sale in the same manner as the personal property of
individuals; and the General Assembly shall pass no law exempting any such
property from execution and sale.
SEC. 17. No railroad or other corporation, or the lessees,
purchasers or managers of any railroad corporation, shall consolidate the
stock, property or franchises of such corporation with, or lease or purchase
the works or franchises of, or in any way control, any railroad corporation
owning or having under its control a parallel or competing line; nor shall any
officer of such railroad corporation act as an officer of any other railroad
corporation owning or having the control of a parallel or competing line. The
question whether railroads are parallel or competing lines shall, when
demanded, be decided by a jury, as in other civil issues.
SEC. 18. If any railroad company organized under the laws of
this State shall consolidate, by sale or otherwise, with any railroad company
organized under the laws of any other State, or of the United States, the same
shall not thereby become a foreign corporation; but
Missouri-18752267
the
courts of this State shall retain jurisdiction in all matters which may arise,
as if said consolidation had not taken place. In no case shall any
consolidation take place, except upon public notice of at least sixty days to
all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided by law.
SEC. 19. The General Assembly shall pass no law for the
benefit of a railroad or other corporations, or any individual or association
of individuals, retrospective in its operation, or which imposes on the people
of any county or municipal subdivision of the State a new liability in respect
to transactions or considerations already past.
SEC. 20. No law shall be passed by the General Assembly
granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any city,
town, village, or on any public highway, without first, acquiring the consent
of the local authorities having control of the street or highway proposed to
be occupied by such street railroad; and the franchises so granted shall not
be transferred without similar assent first obtained.
SEC. 21. No railroad corporation in existence at the time of
the adoption of this Constitution shall have the benefit of any future legislation
, except on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this
Constitution applicable to railroads.
SEC. 22. No president, director, officer, agent, or employe
of any railroad company shall be interested, directly or indirectly in furnishing
material or supplies to such company, or in the business of transportation as a
common carrier of freight or passengers over the works owned, leased,
controlled or worked by such company.
SEC. 23. No discrimination in charges or facilities in
transportation shall be made between transportation companies and individuals,
or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback or otherwise; and no railroad
company, or any lessee, manager or employethereof, shall make any preference in furnishing cars or motive power.
SEC. 24. No railroad or other transportation company shall
grant free passes or tickets, or passes or tickets at a discount, to members of
the General Assembly, or members of the Board of Equalization, or any State or
county or municipal officers; and the acceptance of such pass or ticket, by a
member of the General Assembly, or any such officer, shall be a forfeiture of
his office.
BANKS
SEC. 25. No State bank shall hereafter be created, nor shall
the State own or be liable for any stock in any corporation, or joint stock
company, or association for banking purposes, now created or hereafter to be
created.
SEC. 26. No act of the General Assembly authorizing or
creating corporations or associations with banking powers (except banks of
deposit or discount), nor amendments thereto, shall go into effect, or in any
manner be enforced, unless the same shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified
voters of the State, at the general election next succeeding the passage of the
same, and be approved by a majority of the votes cast at such election.
SEC. 27. It shall be a crime, the nature and punishment of
which shall be prescribed by law, for any president, director, manager,
2268 Missouri-1875
cashier or
other officer of any banking institution, to assent to the reception of
deposits, or the creation of debts by such banking institution, after he shall
have had knowledge of the fact that it is insolvent, or in failing
circumstances; and any such officer, agent or manager shall be individually
responsible or such deposits so received, and all such debts so created with
his assent.
ARTICLE XIII
MILITIA
SECTION 1. All able-bodied male inhabitants of this State
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who are citizens of the
United States, or have declared their intention to become such citizens, shall
be liable to military duty in the militia of this State: Provided, that
no person who is religiously scrupulous of bearing arms can be compelled to do
so, but may be compelled to pay an equivalent for military service, in such
manner as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. The General Assembly, in
providing for the organization, equipment and discipline of the militia, shall
conform, as nearly as practicable, to the regulations for the government of the
armies of the United States.
SEC. 3 Each company and regiment shall
elect its own company and regimental officers; but if any company or regiment
shall neglect to elect such officers within the time prescribed by law, or by
the order of the Governor, they may be appointed by the Governor.
SEC. 4. Volunteer companies of
infantry, cavalry and artillery may be formed in such manner and under such
restrictions as may be provided by law.
SEC. 5. The volunteer and militia
forces shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at musters, parades and
elections, and in going to and returning from the same.
SEC. 6. The Governor shall appoint the
Adjutant-General, Quartermaster-General and his other staff officers. He shall
also, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint all major-generals and
brigadier-generals.
SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall
provide for the safe keeping of the public arms, military records, banners and
relics of the State.
ARTICLE XIV
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. The General Assembly of this State shall never
interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States, nor with
an regulation which Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such
soil to bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the
property of the United States; nor shall lands belonging to persons residing
out of the limits of this State ever be taxed at a higher rate than the lands
belonging to persons residing within the State.
Missouri-18752269
SEC. 2. No person shall be prosecuted in any civil action or
criminal proceeding for or on account of any act by him done, performed or
executed between the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, and the twentieth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six, by virtue of military authority vested in him, or in pursuance of
orders from any person vested with such authority by the government of the
United States, or of this State, or of the late Confederate States, or any of
them, to do such act. And if any action or proceedings shall have been or shall
hereafter be instituted against any person for the doing of any such act, the
defendant may plead this section in bar thereof.
SEC. 3. No person who shall hereafter fight a duel, or
assist in the same as a second, or send, accept or knowingly carry a challenge
therefor, or agree to go out of the State to fight a duel, shall hold any
office in this State.
SEC. 4. No person holding an office of profit under the
United States shall, during his continuance in such office, hold any office of
profit under this State.
SEC. 5. In the absence of any contrary provision, all
officers now or hereafter elected or appointed, subject to the right of
resignation, shall hold office during their official terms, and until their
successors shall be duly elected or appointed and qualified.
SEC. 6. All officers, both civil and military, under the
authority of this State, shall, before entering on the duties of their
respective offices, take and subscribe an oath, or affirmation, to support the
Constitution of the United States and of this State, and to demean themselves
faithfully in office.
SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall, in addition to other
penalties, provide for the removal from office of county, city, town and township
officers, on conviction of willful, corrupt or fraudulent violation or neglect
of official duty.
SEC. 8. The compensation or fees of no state, county or
municipal officer shall be increased during his term of office; nor shall the
term of any office be extended for a longer period than that for which such
officer was elected or appointed.
SEC. 9. The appointment of all officers, not otherwise
directed by this Constitution, shall be made in such manner as may be
prescribed by law.
SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall have power to authorize
lotteries or gift enterprises for any purpose, and shall pass laws to prohibit
the sale of lottery or gift enterprise tickets, or tickets in any scheme in the
nature of a lottery, in this State; and all acts or parts of acts heretofore
passed by the Legislature of this State, authorizing a lottery or lotteries,
and all acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, are hereby avoided.
SEC. 11. It shall be the duty of the
grand jury in each county, at least once a year, to investigate the official
acts of all officers having charge of public funds, and report the result of
their investigations in writing to the court.
SEC. 12. Senators and representatives
shall, in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and for
fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each
session: and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be
questioned in any other place.
2270 Missouri-1875
ARTICLE XV
MODE OF AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION
SECTION 1. This Constitution may be amended and revised only
in pursuance of the provisions of this article.
SEC. 2. The General Assembly may, at any time, propose such
amendments to this Constitution as a majority of the members elected to each
house shall deem expedient; and the vote thereon shall be taken by yeas and
nays and entered in full on the journals. The proposed amendments shall be
published with the laws of that session, and also shall be published weekly in
some newspaper, if such there be, within each county in the State, for four
consecutive weeks next preceding the general election then next ensuing. The
proposed amendments shall be submitted to a vote of the people, each amendment
separately, at the next general election thereafter, in such manner as the
General Assembly may provide. If a majority of the qualified voters of the
State, voting for and against any one of said amendments, shall vote for such
amendment, the same shall be deemed and taken to have been ratified by the
people, and shall be valid and binding, to all intents and purposes, as a part
of this Constitution.
SEC. 3. The General Assembly may at any time authorize, by
law, a vote of the people to be taken upon the question whether a convention
shall be help for the purpose of revising and amending the Constitution of this
State; and if at such election a majority of the votes on the question be in
favor of a convention, the Governor shall issue writs to the sheriffs of the
different counties, ordering the election of delegates to such a convention, on
a day not less than three and within six months after that on which the said question
shall have been voted on. At such election each Senatorial district shall elect
two delegates for each Senator to which it may then be entitled in the General
Assembly, and every such delegate shall have the qualifications of a State
Senator. The election shall be conducted in conformity with the laws
regulating the election of Senators. The delegates so elected shall meet at
such time and place as may be provided by law, and organize themselves into a
convention, and proceed to revise and amend the Constitution; and the
Constitution, when so revised and amended, shall, on a day to be therein fixed,
not less than sixty days nor more than six months after that on which it shall
have been adopted by the convention, be submitted to a vote of the people for
and against it, at an election to be held for that purpose; and if a majority
of all the votes given be in favor of such Constitution, it shall, at the end
of thirty days after such election, become the Constitution of this State. The
result of such election shall be made known by proclamation by the Governor.
The General Assembly shall have no power, otherwise than in this section
specified, to authorize a convention for revising and amending the
Constitution.
SCHEDULE
That no inconvenience may arise from the alterations and
amendments in the Constitution of this State, and to carry the same into
complete effect, it is hereby ordained and declared:
SECTION 1. That all laws in force at the adoption of thisConstitution, not inconsistent therewith, shall remain in full force until
Missouri-18752271
altered or repealed by the General Assembly; and all rights,
actions, prosecutions, claims and contracts of the State, counties, individuals
or bodies corporate, not inconsistent therewith, shall continue to be as valid
as if this Constitution bad not been adopted. The provisions of all laws which
are inconsistent with this Constitution shall cease upon its adoption, except
that all laws which are inconsistent with such provisions of this Constitution
as require legislation to enforce them, shall remain in force until the first
day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, unless sooner
amended or repealed bf the General Assembly.
SEC. 2. That all recognizances, obligations and all other
instruments entered into or executed before the adoption of this Constitution,
to this State or to any subdivision thereof, or any municipality therein, and
all fines, taxes, penalties and forfeitures, due or owing to this State, or any
such subdivision or municipality, and all writs, prosecutions, actions and
causes of action, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue and
remain unaffected by the adoption of this Constitution. All indictments which
shall have been found or may hereafter be found, for any crime or offense
committed before this Constitution takes effect, may be proceeded upon as if no
change bad taken place, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution.
SEC.3. All county and probate courts, as now constituted and organized,
shall continue with their jurisdiction until the General Assembly shall by law
conform them in their organization to the requirements of this Constitution.
SEC. 4. All criminal courts organized and existing under the
laws of this State, and not specially provided for in this Constitution, shall
continue to exist until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 5. All
courts of common pleas existing and organized in cities and towns having a
population exceeding three thousand five hundred inhabitants, and such as by
the law of their creation are presided over by a judge of a circuit court,
shall continue to exist and exercise their present jurisdiction, until
otherwise provided by law. All other courts of common pleas shall cease to
exist at the expiration of the present terms of office of the several judges
thereof.
SEC. 6. All
persons now filling any office or appointment in this State shall continue in
the exercise of the duties thereof, according to their respective commissions
or appointments, unless otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 7. Upon
the adoption of this Constitution, all appeals to and writs of error from the
Supreme Court shall be returnable to the Supreme court at the City of
Jefferson.
SEC. 8. Until
the General Assembly shall make provision for the payment of the State and
railroad indebtedness of this State, in pursuance of section fourteen of
article X of this Constitution, there shall be levied and collected an annual
tax of one-fifth of one per centum on all real estate and other property and
effects subject to taxation, the proceeds of which shall be applied to the
payment of the interest on the bonded debt of this State at it matures, and the
surplus, if any, shall be paid into the Sinking fund, and thereafter applied
to the payment of such indebtedness, and to no other purpose.
SEC. 9. This
Constitution shall be submitted to the people of this State for adoption or
rejection, at an election to be held for that purpose only, on Saturday, the
thirtieth day of October, one thousand
2272
Missouri-1875
eight hundred and seventy-five. Every person entitled to
vote under the Constitution and laws of this State shall be entitled to vote
for the additionor rejection of this Constitution. Said election shall
be held, and said qualified electors shall vote at the usual places of voting
in the several counties of this State, and said election shall be conducted,
and returns thereof made, according to the laws now in force regulating general
elections.
SEC. 10. The
clerks of the several county courts in this State shall, at least five days before
said election, cause to be delivered to the judges of election in each election
district or precinct in their respective counties, suitable blank poll-books,
forms of return and five times the number of properly prepared printed ballots
for said election, that there are voters in said respective districts, the
expense whereof shall be allowed and paid by the several county courts, as
other county expenditures are allowed and paid.
SEC. 11. At
said election the ballots shall be in the following form: New Constitution
ticket (erase the clause you do not favor.) New Constitution,—Yes. New Constitution,—No. Each of said tickets shall be
counted as a vote for or against this Constitution, as the one clause or the
other may be canceled with ink or pencil by the voter, and returns thereof
shall be made accordingly. If both clauses of the ticket be erased, or if
neither be erased, the ticket shall not be counted.
SEC. 12. The
returns of the whole vote cast for the adoption and against the adoption of
this Constitution shall be made by the several clerks, as now provided by law
in case of the election of state officers; to the Secretary of State, within
twenty days after the election; and the returns of said votes shall, within ten
days thereafter, be examined and canvassed by the State Auditor, State
Treasurer and Secretary of State, or any two of them, in the presence of the
Governor, and proclamation shall be made by the Governor forthwith of the
result of the canvass.
SEC. 13. If,
upon such canvass, it shall appear that a majority of the votes polled were in
favor of the new Constitution, then this Constitution shall, on and after the
thirtieth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, be the
supreme law of the State of Missouri, and the present existing Constitution
shall thereupon cease in all its provisions; but if it shall appear that a
majority of the votes polled were against the new Constitution, then this Constitution
shall be null and void, and the existing Constitution shall continue in force.
SEC. 14. The
provisions of this schedule required to be executed prior to the adoption or
rejection of this Constitution shall take effect and be in force immediately.
SEC. 15. The
General Assembly shall pass all such laws as may be necessary to carry this
Constitution into full effect.
SEC. 16. The
present Secretary of State, State Auditor, Attorney-General and Superintendent
of Public Schools shall, during the remainder of their terms of office, unless
otherwise directed by law, receive the same compensation and fees as is now
provided by law; and the present State Treasurer shall, during the remainder of
the term of his office, continue to be governed by existing law, in the
Missouri-18752273
custody and disposition of the State funds, unless otherwise
directed by law.
SEC. 17. Section twelve of the Bill of Rights shall not be
so construed as to prevent arrests and preliminary examination in any criminal
case.
Done in Convention, at the Capitol, in the City of
Jefferson, on the second day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States
the one hundredth.
WALDO P. JOHNSON,
President, St. Clair county.
N. W. WATKINS,
Vice-President, Scott county.
AMENDMENTS
(November,
1890)
SECTION 1. The supreme court shall consist of seven judges,
and, after the first Monday in January, 1891, shall be divided into two
divisions, as follows: One division to consist of four judges of the court and
to be known as division number one, the other to consist of the remaining
judges and to be known as division number two. The divisions shall sit
separately for the hearing and disposition of causes and matters pertaining
thereto, and shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all matters and causes in
the supreme court, except that division number two shall have exclusive
cognizance of all criminal cases pending in said court: Provided, that a cause
therein may be transferred to the court as provided in section four of this
amendment. The division of business of which said divisions have concurrent
jurisdiction shall be made as the supreme court may determine. A majority of
the judges of a division shall constitute a quorum thereof, and all orders,
judgments and decrees of either division, as to causes and matters pending
before it, shall have the force and effect of those of the court.
SEC. 2. Upon the adoption of this amendment, the governor
shall appoint two additional judges of the supreme court, who shall hold their
offices until the first Monday in January, 1893, and at the general election
in the year 1892 their successors shall be elected, who shall hold their
offices for the term of ten years, as other judges of the supreme court. The
two judges appointed by the governor, together with the judge elected at the
general election in the year 1890, shall constitute division number two, and
the remaining judges shall constitute division number one. The court shall elect
its chief justice and each division a presiding judge thereof.
SEC. 3. The supreme court shall assign to each division the
causes and matters to be heard by it, of which assignment due public notice
shall be given, and all laws relating to practice in the supreme court, as well
as the rules of the supreme court, shall apply to each division so far as they
may be applicable thereof. The opinion of each division shall be in writing,
and shall be filed in the causes in which they shall
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3--07-29
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be respectively made during the term at which the cause is
submitted, and such opinions shall be a part of the records of the supreme
court. Each division shall have authority to issue the original writs and
exercise the powers enumerated in section three of article six of the
constitution.
SEC. 4. When the judges of a division
are equally divided in opinion in a cause, or when a judge of a division
dissents from the opinion therein, or when a federal question is involved, the
cause, on the application of the losing party, shall be transferred to the
court for its decision; or when a decision in which a cause is pending shall so
order, the cause shall be transferred to the court for its decision.
SEC. 5. Whenever in the opinion of the
supreme court the state of its docket with reference to the speedy disposition
of the business of the court will justify dispensing with the divisions
hereinbefore provided, the court shall dispense therewith, and the court shall
thereafter hear and determine all causes pending in it: Provided, however,
that the court shall have the power to again divide itself into two divisions,
in like manner and with like power and effect as hereinbefore provided,
whenever in the opinion of six judges thereof, entered of record, the
condition of its docket with reference to the speedy disposition of the
business of the court shall so require; and in such division the four judges
oldest in commission shall constitute division number one, and the remaining
judges division number two.
SEC. 7. All provisions of the
constitution of the state, and all laws thereof not consistent with this
amendment, shall upon its adoption be forever rescinded and of no effect.
(November,
1892)
SECTION 1. That section 47, of article
4 of the constitution, be amended by adding thereto the following words, to
wit: Provided, that this shall not be so construed as to prohibit the
general assembly from providing by law for authorizing the creation,
maintenance and management of a fund for the pensioning of crippled and
disabled firemen, and for the relief of the widows and minor children of
deceased firemen, by such cities, villages or incorporated towns as may have an
organized fire department–said fund to be taken from the municipal revenue of such
cities, villages or incorporated towns.
(November 6, 1900)
REVENUE AND
TAXATION
SECTION 1. In addition to taxes
authorized to be levied for county purposes under and by virtue of section
eleven, article 10 of the constitution of this state not under township
organization, and
the township board of directors in the several counties
under township organization, may in their discretion, levy and collect a
special tax not exceeding fifteen cents on each one hundred dollars valuation,
to be used for road and bridge purposes, but for no other purpose whatever; and
the power hereby given said county courts and township boards is declared to
be a discretionary power. This constitutional amendment shall not apply to the
cities of St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph.
Missouri-18752275
(November
6, 1900)
ART. 2. SEC. 28. The right of trial by jury, as heretofore
enjoyed shall remain inviolate, but a jury for the trial of civil and criminal
cases in courts not of record, may consist of less than twelve men as may be
prescribed by law; and that a two-thirds majority of such number prescribed by
law concurring may render a verdict in all civil cases; and of the members of
the jury concurring in courts of record three-fourths of the members of the
jury concurring may render a verdict. Hereafter a grand jury shall consist of
twelve men, any nine of whom concurring may find an indictment or a true bill.
(November
6, 1900)
ART. 2. SEC. 2. (Struck out and in lieu thereof:)
“SEC. 2. No person shall be prosecuted
criminally for felony or misdemeanor otherwise than by indictment or
information, which shall be concurrent remedies, but this shall not be
construed to apply to cases arising in the land or naval forces or in the militia
when in actual service in time of war or public danger."
(November
6, 1902)
ART. 2. SEC. 28. Trial by jury inviolate–grand jury, twelve men.–The right of trial by jury, as
heretofore enjoyed, shall remain inviolate; but a jury for the trial of criminal
or civil cases, in court[s] not of record, may consist ofless than twelve men, as may be prescribed
by law.Hereafter a grand jury shall
consist of twelve men, any nine of whom concurring may find an indictment or a
true bill: Provided, however, that no grand jury shall be convened except upon
an order of a judge of a court having the power to try and determine felonies;
but when so assembled such grand jury shall have power to investigate and
return indictments for all character and grades of crime.
(Adopted
November 6, 1900; declared unconstitutional by supreme Court and repealed by
constitutional amendment adopted at the November election, 1902.)
SECTION 1. That article ten (10) of the constitution of the
State of Missouri be and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto two (2)
new sections to be known as sections 22 and 23, which are in words and figures
as follows:
" SEC. 22. A mortgage, deed of trust, contract or other
obligation by which a debt is secured, shall, for the purposes of assessment
and taxation, be deemed and treated as an interest in the property affected
thereby, except as to railroad and other quasi public corporations, for which
provision has already been made by law; in cases of debts so secured, the value
of the property affected by such mortgage, deed of trust, contract or
obligation, less the value of such security, shall be assessed and taxed to the
owner of the property, in the manner herein after to be provided by law, and
the value of such security shall be assessed and taxed to the owner thereof, in
the county, city, or other local subdivision in which the property affected
thereby is situate. The taxes so levied shall be a lien upon the
2276 Missouri-1875
property and security, and may be paid by either party to
such security; if paid by the owner of the security, the tax so levied upon the
property affected thereby shall become a part of the debt so secured; if the
owner of the property shall pay the tax so levied on such security, it shall
constitute a payment thereon, and to the extent of such payment a full
discharge thereof; Provided that in all such cases the interest of the owner of
the security, as well as that of the owner of the property affected by such
mortgage, deed of trust, contract or obligation, shall be assessed on terms
equally fair and just. If the note or other obligation secured, is entitled to
a credit by payment made on the principal therof, the assessable value of the
owner of the security, upon the fact being made known to the assessor prior to
the assessment, shall be diminished by the amount of such payment, and the
assessable value of the owner of the land or other property, correspondingly
increased, the intent hereof being to place those interested in any way in such
land or other property, on the plane of absolute equality as to taxation.
"SEC. 23. Every contract hereafter made by which a
debtor is obligated to pay any tax or assessment on money loaned, or on any
mortgage, deed of trust, or lien, shall, as to any interest specified therein
and as to such tax or assessment, be null and void."
(November 6, 1900)
ART. 10. SEC. 12. (Amended by the addition thereto of the
following words:)
“And further provided."
(November
6, 1900)
ART. 10. SEC. 12. (The following added thereto:)
"And provided further, that the corporate authorities
of the city of St. Louis are hereby authorized to issue interest bearing bonds
of said city in the amount of five million dollars, at a rate of interest not
to exceed four per cent. per annum, the principal payable within thirty years
from the date of their issue, and the proceeds thereof shall be paid to the
corporation organized for the celebration of the Louisiana purchase centennial
in said city, to be used by said corporation for said celebration, in holding
a World's Fair or Exposition in said city. And said corporate authorities of
St. Louis shall be repaid as large a proportionate amount of the aid given by
them as shall be repaid to the stockholders of said corporation on the sum
subscribed and paid by them, and any surplus remaining from the assets of said
corporation after said stockholders and said city shall have been paid in full,
shall be divided between said stockholders and said city in proportion to the
aggregate amount of said stock so paid in and the amount so loaned by said
city; and any amount so received by said city from said corporation shall be
paid into the sinking fund of said city for the redemption of its outstanding
bonds: Provided, that if at such election for the adoption of this amendment to
the constitution a majority of the votes cast within the limits of said city of
St. Louis voting for and against this amendment, shall be against its adoption,
then no bonds shall be issued under this amend-
Missouri-18752277
ment; and provided further, that no such indebtedness so
created shall be in any part thereof paid by the state or from any state revenue,
tax or fund, but the same shall be paid by the city of St. Louis alone."
(November
6, 1900)
ART. 4. SEC. 45. (The following added thereto:)
" Provided, that the general assembly shall have the
power to appropriate from funds in the state sinking fund, being the proceeds
of the tax authorized under section 14 of article X of the constitution, to an
amount not exceeding one million dollars for the exhibition of the resources,
products and industries of the state in the centennial celebration of the
Louisiana purchase in the city of St. Louis."
(November
4, 1902)
SECTION 1. That article ten (10) of the constitution of the
state of Missouri be and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto one new
section to be known as Section 24, which is in words and figures as follows:
SEC. 24. Sections twenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) of
article ten (10) of the constitution of the State of Missouri concerning taxation,
and the same are hereby repealed.
(November
4, 1902)
ART. 10. SEC. 26. All certificates of indebtedness of the
state to the “public school fund " and to the "seminary
fund" are hereby confirmed as sacred obligations of the state to said
funds and they shall be renewed as they mature for such period of time and at
such rate of interest as may be provided for by law. The general assembly shall
have the power to provide by law for the issuing certificates to the public
school fund and seminary fund as the money belonging to said funds accumulates
in the state treasury: Provided that after the outstanding bonded indebtedness
has been extinguished, all money accumulating in the state treasury for the
above named purposes, shall be invested in registered county, municipal, or
school district bonds of this state of not less than par value. Whenever the
state bonded debt is extinguished, or a sum sufficient therefor has been
received, there shall be levied and collected in lieu of the ten cents on the
one hundred dollars valuation now provided for by the statutes, an annual tax
not to exceed three cents on the one hundred dollars valuation to pay the
accruing interest on all the certificates of indebtedness, the proceeds of which
tax shall be paid into the state treasury and appropriated and paid out for the
specific purpose herein mentioned.
(November
4, 1902)
ART. 10. SEC. 11. (Add thereto after the word "
indebtedness " in the last line of said section, the following:)
" Provided that the city of St. Louis may levy for
municipal purposes, in addition to the municipal rate of taxation above
provided, a rate not exceeding the rate which would be allowed for county
purposes if the said city were a part of a county."
2278
Missouri-1875
(November
4, 1902)
ART. IX. SEC. 22. (Repealed, and the following enacted in
lieu thereof :)
"SEC. 22. The charter so ratified may be amended by
proposals therefor submitted by the lawmaking authorities of the city to the
qualified voters thereof, at a general or special election held at least sixty
days after the publication of such proposals and accepted by three-fifths of
the qualified voters voting for or against each of said amendments so
submitted; and the lawmaking authorities of such city may order an election by
the qualified voters of the city of a board of thirteen freeholders of such city
to prepare a new charter for such city, which said charter shall be in harmony
with and subject to the constitution and laws of the State, and shall provide,
among other things, for a chief executive, and at least one house of
legislation to be elected by general ticket. Said revised charter shall be
submitted to the qualified voters of such city at an election to be held not
less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the order therefor, and if a
majority of such qualified voters voting at such election ratify such charter,
then said charter shall become the organic law of such city, and sixty days
thereafter shall take effect and supersede the charter of such city and all
special laws inconsistent therewith."
(November
4, 1902)
ART. X. SEC. 12. (Add after the word " same," in
the last line of said section, the following:)
" Provided, that in the city of St. Louis the amount of
bonds now aggregating $6,111,000, that being the amount assumed by said city in
the scheme of separation from the county of St. Louis, and the sum of
$5,808,000 heretofore prior to January 1, 1901, expended in the construction of
waterworks for the city of St. Louis, and any bonds which may be hereafter
issued by said city in the construction and improvement of waterworks, the
payment of the interest whereon and the principal whereof shall be provided
from the revenues of paid waterworks; that is to say, the amount of said bonds
which shall be outstanding at any time shall not be included in the computation
of the existing bonded indebtedness in determining the amount of bonds
authorized to be issued by said city with the assent of two-thirds of the
voters under the provisions of this article, but said city shall be authorized
at any time to issue bonds with the assent aforesaid to an
amount including outstanding indebtedness other than that
above named, to the amount of five per cent. of the value of the taxable
property in said city, to be ascertained as above provided, and said city shall
have power, with such assent of the voters, to issue bonds for the construction
and improvement of waterworks, the interest whereon and the principal whereof
shall be provided for from the income of said waterworks. Said city shall
establish a sinking fund for the payment of the bonds so authorized according
to the times fixed from the maturity of the same: Provided, further, that in
the city of Kansas City, the amount of bonds issued by said city, bearing date
July 1, 1895, for acquiring waterworks and all bonds here after issued in renewal
of said bonds or any portion thereof shall not be included in the computation
of the existing bonded indebtedness of said city in determining the amount of
bonds authorizedto be
Missouri-18752279
issued by said city, with the assent of two-thirds of the
voters under the provisions of this article, but said city shall be authorized
at any time to issue bonds with the assent aforesaid to an amount including
outstanding indebtedness, other than that above named, to the amount of five
per centum of the value of the taxable property in said city to be ascertained
as above specified."
(November
4, 1902)
ART. X. SEC. 11. Amended by striking out the following
sentence contained in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth lines of said section:
" For school purposes in districts, the annual rate on property shall not
exceed forty cents on the hundred dollars valuation," and inserting in
lieu thereof the following sentence:)
" For school purposes in
districts composed of cities, which have one hundred thousand inhabitants or
more the annual rate on property shall not exceed sixty cents on the hundred
dollars valuation; and in other districts, forty cents on the hundred dollars
valuation."
(November
4, 1902)
ART. IX. SEC. 8. (Amended so as to read:)
" SEC. 8. Township organization–county justices.–The general assembly may provide, by
general law, for township organization, under which any county may organize
whenever a majority of the legal voters of such county, voting upon that
proposition, at any general election, shall so determine, and whenever any
county shall adopt township organization so much of this constitution as
provides for the management of county affairs, and the assessment and collection
of revenue by county officers in conflict with such general law for township
organization may be dispensed with, and the business of said county and the
local concerns of the several townships therein, may be transacted in such
manner as may be prescribed by law: Provided, that the justices of the county
court in such cases shall not exceed three in number."
(November
4, 1902)
ART. X. SEC. 12a. Any city in the state containing not more
than thirty thousand (30,000) nor less than two thousand (2,000) inhabitants,
may, with the assent of two-thirds of the voters thereof voting at an election
to be held for that purpose be allowed to become indebted in a larger amount
than specified in Section 12, of Article ten (X) of the constitution of the
state, not exceeding an additional five (5) per centum on the value of the
taxable property therein, for the purpose of purchasing or constructing
waterworks, electric or other light plants, to be owned exclusively by the city
so purchasing or constructing the same: Provided, that any such city incurring
any such indebtedness requiring the assent of the voters as aforesaid, shall
have the power to provide for, and, before or at the time of incurring such
indebtedness, shall provide for the collection of an annual tax in addition to
the other taxes provided for by this constitution, sufficient to pay the
interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking
fund for the payment of the principal thereof, within twenty years from the
time of contracting the same, any provision in this constitution to the
contrary, notwithstanding.”
