The Second Constitution of the State of Ohio.

SEC. 15. The General Assembly may increase, or diminish, the number of the judges of the supreme court, the number of the districts. of the court of common pleas, the number of judges in any district, change the districts, or the subdivisions thereof, or establish other courts, whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each house shall concur therein; but no such change, addition, or diminution, shall vacate the office of any judge.

SEC. 16. There shall be elected in each county, by the electors thereof, one clerk of the court of common pleas, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. He shall, by virtue of his office, be clerk of all other courts of record held therein; but, the General Assembly may provide, by law, for the election of a clerk, with a like term of office, for each or any other of the courts of record, and may authorize the judge of the probate court to perform the duties of clerk for his court, under such regulations as may be directed by law. Clerks of courts shall be removable for such cause and in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 17. Judges may be removed from office, by concurrent resolution of both houses of the General Assembly, if two-thirds of the members, elected to each house, concur therein; but no such removal shall be made, except upon complaint, the substance of which shall be entered on the journal, nor, until the party charged shall have had notice thereof, and an opportunity to be heard.

SEC. 18. The several judges of the supreme court, of the common pleas, and of such other courts as may be created, shall, respectively, have and exercise such power and jurisdiction, at chambers, or otherwise, as may be directed by law.

SEC. 19. The General Assembly may establish courts of conciliation, and prescribe their powers and duties; but such courts shall not render final judgment in any case, except upon submission, by the parties, of the matter in dispute, and their agreement to abide such judg

ment.

SEC. 20. The style of all process shall be, "The State of Ohio;" all prosecutions shall be carried on, in the name, and by the authority, of the State of Ohio; and all indictments shall conclude, "against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio."

SEC. 22. (21) A commission, which shall consist of five members, shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the members of which shall hold office for the term of three years from and after the first day of February, 1876, to dispose of such part of the business then on the dockets of the supreme court, as shall, by arrangement between said commission and said court, be trans

The Second Constitution of the State of Ohio.

ferred to such commission; and said commission shall have like jurisdiction and power in respect to such business as are or may be vested in said court; and the members of said commission shall receive a like compensation for the time being with the judges of said court. A majority of the members of said commission shall be necessary to form a quorum or pronounce a decision, and its decision shall be certified, entered, and enforced as the judgments of the supreme court, and at the expiration of the term of said commission, all business undisposed of, shall by it be certified to the supreme court and disposed of as if said. commission had never existed. The clerk and reporter of said court shall be the clerk and reporter of said commission, and the commission shall have such other attendants not exceeding in number those provided by law for said court, which attendants said commission may appoint and remove at its pleasure. Any vacancy occurring in said commission, shall be filled by appointment of the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, if the senate be in session, and if the senate be not in session, by the governor, but in such last case, such appointment shall expire at the end of the next session of the General Assembly. The General Assembly may, on application of the supreme court duly entered on the journal of the court and certified, provide by law, whenever two-thirds of such [each] house shall concur therein, from time to time, for the appointment, in like manner, of a like commission with like powers, jurisdiction and duties; provided, that the term of any such commission shall not exceed two years, nor shall it be created oftener than once in ten years. [As adopted October 12, 1875; 72 v. 269.]

ARTICLE V.

ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.

SEC. I Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the state one year next preceding the election, and of the county, township, or ward, in which he resides, such time as may be provided by law, shall have the qualifications of an elector, and be entitled to vote at all elections.

SEC. 2. All elections shall be by ballot.

SEC. 3. Electors, during their attendance at elections, and in going to, and returning therefrom, shall be privileged from arrest, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace.

SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall have power to exclude from the privilege of voting, or of being eligible to office, any person convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime.

SEC. 5. No person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States, shall, by being stationed in any garrison, or military, or naval station, within the state, be considered a resident of this state.

The Second Constitution of the State of Ohio.

SEC. 6. No idiot, or insane person, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.

ARTICLE VI.

EDUCATION.

SEC. 1. The principal of all funds, arising from the sale, or other disposition of lands, or other property, granted or entrusted to this state for educational or religious purposes, shall forever be preserved inviolate, and undiminished; and, the income arising therefrom, shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original grants, or appropriations.

SEC. 2. The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.

SEC. I.

ARTICLE VII.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

Institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind, and deaf and dumb, shall always be fostered and supported by the state; and be subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the General Assembly.

SEC. 2. The directors of the penitentiary shall be appointed or elected in such manner as the General Assembly may direct; and the trustees of the benevolent, and other state institutions, now elected by the General Assembly, and of such other state institutions, as may be hereafter created, shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate; and upon all nominations made by the governor, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals of the senate.

SEC. 3. The governor shall have power to fill all vacancies that may occur in the offices aforesaid, until the next session of the General Assembly, and, until a successor to his appointee shall be confirmed and qualified.

ARTICLE VIII.

PUBLIC DEBT AND PUBLIC WORKS.

SEC. I. The state may contract debts to supply casual deficits or failures in revenues, or to meet expenses not otherwise provided for; but the aggregate amount of such debts, direct or contingent, whether con

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The Second Constitution of the State of Ohio.

tracted by virtue of one or more acts of the General Assembly, or at different periods of time, shall never exceed seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and the money, arising from the creation of such debts, shall be applied to the purpose for which it was obtained, or to repay the debts so contracted, and to no other purpose whatever.

SEC. 2. In addition to the above limited power, the state may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, defend the state in war, or to redeem the present outstanding indebtedness of the state; but the money, arising from the contracting of such debts, shall be applied to the purpose for which it was raised, or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose whatever; and all debts, incurred to redeem the present outstanding indebtedness of the state, shall be so contracted as to be payable by the sinking fund, hereinafter provided for, as the same shall accumulate.

SEC. 3. Except the debts above specified in sections one and two of this article, no debt whatever shall hereafter be created by or on behalf of the state.

SEC. 4. The credit of the state shall not, in any manner be given or loaned to, or in aid of, any individual association or corporation whatever; nor shall the state ever hereafter become a joint owner, or stockholder, in any company or association in this state, or elsewhere, formed for any purpose whatever.

SEC. 5. The state shall never assume the debts of any county, city, town, or township, or of any corporation whatever, unless such debt shall have been created to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state in war.

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall never authorize any county, city, town, or township, by vote of its citizens, or otherwise, to become a stockholder in any joint stock company, corporation, or association whatever; or to raise money for, or loan its credit to, or in aid of, any such company, corporation, or association.

SEC. 7. The faith of the state being pledged for the payment of its public debt, in order to provide therefor, there shall be created a sinking fund, which shall be sufficient to pay the accruing interest on such debt, and, annually, to reduce the principal thereof, by a sum not less than one hundred thousand dollars, increased yearly, and each and every year, by compounding, at the rate of six percent per annum. The said sinking fund shall consist, of the net annual income of the public works and stocks owned by the state, of any other funds or resources that are, or may be, provided by law, and of such further sum, to be raised by taxation, as may be required for the purposes aforesaid.

SEC. 8. The auditor of state, secretary of state, and attorney-general, are hereby created a board of commissioners, to be styled, "The

The Second Constitution of the State of Ohio.

SEC. 9. The commissioners of the sinking fund shall, immediately preceding each regular session of the General Assembly, make an estimate of the probable amount of the fund, provided for in the seventh section of this article, from all sources except from taxation, and report the same, together with all their proceedings relative to said fund and the public debt, to the governor, who shall transmit the same with his regular message, to the General Assembly; and the General Assembly shall make all necessary provision for raising and disbursing said sinking fund, in pursuance of the provisions of this article.

SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of the said commissioners faithfully to apply said fund, together with all moneys that may be, by the General Assembly, appropriated to that object, to the payment of the interest, as it becomes due, and the redemption of the principal of the public debt of the state, excepting only, the school and trust funds held by the state.

SEC. II. The said commissioners shall, semi-annually, make a full and detailed report of their proceedings to the governor, who shall immediately, cause the same to be published, and shall also communicate the same to the General Assembly, forthyith, if it be in session, and if not, then at its first session after such report shall be made.

SEC. 12. So long as this state shall have public works which require superintendence, there shall be a board of public works, to consist of three members, who shall be elected by the people, at the first general election after the adoption of this constitution, one for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years; and one member of said board shall be elected annually thereafter, who shall hold his office for three years.

SEC. 13. The powers and duties of said board of public works, and its several members, and their compensation, shall be such as are now, or may be, prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IX.

MILITIA.

SEC. I. All white male citizens, residents of this state, being eighteen years of age, and under the age of forty-five years, shall be enrolled in the militia, and perform military duty, in such manner, not incompatible with the constitution and laws of the United States, as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. Majors general, brigadiers general, colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, captains, and subalterns, shall be elected by the persons subject to military duty, in their respective districts.

SEC. 3. The governor shall appoint the adjutant-general, quartermaster-general, and such other staff officers, as may be provided for by