SEC. 7. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

SEC. 8. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish members for disorderly conduct, and, with the consent of two-thirds, expel a member; but not a second time for the same cause; and shall have all other powers necessary for a branch of the legislature of a free and independent State.

SEC. 9. Each house, during the session, may punish by imprisonment, any person not a member, for disrespectful or disorderly behavior in its presence, or obstructing any of its proceedings: Provided, That such imprisonment shall not, at any time, exceed forty-eight hours.

SEC. 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and cause the same to be published immediately after its adjournment, excepting such parts as in its judgment may require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-tenth of the members present, be entered on the journals. Any member of either house shall have liberty to dissent from, or protest against, any act or resolution, which he may think injurious to the public or an individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journals. SEC. 11. Members of the general assembly shall, in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest; and they shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the general assembly, nor for fifteen 'days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

SEC. 12. When vacancies occur in either house, the governor, or the person exercising the powers of the governor, shall issue writs of elections to fill such vacancies. SEC. 13. The doors of each house shall be open, except on such occasions as in the opinion of the house may require secrecy.

SEC. 14. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.

SEC. 15. Bills may originate in either house, and be amended, altered or rejected by the other; but no bill shall have the force of law, until on three several days it be read in each house, and free discussion be allowed thereon; unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the house in which the bill shall be pending, may deem it expedient to dispense with this rule. And every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speaker and president of their respective houses: Provided, That all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives, but the senate may amend or reject them as other bills.

SEC. 16. Every bill or resolution having the force of law, to which the concurrence of both houses of the general assembly may be necessary, except on a question of adjournment, which shall have passed both houses, shall be presented to the governor, and if he approve, he shall sign it; if not, he shall return it with his objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on the journals, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, a majority of the whole number of members of that house shall agree to pass it, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall be reconsidered, and if approved by a majority of the whole number of members of that house, it shall have the same effect as if it had been signed by the governor; but in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the names of persons voting for and against the bill or resolution, shall be entered on the journals of both houses respectively. If the bill or resolution shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall have the same force and effect as if he had signed it, unless the general assembly by its adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

SEC. 17. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, (except on questions of adjournment, and for bringing on elections by the two houses,) shall be presented to the governor, and before it shall take effect be approved by him, or, being disapproved, shall be repassed by both houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of bills.

SEC. 18. Each member of the general assembly shall receive from the public treasury such compensation for his services as may be prescribed by law; but no increase of compensation shall take effect during the session at which such increase shall have been made.

SEC. 19. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during such term, except such office as may be filled by election by the people.

SEC. 20. No person who holds any lucrative office under the United States, or under this State, or any other State or government (except postmasters, officers in the militia to whose office no annual salary is attached, justices of the peace, members of the court of county commissioners, notaries public, and commissioners of deeds;) no person who has been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election to any office; no person who has been convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury, or other high crime, or misdemeanor, which may be by law declared to disqualify him; and no person who has been a collector, or holder of any public moneys, and has failed to account for and pay over to the treasury all sums for which he may be by law accountable, shall be eligible to the general assembly.

SEC. 21. The general assembly shall meet annually, on such day as may be by law prescribed, and shall not remain in session longer than thirty days, except by a vote of two-thirds of each house.

SEC. 22. In all elections by the general assembly, the members shall vote viva voce, and the votes shall be entered on the journals.

SEC. 23. All State officers may be impeached for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold office, under the authority of this State. The party impeached, whether convicted or not, shall be liable to indictment, trial and judgment, according to law.

SEC. 24. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of preferring impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; the senators, when sitting for that purpose, shall be on oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted under an impeachment without the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators present. SEC. 25. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass such laws as may be necessary and proper to decide differences by arbitrators, to be appointed by the parties who may choose that mode of adjustment.

SEC. 26. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to frame and adopt a penal code founded on principles of reformation.

SEC. 27. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, within five years after the adoption of this constitution, and within every subsequent period of ten years, to make provision by law for the revision, digesting and promulgation of all the public statutes of this State, both civil and criminal.

SEC. 28. The general assembly shall have power to pass such penal laws as they may deem expedient, to suppress the evil practice of duelling.

SEC. 29. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to regulate by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from the salaries of public officers for neglect of duty in their official capacities, and the amount of such deductions.

SEC. 30. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be granted but in cases by law provided for, and by suit in chancery; but decisions in chancery for divorce shall be final, unless appealed from in the manner prescribed by law, within three months from the date of the enrolment thereof.

SEC. 31. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in pursuance of an appropriation made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be published annually, in such manner as may be by law directed.

SEC. 32. The general assembly shall not borrow or raise money on the credit of this State, except for purposes of military defence against actual or threatened invasion, rebellion or insurrection, without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house; nor shall the debts or liabilities of any corporation, person or persons, or other

States be guaranteed, nor any money, credit or other thing be loaned or given away, except by a like concurrence of each house; and the votes shall, in each case, be taken by the yeas and nays, and be entered on the journals.

SEC. 33. The State shall not engage in works of internal improvement; but its credit in aid of such may be pledged by the general assembly on undoubted security, by a vote of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly.

SEC. 34. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to make adequate provisions in each county for the maintenance of the poor of this State.

SEC. 35. Any citizen of this State who shall, after the adoption of this constitution, either in or out of this State, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send, or accept a challenge so to do, or act as a second, or knowingly aid or assist in any manner those thus offending, shall be incapable of holding any office under this State.

SEC. 36. The general assembly shall not have power to authorize any municipal corporation to pass any laws contrary to the general laws of the State, nor to levy a tax on real and personal property to a greater extent than two per centum of the assessed value of such property.

SEC. 37. In the event of annexation of any foreign territory to this State, the general assembly shall enact laws extending to the inhabitants of the acquired territory all the rights and privileges which may be required by the terms of the acquisition, anything in this constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

SECTION 1. The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney-general, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State, at the time and places at which they shall vote for representatives.

SEC. 2. The governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney-general shall hold their offices for the term of two years, and the auditor for the term of four years.

SEC. 3. The returns of every election for the officers named in the preceding section, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, by the returning officers, directed to the presiding officer of the senate, who, during the first week of the session, shall open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of the members of the general assembly; the person having the highest number of votes shall be declared duly elected, but if two or more shall be highest and equal in votes for the same office, one of them shall be chosen by the joint vote of both houses. Contested elections for executive officers shall be determined by both houses of the general assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 4. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in the governor. SEC. 5. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

SEC. 6. He may require information in writing, from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

SEC. 7. He shall communicate at every session, by message to the general assembly, the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. SEC. 8. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general assembly by proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled, the purposes for which they have been convened.

SEC. 9. In case of disagreement between the two houses, in respect to the time of adjournment, he shall have power to adjourn the general assembly to such time as he may think proper, but not beyond the regular meetings thereof.

SEC. 10. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.

SEC. 11. He shall have power, after conviction, to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons for all offences, (except treason and cases of impeachment,) upon such conditions as he may think proper, subject, however, to such regulations as to the

manner of applying for pardons as may be prescribed by law; but such pardons shall not relieve from civil or political disability. Upon conviction of treason, he may suspend the execution of the sentence, and report the same to the general assembly at the next meeting, when the general assembly shall either pardon, commute the sentence, direct its execution, or grant further reprieve. He shall communicate to the general assembly, at every regular session, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, stating the name and crime of the convict, the sentence, its date, and the date of the commutation, pardon or reprieve, with his reasons therefor.

SEC. 12. There shall be a great seal of the State, which shall be kept and used by the governor officially; and the seal heretofore in use, shall continue to be the great seal of the State until another shall have been adopted by the general assembly.

SEC. 13. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of Alabama, sealed with the great seal, signed by the governor, and countersigned by the secretary of state.

SEC. 14. No member of Congress, or other person, holding office under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall execute the office of governor, except as herein provided.

SEC. 15. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or other disability of the governor, the powers and duties of the office, for the residue of the term, or until he shall be acquitted, or the disability removed, shall devolve upon the lieutenantgovernor.

SEC. 16. The lieutenant-governor shall be president of the senate, but shall vote only when the senate is equally divided; and in case of his absence or impeachment, or when he shall exercise the office of governor, the senate shall choose a president pro tempore.

SEC. 17. If the lieutenant-governor, while executing the office of governor, shall be impeached, displaced, resign or die, or otherwise 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 causes shall be rendered incapable of performing the duties pertaining to the office of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of representatives.

SEC. 18. Should the office of secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, or attorney-general become vacant from any of the causes specified in the fifteenth section of this article, the governor shall fill the vacancy until the disability is removed, or a successor elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after it shall have occurred, and the person chosen shall hold the office for the full term fixed in the second section of this article. SEC. 19. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation to be established by law, which shall neither be increased or diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected.

SEC. 20. The officers of the executive department, and of the public institutions of the State, shall, at least five days preceding each regular session of the general assembly, severally report to the governor, who shall transmit such reports with his message to the general assembly.

SEC. 21. A sheriff shall be elected in each county by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, unless sooner removed, and shall not be eligible to serve either as principal or deputy for any two successive terms. Vacancies in the office of sheriff shall be filled by the governor as in other cases; and the person appointed shall continue in office until the next general election in the county for sheriff, as by law provided.

ARTICLE VI.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

SECTION 1. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in the senate sitting as a court of impeachment, a supreme court, circuit courts, chancery courts, courts of probate, such inferior courts of law and equity, to consist of not more than five

members, as the general assembly may from time to time establish, and such persons as may be by law invested with powers of a judicial nature.

SEC. 2. Except in cases otherwise directed in the constitution, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which shall be coextensive with the State, under such restrictions and regulations not repugnant to this constitution, as may from time to time be prescribed by law: Provided, That said court shall have power to issue writs of injunction, mandamus, habeas corpus, quo warranto, and such other remedial and original writs as may be necessary to give it a general superintendence and control of inferior jurisdiction.

SEC. 3. The supreme court shall be held at the seat of government, but if that shall have become dangerous from an enemy, or from disease, it may adjourn to a different place.

SEC. 4. The State shall be divided by the general assembly into convenient circuits, each of which shall contain not less than three nor more than eight counties; and for each circuit there shall be chosen a judge, who shall, after his election or appointment, reside in the circuit for which he shall have been chosen.

SEC. 5. The circuit court shall have original jurisdiction in all matters, civil and criminal, within the State, not otherwise excepted in the constitution, but in civil cases only when the matter or sum in controversy exceeds fifty dollars: Provided, however, That the circuit court shall have equity jurisdiction concurrent with the courts of chancery in all cases for divorce, and cases in which the value of the matter in controversy does not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars.

SEC. 6. A circuit court shall be held in each county in the State at least twice in every year, and the judges of the several circuits may hold courts for each other when they deem it expedient, and shall do so when directed by law: Provided, That the judges of the several circuit courts shall have power to issue writs of injunction returnable into courts of chancery.

SEC. 7. The general assembly shall have power to establish a court or courts of chancery with original and appellate jurisdiction. The State shall be divided by the general assembly into convenient chancery divisions, and the divisions into districts; and for each division there shall be a chancellor, who shall, after his election or appointment, reside in the division for which he shall have been elected or appointed. SEC. 8. A chancery court shall be held in each county at a place therein to be fixed by law, and the chancellors may hold courts for each other, when they deem it expedient. SEC. 9. The general assembly shall have power to establish in each county within the State a court of probate, with general jurisdiction for the granting of letters testamentary and of administration, and for orphans' business; and the general assembly may confer on the said courts, jurisdiction of contracts for labor, and order frequent sessions for that purpose.

SEC. 10. The judges of the supreme court, circuit courts, and courts of chancery, shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office; but they shall receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any office (except judicial offices) of profit or trust under this State, or the United States, during the term for which they have been elected, nor under any other power during their continuance in office.

SEC. 11. Judges of the supreme court, and chancellors, and judges of the circuit and probate courts, and of such other inferior courts as may be by law established, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the respective counties, cities, towns or districts, for which said courts may be established, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each year, or such other day as may be by law prescribed. Vacancies in the office of the circuit judge, judge of probate, or judge of any other inferior court established by law, shall be filled by the governor; and the person appointed by him shall hold office until the next election day appointed by law for election of judge, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

SEC. 12. The judges of the several courts of this State shall hold their office for the term of six years; and the right of any judge to hold his office for the full term hereby prescribed, shall not be affected by any change hereafter made by law in any circuit or district, or in the mode or time of election; but for any wilful neglect of