USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,. > Part 29
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SEC. 6. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.
ARTICLE 3 .- OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
SECTION 1. The powers of the government of Iowa shall be divided into three separate departments: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any function appertaining to either of the others, except in cases hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The legislative authority of this State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Represen- tatives; and the style of every law shall be-" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa."
SEC. 2. The sessions of the General Assembly shall be biennial, and shall commence on the second Monday in January next ensuing the election of its members; unless the Governor of the State shall, in the meantime, convene the General Assembly by proclamation.
SEC. 3. The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen every second year, by the qualified electors of their respective districts, on the second Tuesday in October, except the years of the Presidential elec- tion, when the election shall be on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November; and their term of office shall commence on the first day of January next after their election, and continne two years, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 4. No person shall be a member of the House of Representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years; be a free white male citizen of the United States, and shall have been an inhabitant of this State one year next preceding his election, and at the time of his election shall have had an actual residence of sixty days in the county or district he may have been chosen to represent.
SEC. 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, at the same time and place as Representatives; they shall be twenty-five years of age, and possess the qualifications of Representatives, as to residence and citi- zenship.
SEC. 6. The number of Senators shall not be less than one-third, nor more than one-half the representative body; and shall be so classified by lot, that one class being as nearly one-half as possible, shall be elected every two years. When the number of Senators is increased, they shall be an- nexed by lot to one or the other of the two classes, so as to keep them as nearly equal in numbers as practicable.
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SEC. 7. Each House shall choose its own officers, and judge of the quali- fication, election and return of its own members. A contested election shall be determined in such manner as shall be directed by law.
SEC. 8. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to transact 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. 9. Each house shall sit upon its own adjournments, keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same; determine its rules of proceed- ings, punish members for disorderly behavior, and with the consent of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same offense; and shall have all other powers necessary for a branch of the General Assembly of a free and independent State.
SEC. 10. Every member of the General Assembly shall have the 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 for his dissent entered on the journals; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of any two members present, be entered on the journals.
SEC. 11. Senators and Representatives, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same.
SEC. 12. When vacancies occur in either house, the governor, or the per- son exercising the functions of governor, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
SEC. 13. The doors of each house shall be open, except on such occas- sions 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 may be amended, al- tered, or rejected by the other; and every bill having passed both houses, shall be signed by the Speaker and President of their respective houses.
SEC. 16. Every bill which shall have passed the General Assembly, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the same upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration, it again pass both houses, by yeas and nays, by a majority of two-thirds of the members of each house, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the Governor's objec- tions. If any bill shall not be returned within three days after it shall have been presented to him (Sunday excepted), the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by ad- journment, prevent such return. Any bill submitted to the Governor for his approval during the last three days of a session of the General Assem- bly, shall be deposited by him in the office of the Secretary of State within thirty days after the adjournment, with his approval if approved by him, and with his objections, if he disapproves thereof.
SEC. 17. No bill shall be passed unless by the assent of a majority of all the members elected to each branch of the General Assembly, and the question upon the final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last reading, and the yeas and nays entered upon the journal.
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SEC. 18. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be attached to and and published with the laws at every regular session of the General Assembly.
SEC. 19. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, and all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be upon oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.
SEC. 20. The Governor, Judges of the Supreme and District Courts, and other State officers, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor or malfeasance in office; but judgment in such cases shall extend only to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under this State; but the party convicted or acquitted shall neverthe- less be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment according to law. All other civil officers shall be tried for misdemeanors and malfeasance in office, in such manner as the General Assembly may provide.
SEC. 21. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 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 offices as may be filled by elections by the people.
SEO. 22. No person holding any lucrative office under the United States, or this State, or any other power, shall be eligible to hold a seat in the General Assembly. But offices in the militia, to which there is attached no annual salary, or the office of justice of the peace, or postmaster, whose compensation does not exceed one hundred dollars per annum, or notary public, shall not be deemed lucrative.
SEC. 23. No person who may hereafter be a collector or holder of pub- lic moneys, sliall liave a seat in either house of the General Assembly, or be eligible to hold any office of trust or profit in this State, until he shall have accounted for and paid into the treasury all sums for which he may be liable.
SEC. 24. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law.
SEC. 25. Each member of the first General Assembly under this consti- tution shall receive three dollars per diem while in session; and the further sum of three dollars for every twenty miles traveled in going to and return- ing from the place where such session is held, by the nearest traveled route; after which they shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by law; but no General Assembly shall have the power to increase the compensa- tion of its members. And when convened in extra session they shall re- ceive the same mileage and per diem compensation as fixed by law for the regular session, and none other.
SEC. 26. No law of the General Assembly, passed at a regular session, of a public nature, shall take effect until the Fourth day of July next, after the passage thereof. Laws passed at a special session shall take effect ninety days after the adjournment of the General Assembly, by which they were passed. If the General Assembly shall deem any law of immediate importance, they may provide that the same shall take effect by publication in newspapers in the State.
SEC. 27. No divorce shall be granted by the General Assembly.
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SEC. 28. No lottery shall be authorized by this State; nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed.
SEC. 29. Every act shall embrace but one subject, and matters properly connected therewith; which subject shall be expressed in the title. But if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be ex- pressed in the title.
SEC. 30. The General Assembly shall not pass local or special laws in the following cases :
For the assessment and collection of taxes for State, county, or road pur- poses;
For laying out, opening, and working roads or highways;
For changing the names of persons;
For the incorporation of cities and towns;
For vacating, roads, town plats, streets, alleys, or public squares;
For locating or changing county seats.
In all the cases above enumerated, and in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general, and of uniform ope- ration throughout the State; and no law changing the boundary lines of any county shall have effect until upon being submitted to the people of the counties affected by the change, at a general election, it shall be ap- proved by a majority of the votes in each county, cast for and against it.
SEc. 31. No extra compensation shall be made to any officer, public agent, or contractor, after the service shall have been rendered, or the con- tract entered into; nor shall any money be paid on any claim, the subject matter of which shall not have been provided for by pre-existing laws, and no public money or property shall be appropriated for local or private pur- poses, unless such appropriation, compensation or claim, be allowed by two- thirds of the members elected to each branch of the General Assembly.
SEC. 32. Members of the General Assembly shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitu- tion of the State of Iowa, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Senator (or Representative, as the case may be), according to the best of my ability." And members of the General Assembly are hereby empow- ered to administer to each other the said oath or affirmation.
SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall, in the years one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and every ten years thereafter, cause an enumeration to be made of all the inhabitants of the State.
SEC. 34. The number of Senators shall, at the next session following each period of making such enumeration, and the next session following each United States Census, be fixed by law, and apportioned among the several counties according to the number of inhabitants in each.
SEC. 35. The Senate shall not consist of more than fifty members, nor the House of Representatives of more than one hundred; and they shall be apportioned among the several counties and representative districts of the State according to the number of inhabitants in each, upon ratios to be fixed by law; but no representative district shall contain more than four
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organized counties and cach district shall be entitled to at least one Repre- sentative. Every county and district which shall have a number of inhabi- tants equal to one-half the ratio fixed by law, shall be entitled to one Rep- resentative; and any one county containing in addition to the ratio fixed by law one-half of that number, or more, shall be entitled to one additional Representative. No floating district shall hereafter be formed.
SEC. 36. At its first session under this Constitution, and at every subse- quent regular session, the General Assembly shall fix the ratio of repre- sentation, and also, form into repsesentative districts those counties which will not be entitled singly to a Representative.
SEC. 37. When a Congressional, Senatorial, or Representative district shall be composed of two or more counties, it shall not be entirely sepa- rated by any county belonging to another district; and no county shall be divided in forming a Congressional, Senatorial, or Representative district.
SEC. 38. In all elections by the General Assembly, the members thereof shall vote viva-voce; and the votes shall be entered on the journal.
ARTICLE 4 .- EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of Iowa.
SEC. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors at the time and place of voting for members of the General Assembly, and shall hold his office two years, from the time of his installation, and until his suc- cessor is elected and qualified.
SEC. 3. There shall be a Lieutenant-Governor, who shall hold his office two years, and be elected at the same time as the Governor. In voting for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the electors shall designate for whom they vote as Governor, and for whom as Lieutenant-Governor. The returns of every election for Governor, and Lieutenant-Governor, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government of the State, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall open and publish them in the presence of both houses of the General Assembly.
SEC. 4. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes, for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, shall be declared duly elected; but in case two or more persons shall have an equal, and the highest number of votes for either office, the General Assembly shall, by joint vote, forthwith proceed to elect one of said persons Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, as the case may be.
SEC. 5. Contested elections for Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, shall be determined by the General Assembly in such manner as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 6. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor, or Lieu- tenant-Governor, who shall not have been a citizen of the United States; and a citizen of the State two years next preceding the election, and attained the age of thirty years at the time of said election.
SEC. 7. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, the army, and navy of this State.
SEC. 8. He shall transact all executive business with the officers of gov- ernment, civil and military, and may require information in writing from
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the officers of the executive department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
SEC. 9. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
SEC. 10. When any office shall, from any cause, become vacant, and no mode is provided by the Constitution and laws for filling such vacancy, the Governor shall have power to fill such vacancy, by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the General Assembly, or at the next election by the people.
SEC. 11. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General As- sembly by proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled, the purpose for which they shall have been convened.
SEc. 12. He shall communicate, by message, to the General Assembly, at every regular session, the condition of the State, and recommend such inatters as he shall deem expedient.
SEC. 13. In case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor shall have power to adjourn the General Assembly to such time as he may think proper; but no such ad- journment shall be beyond the time fixed for the regular meeting of the next General Assembly.
SEC. 14. No person shall, while holding any office under the authority of the United States, or this State, execute the office of Governor, or Lieuten- ant-Governor, except as hereinafter expressly provided.
SEC. 15. The official term of the Governor, and Lieutenant-Governor, shall commence on the second Monday of January next after their election, and continue for two years, and until their successors are elected and quali- fied. The Lieutenant-Governor, while acting as Governor, shall receive the same pay as provided for Governor; and while presiding in the Senate shall receive as compensation therefor, the same mileage and double the per diem pay provided for a Senator, and none other.
SEC. 16. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commuta- tions and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of sentence until the case shall be reported to the General Assembly at its next meeting, when the General Assembly shall either grant a pardon, com- mute the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall have power to re- mit fines and forfeitures, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; and shall report to the General Assembly, at its next meeting, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and the reason therefor; and also all persons in whose favor remission of fines and forfeitures shall have been made, and the several amounts remitted.
SEC. 17. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal from office, 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 Lieutenant-Governor.
SEC. 18. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the Senate, but shall only vote when the Senate is equally divided; and in case of his ah- sence, or impeachment, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor, the Senate shall choose a president pro tempore.
SEC. 19. If the Lieutenant-Governor, while acting as Governor, shall be impeached, displaced, resign, or die, or otherwise become incapable of
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performing the duties of the office, the president pro tempore 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 ren- dered incapable of performing the duties pertaining to the office of Gover- nor, the same shall devolve upon the Speaker of the House of Representa- tives.
SEC. 20. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him officially, and shall be called the Great Seal of the State of Iowa.
SEC. 21. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the people of the State of Iowa, sealed with the Great Seal of the State, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of State.
SEC. 22. A Secretary of State, Auditor of State, and Treasurer of State, shall be elected by the qualified electors, who shall continue in office two years, and until their successors are elected and qualified; and perform such duties as may be required by law.
ARTICLE 5 .- JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, and such other courts, inferior to the Supreme Court, as the General Assembly may, from time to time, establislı.
SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of three judges, two of whom shall constitute a quorum to hold court.
SEC. 3. The judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the quali- fied electors of the State, and shall hold their court at such time and place as the General Assembly may prescribe. The judges of the Supreme Court so elected, shall be classified so that one judge shall go out every two years; and the judge holding the shortest term of office under such classification, shall be Chief Justice of the court during his term, and so on in rotation. After the expiration of their terms of office, under such classification, the term of each judge of the Supreme Court shall be six years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. The judges of the Supreme Court shall be ineligible to any other office in the State, during the term for which they have been elected.
SEC. 4. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction only in cases in chancery, and shall constitute a court for the correction of errors at law, under such restrictions as the General Assembly may by law prescribe; and shall have power to issue all writs and process necessary to secure jus- tice to parties, and exercise a supervisory control over all inferior judicial tribunals throughout the State.
SEC. 5. The District Court shall consist of a single judge, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district in which he resides. The judge of the District Court shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified; and shall be ineligible to any other office, except that of judge of the Supreme Court, during the term for which he was elected.
SEC. 6. The district Court shall be a court of law and equity, which shall be distinct and separate jurisdictions, and have jurisdiction in civil and
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criminal matters arising in their respective districts, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 7. The judges of the Supreme and District Courts shall be conser- vators of the peace throughout the State.
SEC. 8. The style of all process shall be "The State of Iowa," and all prosecutions shall be conducted in the name and by the authority of the same.
SEC. 9. The salary of each judge of the Supreme Court shall be two thousand dollars per annum; and that of each District Judge one thousand six hundred dollars per annum, until the year eighteen hundred and sixty; after which time they shall severally receive such compensation as the Gen- eral Assembly may, by law, prescribe; which compensation shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they have been elected.
SEC. 10. The State shall be divided into eleven judicial districts; and after the year eighteen hundred and sixty, the General Assembly may re-or- ganize the judicial districts, and increase or diminish the number of districts, or the number of judges of the said court, and may increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court; but such increase or diminution shall not be more than one district, or one judge of either court, at any one session; and no re-organization of the districts, or diminution of the judges shall have the effect of removing a judge from office. Such re-organization of the dis- tricts, or any change in the boundaries thereof, or any increase or diminution of the number of judges shall take place every four years thereafter, if nec- essary, and at no other time.
SEC. 11. The judges of the Supreme and District Courts shall be chosen at the general election; and the term of office of each judge shall com- mence on the first day of January next after his election.
SEC. 12. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for the election of an Attorney-General by the people, whose term of office shall be two years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.
SEC. 13. The qualified electors of each judicial district shall, at the time of the election of District Judge, elect a District Attorney, who shall be a resident of the district for which he is elected, and who shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.
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