USA > Kansas > A history of Kansas > Part 21
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SEC. 19. No hereditary emoluments, honors or privileges, shall ever be granted or conferred by the State.
SEC. 20. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people; and all powers not herein delegated remain with the people.
ARTICLE 1.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The executive department shall consist of a Gover- nor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Anditor, Treasurer, Attorney-General and Superintendent of Public Instruction: who shall be chosen by the electors of the State at the time and place
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of voting for members of the legislature, and shall hold their offices for the term of two years from the second Monday of January next after their election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 2. Until otherwise provided by law, an abstract of the returns of every election for the officers named in the foregoing section shall be sealed up and transmitted by the clerks of the boards of canvassers of the several eounties to the Secretary of State, who, with the Lieutenant-Governor and Attorney-General shall constitute a board of State canvassers, whose duty it shall be to meet at the State capital on the second Tuesday of Decen- ber succeeding each election for State officers, and canvass the vote for such officers and proclaim the result; but in case any two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes, the legis- lature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of said persons so having an equal and the highest number of votes for said office.
OF THE GOVERNOR.
SEC. 3. The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in a Governor, who shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.
SEC. 4. He may require information in writing from the officers of the executive department upon any subject relating to their respective duties.
SEC. 5. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the legis- lature by proclamation, and shall at the commencement of every session communicate in writing such information as he may pos- sess in reference to the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as he may deem expedient.
SEC. 6. In case of disagreement between the two houses in respect to the time of adjournmient, he may adjourn the legisla- ture to such time as he may think proper, not beyond its regular meeting.
SEC. 7. The pardoning power shall be vested in the Governor under regulations and restrictions prescribed by law.
SEC. S. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him officially, and which shall be the great seal of Kansas.
SEC. 9. All commissions shall be issued in the name of the State of Kansas, signed by the Governor, countersigned by the Secretary of State, and sealed with the great seal.
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APPENDIX.
SEC. 10. No member of congress, or officer of the State, or of the United States, shall hold the office of Governor, except as herein provided.
OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.
SEC. 11. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal or other disability of the Governor, the power and duties of the office for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall be removed, shall devolve upon the president of the senate.
SEC. 12. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the senate, and shall vote only when the senate is equally divided. The senate shall choose a president pro tempore, to preside in case of his absence or impeachment, or when he shall hold the office of Governor.
SEC. 13. If the Lieutenant-Governor, while holding the office of Governor, shall be impeached or displaced, or shall 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 inca- pable of performing the duties pertaining to the office of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of repro- sentatives.
OTHER STATE OFFICERS.
SEC. 14. Should either the Secretary of State, Auditor, Treas- urer, Attorney-General or Superintendent of Public Instruction, become incapable of performing the duties of his office, for any of the causes specified in the thirteenth section of this article, the Governor shall fill the vacancy until the disability is removed, or a successor is 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 happened; and the person chosen shall hold the office for the nnexpired term.
SALARIES AND OFFICIAL REPORTS.
SEC. 15. 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 nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected.
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SEC. 16. The officers of the executive department, and of all public State institutions, shall, at least ten days preceding each regular session of the legislature, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such reports to the legislature.
ARTICLE 2.
LEGISLATIVE.
SECTION 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested in a house of representatives and senate.
SEC. 2. The number of representatives and senators shall be regulated by law, but shall never exceed one hundred and twenty- five representatives and forty senators. From and after the adoption of this amendment [November, 1873], the house of representatives shall admit one member for each county in which at least two hundred and fifty legal votes were cast at the next preceding general election; and each organized county in which less than two hundred legal votes were cast at the next preceding general election shall be attached to and constitute a part of the representative district of the county lying next adjacent to it on the east.
SEC. 3. The members of the legislature shall receive as com- pensation for their services the sum of three dollars for each day's actual service at any regular or special session, and fifteen cents for each mile traveled by the usual route in going to and returning from the place of meeting; but such compensation shall not in the aggregate exceed the sum of two hundred and forty dollars for each member, as per diem allowance for the first session held under this Constitution, nor more than one hundred and fifty dol- lars for each session thereafter, nor more than ninety dollars for any special session.
SEC. 4. No person shall be a member of the legislature who is not at the time of his election a qualified voter of, and a resident in, the county or district for which he is elected.
SEC. 5. No member of congress or officer of the United States shall be eligible to a seat in the legislature. If any person after his election to the legislature, be elected to congress or elected or appointed to any office under the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.
SEC. 6. No person convicted of embezzlement or misuse of the public funds shall have a seat in the legislature.
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APPENDIX.
SEC. 7. All State officers, before entering upon their respective (Inties, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offiees.
SEC. 8. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum. Each house shall establish its own rules, and shall be judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.
SEC. 9. All vacancies occurring in either house shall be filled for the unexpired term by election.
'SEC. 10. Each house shall keep and publish a journal of its proceedings. The yeas and nays shall be taken and entered imme- diately on the journal, upon the final passage of every bill or joint resolution. Neither house, without the consent of the other, shall adjourn for more than two days, Sundays excepted.
SEC. 11. Any member of either house shall have the right to protest against any act or resolution; and such protest shall with- out delay or alteration be entered on the journal.
SEC. 12. Bills may originate in either house, but may be amended or rejected by the other.
SEC. 13. A majority of all the members elected to each house, voting in the affirmative, shall be necessary to pass any bill or joint resolution.
SEC. 14. Every bill and joint resolution passed by the house of representatives and senate, shall within two days thereafter be signed by the presiding officers, and presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it to the house of representatives, which shall enter the objections at large upon its journal and proceed to reconsider the same. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of the members elected shall agree to pass the bill or resolution, it shall be sent with the objections to the senate, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members cleeted, it shall become a law. But in all such eases the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals of each house. If any bill shall not be returned within three days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to the Governor, it shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature by its adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not become a law.
SEC. 15. Every bill shall be read on three separate days in each house, unless in case of emergency. Two-thirds of the house where such bill is pending may, if deemed expedient, suspend the rules; but the reading of the bill by sections on its final passage, shall in no case be dispensed with.
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SEC. 16. No bill shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, and no law shall be revived or amended unless the new act contain the entire act revived, or the section or sections amended, and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed.
SEC. 17. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation throughout the State; and in all cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted.
SEC. 18. All power to grant divorces is vested in the district courts, subject to regulation by law.
SEC. 19. The legislature shall prescribe the time when its acts shall be in force, and shall provide for the speedy publication of the same; and no law of a general nature shall be in force until the same be published. ' It shall have the power to provide for the election or appointment of all officers, and the filling of all vacancies not otherwise provided for in the Constitution.
SEC. 20. The enacting clause of all laws shall be, "Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Kansas; " and no law shall be enacted except by bill.
SEC. 21. The legislature may confer upon tribunals transacting the county business of the several counties, such powers of local legislation and administration as it shall deem expedient.
SEC. 22. For any speech or debate in either house the members shall not be questioned elsewhere. No member of the legislature shall be subject to arrest-except for felony or breach of the peace-in going to, or returning from, the place of meeting, or during the continuance of the session; neither shall he be subject to the service of any civil process during the session, nor for fifteen days previous to its commencement.
SEC. 23. The legislature, in providing for the formation and regulation of schools, shall make no distinction between the rights of males and females.
SEC. 24. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in pursuance of a specific appropriation made by law, and no appro- priation shall be for a longer term than two years.
SEC. 25. All sessions of the legislature shall be held at the State capital, and beginning with the session of eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, all regular sessions shall be held once in two years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January of each alternate year thereafter.
SEC. 26. The legislature shall provide for taking an enumera- tion of the inhabitants of the State at least once in ten years. The first enumeration shall be taken in A. D. 1865.
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SEC. 27. The house of representatives shall have the sole power to impeach. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; and when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall take an oath to do justice according to the law and the evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators elected.
SEC. 28. The Governor and all other officers under this consti- tution shall be subject to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in all such cases shall not be extended further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of profit, honor or trust under this Constitution; but the party, whether acquitted or convicted, shall be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
SEC. 29. At the general election held in eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and thereafter, members of the house of representa- tives shall be elected for two years, and members of the senate shall be elected for four years.
ARTICLE 3.
JUDICIAL.
SECTION 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, justices of the peace, and such other courts inferior to the supreme court as may be provided by law; and all courts of record shall have a seal, to be used in the authentication of all process.
SEC. 2. The supreme court shall consist of one chief justice and two associate justices (a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum), who shall be elected by the electors of the State at large, and whose term of office, after the first, shall be six years. At the first election a chief justice shall be chosen for six years, one associate justice for four years, and one for two years.
SEC. 3. The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in proceedings in quo warranto, mandamus and habeas corpus; and snch appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law. It shall hold one term each year at the seat of government, and such other terms at such places as may be provided by law, and its jurisdiction shall be co-extensive with the State.
SEC. 4. There shall be appointed, by the justices of the supreme court, a repo ter and clerk of said court, who shall hold their offices two years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law.
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SEC. 5. The State shall be divided into five judicial districts, in each of which there shall be elected, by the electors thereof, a district judge, who shall hold his office for the term of four years. District courts shall be held at such times and places as may be provided by law.
SEC. 6. The district courts shall have such jurisdiction in their respective districts as may be provided by law.
SEC. 7. There shall be elected in each organized county a clerk of the district court, who shall hold his office two years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 8. There shall be a probate court in each county, which shall be a court of record, and have such probate jurisdiction and care of estates of deceased persons, minors and persons of unsound minds, as may be prescribed by law, and shall have juris- diction in cases of habeas corpus. This court shall consist of one judge, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of the county, and hold his office two years. He shall be his own clerk, and shall hold court at such times, and receive for compensation such fees as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 9. Two justices of the peace shall be elected in each township, whose term of office shall be two years, and whose powers and duties shall be prescribed by law. The number of justices of the peace may be increased in any township by law.
SEC. 10. All appeals from probate courts and justices of the peace shall be to the district court.
SEC. 11. All the judicial officers provided for by this article shall be elected at the first election under this Constitution, and shall reside in their respective townships, counties or districts during their respective terms of office. In case of vacancy in any judicial office, it shall be filled by appointment of the Governor until the next regular election that shall occur more than thirty days after such vacancy shall have happened.
SEC. 12. All judicial officers shall hold their offices until their successors shall have qualified.
SEC. 13. The justices of the supreme court and judges of the district courts shall, at stated times, receive for their services such compensation as may be provided by law, which shall not be increased during their respective terms of office; provided, such compensation shall not be less than fifteen hundred dollars to each justice or judge each year, and such justices or judges shall receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any other office of profit or trust under the authority of the State or the United States dur- ing the term of office for which said justices and judges shall be elected, nor practice law in any of the courts in the State during their continuance in office.
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APPENDIX.
SEC. 14. Provision may be made by law for the increase of the number of judicial districts whenever two-thirds of the members of each house shall concur. Such districts shall be formed of compact Territory, and bounded by county lines, and such increase shall not vacate the office of any judge.
SEC. 15. Justices of the supreme court and judges of the dis- trict courts may be removed from office by resolution of both houses, if two-thirds of the members of each house concur; but no such removal shall be made except upon complaint, the sub- stance of which shall be entered upon the journal, nor until the party charged shall have had notice and opportunity to be heard.
SEC. 16. The several justices and judges of the courts of record in this State, shall have such jurisdiction at chambers as may be provided by law.
SEC. 17. The style of all process shall be "The State of Kansas," and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of the State.
SEC. 18. Until otherwise provided by law, the first district shall consist of the counties of Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Jeffer- son and Jackson. The second distriet shall consist of the counties of Atchison, Doniphan, Brown, Nemaha, Marshall and Washing- ton. The third district shall consist of the counties of Pottawa- tomie, Riley, Clay, Dickinson, Daris, Wabaunsee and Shawnee. The fourth district shall consist of the counties of Donglas, John- son. Lykins, Franklin, Anderson, Linn, Bourbon and Allen. The fifth district shall consist of the counties of Osage, Coffey, Wood- son, Greenwood, Madison, Breckinridge, Morris, Chase, Butler and Hunter.
SEC. 19. New or unorganized counties shall by law be attached for judicial purposes to the most convenient judicial distriets.
SEC. 20. Provision shall be made by law for the selection, by the bar, of a pro tem, judge of the district court, when the judge is absent or otherwise unable or disqualified to sit in any case.
ARTICLE 4. ELECTIONS.
SECTION 1. AH elections by the people shall be by ballot, and all elections by the legislature shall be rira roce.
SEC. 2. General elections shall be held annually on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. Township elections shall be held on the first Tuesday in April, until otherwise pro- vided by law.
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ARTICLE 5.
SUFFRAGE.
SECTION 1. Every [white] male person of twenty-one years and upwards, belonging to either of the following classes-who shall have resided in Kansas six months next preceding any elec- tion, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote at least thirty days next preceding such election-shall be deemed a qualified elector:
1st. Citizens of the United States.
2d. Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization.
SEC. 2. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane; no person convicted of felony, unless restored to civil rights; no person who has been dishonorably discharged from the service of the United States, unless reinstated; no person guilty of defrauding the Government of the United States, or any of the States thereof; no person guilty of giving or receiving a bribe, or offering to give or receive a bribe; and no person who has ever voluntarily borne arms against the Government of the United States, or in any manner voluntarily aided or abetted in the attempted overthrow of said Government, except all persons who have been honorably discharged from the military service of the United States since the first day of April A. D., 1861, provided that they have served one year or more therein, shall be qualified to vote or hold office in this State, until such disability shall be removed by a law passed by a vote of two-thirds of all the men- bers of both branches of the legislature.
SEC. 3. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State, or of the United States, or of the high seas, nor while a student of any seminary of learning, nor while kept at any almshouse or other asylum at public expense, nor while confined in any publie prison ; and the legislature may make provision for taking the votes of electors who may be absent from their townships or wards, in the volunteer military service of the United States, or the militia service of this State; but nothing herein contained shall be deemed to allow any soldier, seaman or marine in the regular army or navy of the United States the right to vote.
SEC. 4. The legislature shall pass such laws as may be neces- sary for ascertaining, by proper proofs, the citizens who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage hereby established.
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SEC. 5. Every person who shall give or accept a challenge to fight a duel, or who shall knowingly earry to another person such challenge, or who shall go ont of the State to fight a duel, shall be ineligible to any office of trust or profit.
SEC. 6. Every person who shall have given or offered a bribe to procure his election, shall be disqualified from holding office during the term for which he may have been elected.
SEC. 7. Electors, during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning therefrom, shall be privileged from arrest in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace.
ARTICLE 6.
EDUCATION.
SECTION 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have the general supervision of the common school funds and educational interests of the State, and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. A superintendent of public instruc- tion shall be elected in each county, whose term of office shall be two years, and whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. The legislature shall encourage the promotion of intel- lectual, moral, scientific and agricultural improvement, by estab- lishing a uniform system of common schools, and schools of a higher grade, embracing normal, preparatory, collegiate and uni- versity departments.
SEC. 3. The proceeds of all lands that have been or may be granted by the United States to the State for the support of schools, and the five hundred thousand acres of land granted to the new States under an act of congress distributing the proceeds of public lands among the several States of the Union, approved September 4th, A. D., 1841, and all estates of persons dying without heir or will, and such per cent as may be granted by congress on the sale of lands in this State, shall be the common property of the State, and shall be a perpetual school fund, which shall not be diminished, but the interest of which, together with all the rents of the lands, and such other means as the legislature may provide, by tax or otherwise, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of common schools.
SEC. 4. The income of the State school funds shall be disbursed annually, by order of the State Superintendent, to the several county treasurers, and thence to the treasurers of the several
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school districts, in equitable proportion to the number of children and youth resident therein, between the ages of five and twenty- one years; provided, that no school district, in which a common school has not been maintained at least three months in each year, shall be entitled to receive any portion of such funds.
SEC. 5. The school lands shall not be sold, unless such sale shall be authorized by a vote of the people at a general election: but, subject to re-valuation every five years, they may be leased for any number of years, not exceeding twenty-five, at a rate established by law.
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