USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 51
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With such open expressions of antagonism, there is no doubt that trouble would have ensued in the event an effort had been made to establish a state government under the Lecompton constitution. The resolution adopted by the convention that nominated state officers under the Leavenworth constitution evidently meant something, and for a time a clash seemed to be inevitable. But the defeat of the Lecomp- ton constitution under the provisions of the English bill averted the trouble and paved the way for the Wyandotte constitution.
In the Topeka and Leavenworth constitutions the partisan sentiments of the free-state framers were too plainly manifested for those con- stitutions to find favor with Congress or the national administration. The pro-slavery sentiments in the Lecompton constitution were even more glaring and they aroused the indignation of the people. For- tunately for the country at large, and the people of Kansas in par- ticular, the men who framed the Wyandotte constitution were wise enough to avoid any expression of partisan feeling that would stir up the opposition of an unfriendly Congress and president and postpone the admission of Kansas into the Union. Therefore, the constitution was so constructed that is has been characterized as a "conservative and commonplace document." It was modeled largely after the con- stitution of the State of Ohio, and as it is still the organic law of
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Kansas, the full text of the constitution, as it was adopted by the con- vention and ratified by the people in 1859, is given below. (See also Constitutional Amendments.)
PREAMBLE-BOUNDARIES.
We, the People of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges, in order to insure the full enjoyment of our rights as American citizens, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the State of Kansas, with the following boundaries, to-wit: Be- ginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence running west on said parallel to the twenty-fifth meridian of longitude west from Washington; thence north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the state of Missouri; thence south, with the western boundary of said state, to the place of beginning.
BILL OF RIGHTS.
Section I. All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and are instituted for their equal protection. No special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted by the legislature, which may not be altered, revoked or re- pealed by the same body ; and this power shall be exercised by no other tribunal or agency.
Sec. 3. The people have the right to assemble in a peaceable man- ner, to consult for their common good, to instruct their representa- tives, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, for the redress of grievances.
Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security ; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be tolerated, and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.
Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate.
Sec. 6. There shall be no slavery in this state; and no involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
Sec. 7. The right to worship God, according to the dictates of con- science, shall never be infringed; nor shall any person be compelled to attend or support any form of worship; nor shall any control of, or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, nor any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or property qualification shall be required
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for any office of public trust, nor for any vote at any election; nor shall any person be incompetent to testify on account of religious belief.
Sec. 8. The right to the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- pended, unless the public safety requires it in case of invasion or rebellion.
Sec. 9. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses, where proof is evident or the presumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel nor unusual punishment inflicted.
Sec. 10. In all prosecutions, the accused shall be allowed to appear and defend in person, or by counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witness face to face, and to have compulsory process to compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed. No person shall be a witness against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.
Sec. II. The liberty of the press shall be inviolate, and all persons may freely speak, write or publish their sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of such right ; and in all civil or criminal actions for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear that the alleged libelous matter was published for justifiable ends, the accused party shall be acquitted.
Sec. 12. No person shall be transported from the state for any offense committed within the same; and no conviction in the state shall work a corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
Sec. 13. Treason shall consist only in levying war against the state, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the evidence of two witnesses to the overt act, or confession in open court.
Sec. 14. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the occupant; nor in time of war, except as prescribed by law.
Sec. 15. The right of the people to be secure in their persons and property against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall be inviolate ; and no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or property to be seized.
Sec. 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, except in cases of fraud.
Sec. 17. No distinction shall ever be made between citizens and aliens in reference to the purchase, enjoyment or descent of property.
Sec. 18. All persons, for injuries suffered in person, reputation or property, shall have remedy by due course of law, and justice admin- istered without delay.
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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 dele- gated remain with the people.
ARTICLE I .- EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
Section I. The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney-gen- eral, and superintendent of public instruction ; who shall be chosen by the electors of the state at the time and place 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 counties to the secretary of state, who with the lieutenant- governor and attorney-general shall constitute a board of state can- vassers, whose duty it shall be to meet at the state capital on the sec- ond Tuesday of December 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 legislature shall by joint ballot choose one of said persons so hav- ing an equal and the highest number of votes for said office.
Sec. 3. The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in the 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 legislature by proclamation, and shall at the commencement of every session com- municate in writing such information as he may possess in reference to the condition of the state, and recommend such measures as he may deem expedient.
Sec. 6. In case of a disagreement between the two houses in respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn the legislature 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. 8. 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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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 pro- vided.
Sec. II. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal or other disability of the governor, the power and duties of the office for 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 gov- ernor, shall be impeached or displaced, or shall resign, or die, or other- wise become incapable of performing the duties of the office, the presi- dent 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 per- taining to the office of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of representatives ..
Sec. 14. Should either the secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney-general, or superintendent of public instruction, become in- capable of performing the duties of his office, for any of the causes spec- ified 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 unex- pired term.
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.
Sec. 16. The officers of the executive department, and of all public state institutions, shall, at least ten days preceding each regular ses- sion of the legislature, severally report to the governor, who shall transmit such reports to the legislature.
ARTICLE 2 .- LEGISLATIVE.
Section I. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a house of representatives and senate.
Sec. 2. The first house of representatives under this constitution shall consist of seventy-five members, who shall be chosen for one year. The first senate shall consist of twenty-five members, who shall be chosen for two years. After the first election, the number of senators and members of the house of representatives shall be regulated by law ; but shall never exceed one hundred representatives and thirty-three senators.
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Sec. 3. The members of the legislature shall receive as compensa- tion 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 dollars for each session there- after, 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 public funds shall have a seat in the legislature.
Sec. 7. All state officers before entering upon their respective duties, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the constitu- tion of the United States and the constitution of this state, and faith- fully discharge the duties of their respective offices.
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 proceed- ings. The yeas and nays shall be taken and entered immediately 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 pro- test against any act or resolution ; and such protest shall without delay or alteration be entered on the journal.
Sec. 12. All bills shall originate in the house of representatives, and be subject to amendment or rejection by the senate.
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 resolu- tion.
Sec. 14. Every bill and joint resolution passed by the house of repre- sentatives 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 representa- tives, which shall enter the objections at large upon its journal and pro- ceed to reconsider the same. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds
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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 like- wise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journal of each house. If any bill shall not be returned within three days (Sundays 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 read- ing of the bill by sections on its final passage in no case can be dis- pensed with.
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 sec- tions amended, and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed.
Sec. 17. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform opera- tion 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 pub- lished. It shall have the power to provide for the election or appoint- ment 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 legisla- tion 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 con- tinuance 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 regula- tion 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 pur-
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suance of a specific appropriation made by law, and no appropriation shall be made for a longer term than one year.
Sec. 25. All sessions of the legislature shall be held at the state capital, and all regular sessions shall commence annually, on the second Tuesday of January.
Sec. 26. The legislature shall provide for taking an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state at least once in ten years. The first enumeration shall be taken in A. D. 1865.
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 constitution 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 con- victed, shall be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
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 authen- tication 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 pro- ceedings in quo warranto, mandamus and habeas corpus ; and such appel- late 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 coextensive with the state.
Sec. 4. There shall be appointed by the justices of the supreme court, a reporter and a clerk of said court, who shall hold their offices two years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law.
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.
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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 jurisdiction in cases of habeas corpus. The 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 hold court at such times and receive for compensation such fees or salary 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. Io. All appeals from probate courts and justices of the peace shall be to the district court.
Sec. II. 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 suc- cessors shall have qualified.
Sec. 13. The justices of the supreme court and judges of the dis- trict courts shall, at stated times, receive for their services such com- pensation 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, during the term of office for which said justices or judges shall be elected, nor practice law in any of the courts in the state during their continuance in office.
Sec. 14. Provision may be made by law for the increase of the num- ber 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 district 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 substance of which shall be entered
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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 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, Jefferson and Jack- son. The second district shall consist of the counties of Atchison, Doni- phan, Brown, Nemaha, Marshall and Washington. The third district shall consist of the counties of Pottawatomie, Riley, Clay, Dickinson, Davis, Wabaunsee and Shawnee. The fourth district shall consist of the counties of Douglas, Johnson, Lykins, Franklin, Anderson, Linn, Bourbon and Allen. The fifth district shall consist of the. counties of Osage, Coffey, Woodson, Greenwood, Madison, Breckinridge, Morris, Chase, Butler and Hunter.
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