USA > Mississippi > School history of Mississippi; for use in public and private schools > Part 28
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QUALIFICATIONS AND PRIVILEGES OF LEGISLATORS.
SECTION 40. Members of the legislature before entering upon the discharge of their duties shall take the following oath: "I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Mississippi; that I am not disqualified from holding office by the constitution of this State; that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a legislator; that I will, as soon as practicable here- after, carefully read (or have read to me) the constitution of this State, and will endeavor to note, and, as a legislator, to execute all the requirements thereof imposed on the legislature; and I will not vote for any measure or person because of a promise of any other member of this legislature to vote for any measure or person, or as a means of influencing him or them so to do. So help me God."
SECTION 41. No person shall be a member of the house of representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall not be a qualified elector of the State, and who shall not have been a resident citizen of the State four. years, and of the county two years, immediately preceding his election. The seat of a member of the house of representatives shall be vacated on his removal from the county or flotorial district from which he was elected.
SECTION 42. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not have been a qualified elector of the State four years, and who shall not be
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an actual resident of the district or territory he may be chosen to represent, for two years before his election. The seat of a senator shall be vacated upon his removal from the district from which he was elected.
SECTION 43. No person liable as principal for public moneys unaccounted for shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature, or to any office of profit or trust, until he shall have accounted for and paid over all sums for which he may have been liable.
SECTION 44. No person shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature, or to any office of profit or trust, who shall have been convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime; and any person who shall have been convicted of giving, or offer- ing, directly or indirectly, any bribe to procure his election or appointment; and any person who shall give or offer any bribe to procure the election or appointment of any person to office, shall, on conviction thereof, be disqualified from holding any office of profit or trust under the laws of this State.
SECTION 45. No senator or representative during the term for which he was elected shall be eligible to any office of profit which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which have been increased, during the time such senator or representative was in office, except to such offices as may be filled by an election of the people.
SECTION 46. The members of the legislature shall severally receive from the State treasury compensation for their services, to be prescribed by law, which may be increased or diminished, but no alteration of such compensation of members shall take effect during the session at which it is made.
SECTION 47. No member of the legislature shall take any- fee or reward, or be counsel in any measure pending before either house of the legislature, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon proof thereof to the satisfaction of the house of which he is a member.
SECTION 48. Senators and representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony, theft, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the legislature, and for fifteen days before the commencement and after the termination of each session.
TRIAL OF OFFICERS, ETC.
SECTION 49. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment; but two-thirds of all the members present must concur therein. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate, and, when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be sworn to do justice according to law and the evidence.
SECTION 50. The governor, and all other civil officers of this State, shall be liable to impeachment for treason, bribery, or any high crime or misdemeanor in office.
SECTION 51. Judgment in such cases shall not extend further
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than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit in this State; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
SECTION 52. When the governor shall be tried, the chief justice of the supreme court shall preside; and when the chief justice- is disabled, disqualified, or refuses to act, the judge of the Supreme Court, next oldest in commission, shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators present.
SECTION 53. For reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground of impeachment, the governor shall, on the joint address of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature, remove from cffice the judges of the supreme and inferior courts; but the cause or causes of removal shall be spread on the journal, and the party charged be notified of the same and have an opportunity to be heard by himself or counsel, or both, before the vote is finally taken and decided.
RULES OF PROCEDURE.
SECTION 54. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a less number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each shall provide.
SECTION 55. Each house may determine rules of its own pro- ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present, expel a member; but no member, unless expelled for theft, bribery, or corruption, shall be expelled a second time for the same offence. Both houses shall, from time to time, publish journals of their proceedings, except such parts as may in their opinion require secrecy; and the yeas and nays, on any question, shall be entered on the journal, at the request of one-tenth of the members present; and the yeas and nays shall be entered on the journal on the final passage of every bill.
SECTION 56. The style of the laws of the State shall be: " Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Mississippi."
SECTION 57. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
SECTION 58. The doors of each house, when in session, or in committee of the whole, shall be kept open, except in cases which may require secrecy; and each house may punish, by fine and imprisonment, any person not a member who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house, by any disorderly or contemptuous be- havior in its presence, or who shall in any way disturb its deliberations during the session; but such imprisonment shall not extend beyond the final adjournment of that session.
SECTION 59. Bills may originate in cither house and be amended or rejected in the other; and every bill shall be read on three
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different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house where the same is pending shall dispense with the rules; and every bill shall be read in full immediately before the vote on its final passage; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, in open session; but, before either shall sign any bill, he shall give notice thereof, suspend business in the house over which he presides, have the bill read by its title, and on the demand of any member have the bill read in full; and all such proceedings shall be entered on the journal.
SECTION 60. No bill shall be so amended in its passage through either house as to change its original purpose, and no law "hall be passed except by bill; but orders, votes. and resolutions of L )th houses affecting the prerogatives and duties thereof, or relating to adjournment, to amendments to the constitution, to the inves- tigation of public officers, and the like, shall not require the signature of the governor; and such resolutions, orders, and votes may empower legislative committees to administer oaths, to send for persons and papers, and generally make legislative investigations effective.
SECTION 61. No law shall be revised or amended by reference to its title only, but the section or sections as amended or revived shall be inserted at length.
SECTION 62. No amendment to bills by one house shall be concurred in by the other, except by a vote of a majority thereof, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against recorded upon the journals; and reports of committees of reference shall in like manner be adopted in each house.
SECTION 63. No appropriation bill shall be passed by the legis- lature which does not fix definitely the maximum sum thereby authorized to be drawn from the treasury.
SECTION 64. No bill passed after the adoption of this consti- tution to make appropriations of money out of the State treasury, shall continue in force more than six months after the meeting of the legislature at its next regular session; nor shall such bill be passed except by the votes of a majority of all 'he members elected to each house of the legislature.
SECTION 65. All votes on the final passage of any measure shall be subject to reconsideration for at least one whole legis- lative day, and no motion to reconsider such vote shall be disposed . of adversely on the day on which the original vote was taken, except on the last day of the session.
SECTION 66. No law granting a donation. or g. atuity, in favor of any person or object, shall be enacted, except by the concur- rence of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature, cor by ary vote for a sectarian purpose or use.
SECTION 67. No new bill shall be introduced into either house of the legislature during the last three days of the session.
SECTION 68. Appropriation and revenue bills shall, at regular sessions of the legislature. have precedence in both houses over
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all other business, and no such bills shall be passed during the last five days of the session.
SECTION 69. General appropriation bills shall contain only the appropriations to defray the ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the government, to pay interest on State bonds, and to support the common schools. All" cther appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embrac- ing but one subject. Legislation shall not be engrafted on appro- priation bills, but the same may prescribe the conditions on .which the money may be drawn, and for what purposes paid.
SECTION 70. No revenue bill nor any bill providing for assess- ments of property for taxation shall become a law, except by a vote of at least three-fifths of the members of each house present and voting.
SECTION 71. Every bill introduced into the legislature shall have a title, and the title ought to indicate clearly the subject matter, or matters, of the proposed legislation. Each committee to which a bill may be referred shall express in writing its judg- ment of the sufficiency of the title of the bill, and this, too, whether the recommendation be that the bill do pass or do not pass.
SECTION 72. Every bill which shall pass both houses shall be presented to the governor of the State. If he approve, he shall sign it; but, if he does not approve, he shall return it, with his objection, to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other house, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered, and. if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law; but in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the gov- ernor within five days (Sunday excepted) after it has been pre- sented to him, it shall become a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature, by adjournment. prevent its return; in which case it shall be a law, unless sent back within three days after the beginning of the next session of the legislature. No bill shall be approved when the legislature is not in session.
SECTION 73. The governor may veto parts of any appropriation bill, and approve parts of the same, and the portions approved shall be law.
SECTION 74. No bill shall become a law until it shall have been referred to a committee of each house and returned therefrom with a recommendation in writing.
SECTION 75. No law of a general nature, unless therein other- wise provided, shall be enforced until sixty days after its passage.
SECTION 76. In all elections by the legislature the members shall vote riva roce, and the votes shall be entered on the journals. SECTION 77. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill
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such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature, and the persons thereupon chosen shall hold their seats for the unexpired term.
INJUNCTIONS.
SECTION 78. It shall be the duty of the legislature to regulate by law the cases in which deductions shall be made from salaries of public officers for neglect of official duty, and the amount of said deduction.
SECTION 79. The legislature shall provide by law for the sale of all delinquent tax lands. The courts shall apply the same liberal principles in favor of such titles as in sale by execution. The right of redemption from all sales of real estate for the non- payment of taxes, or special assessments, of any and every char- acter whatsoever, shall exist, on conditions to be prescribed by law, in favor of owners and persons interested in such real estate, for a period of not less than two years.
SECTION SO. Provision shall be made by general laws to pre- vent the abuse by cities, towns, and other municipal corporations of their powers of assessment, taxation, borrowing money, and contracting debts.
SECTION 81. The legislature shall never authorize the perma- nent obstruction of any of the navigable waters of this State, but may provide for the removal of such obstructions as now exist, whenever the public welfare demands; this section shall not prevent the construction, under proper authority, of drawbridges for railroads, or other roads, nor the construction of "booms and chutes " for logs in such manner as not to prevent the safe passage of vessels, or logs, under regulations to be provided by law.
SECTION 82. The legislature shall fix the amount of the penalty of all official bonds, and may, as far as practicable, provide that the whole or a part of the security required for the faithful dis- charge of official duty shall be made by some guarantee company or companies.
SECTION 83. The legislature shall enact laws to secure the safety of persons from fires in hotels, theatres, and other public places of resort.
SECTION 84. The legislature shall enact laws to limit, restrict, or prevent the acquiring and holding of land in this State by non- resident aliens, and may limit or restrict the acquiring or holding of lands by corporations.
SECTION 85. The legislature shall provide by general law for the working of public roads by contract or by county prisoners, or both. Such law may be put in operation only by a vote of the board of supervisors in those counties where it may be desirable.
SECTION 86. It shall be the duty of the legislature to provide by law for the treatment and care of the insane; and the legis- lature may provide for the care of the indigent sick in the hos. pitals in the State.
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LOCAL LEGISLATION.
SECTION 87. No special or local law shall be enacted for the benefit of individuals or corporations in cases which are or can- be provided for by a general law, or where the relief sought can be given by any court of this State; nor shall the operation of any general law be suspended by the legislature for the benefit of any individual or private corporation or association, and in all cases where a general law can be made applicable, and would be advantageous, no special law shall be enacted.
SECTION 88. The legislature shall pass general laws, under which local and private interests shall be provided for and pro- tected, and under which cities and towns may be chartered and their charters amended, and under which corporations may be created, organized, and their acts of incorporation altered; and all such laws shall be subject to repeal or amendment.
SECTION 89. There shall be appointed in each house of the legislature a standing committee on local and private legislation; the house committee to consist of seven representatives, and the senate committee of five senators. No local or private bill shall be passed by either house until it shall have been referred to said committee thereof, and shall have been reported back with a recommendation in writing that it do pass, stating affirma- tively the reasons therefor, and why the end to be accomplished should not be reached by a general law, or by a proceeding in court; or if the recommendation of the committee be that the bill do not pass, then it shall not pass the house to which it is so reported unless it be voted for by a majority of all the members elected thereto. If a bill is passed in conformity to the require- ments hereof, other than such as are prohibited in the next section, the courts shall not, because of its local, special, or private nature, refuse to enforce it.
SECTION 90. The legislature shall not pass local, private, or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, but such matters shall be provided for only by general laws, viz .:
(a) Granting divorces.
(h) Changing the names of persons, places, or corporations.
(c) Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases.
(d) Regulating the rate of interest on money.
(e) Concerning the settlement or administration of any estate, or the sale or mortgage of any property, of any infant, or of a person of unsound mind, or of any deceased person.
(f) The removal of the disability of infancy.
(g) Granting to any person, corporation, or association, the right to have any ferry, bridge, road, or fish-trap.
(h) Exemption of property from taxation, or from levy or sale.
(i) Providing for the adoption or legitimation of children.
(j) Changing the law of descent and distribution.
(k) Exempting any person from jury, road, or other civil
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duty (and no person shall be exempted therefrom by force of any local or private law).
(l) Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads and high- ways.
(m) Vacating any road or highway, town plat, street, alley, or public grounds.
(n) Selecting, drawing, summoning, or empanelling grand or petit juries.
(o) Creating, increasing, or decreasing the fees, salary, or emoluments of any public officer.
(p) Providing for the management or support of any private or common school, incorporating the same, or granting such school any privileges.
(g) Relating to stock laws, water-courses, and fences.
(r) Conferring the power to exercise the right of eminent domain, or granting to any person, corporation, or association the right to lay down railroad tracks, or street car tracks, in any other manner than that prescribed by general law.
(s) Regulating the practice in courts of justice.
(t) Providing for the creation of districts for the election of justices of the peace and constables.
(u) Granting any lands under control of the State to any person or corporation.
PROHIBITIONS.
SECTION 91. The legislature shall not enact any law for one or more counties, not applicable to all the counties in the State, increasing the uniform charge for the registration of deeds, or regulating costs and charges and fees of officers.
SECTION 92. The legislature shall not authorize payment to any person of the salary of a deceased officer beyond the date of his death.
SECTION 93. The legislature shall not retire any officer on pay, or part pay, or make any grant to such retiring officer.
SECTION 94. The legislature shall never create by law any distinction between the rights of men and women to acquire, own, enjoy, and dispose of property of all kinds, or their power to contract in reference thereto. Married women are hereby fully emancipated from all disability on account of coverture. But this shall not prevent the legislature from regulating contracts between husband and wife; nor shall the legislature be prevented from regulating the sale of homesteads.
SECTION 95. Lands belonging to, or under the control of, the State shall never be donated directly, or indirectly, to private corporations or individuals. or to railroad companies. Nor shall such land be sold to corporations or associations for a less price than that for which it is subject to sale to individuals. This, however, shall not prevent the legislature from granting a right of way, not exceeding one hundred feet in width, as a mere easement, to railroads across State land, and the legislature shall
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never dispose of the land covered by said right of way so long as such easement exists.
SECTION 96. The legislature shall never grant extra compensa- tion, fee, or allowance to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after service rendered, or contract made, nor authorize payment, or part payment, of any claim under any contract, not authorized by law; but appropriations may be made for expendi- tures in repelling invasion, preventing or suppressing insurrec- tions.
SECTION 97. The legislature shall have no power to revive any remedy which may have become barred by lapse of time, or by any statute of limitation of this State.
SECTION 98. No lottery shall ever be allowed, or be advertised by newspapers, or otherwise, or its tickets be sold in this State; and the legislature shall provide by law for the enforcement of this provision; nor shall any lottery heretofore authorized be permitted to be drawn or its tickets sold.
SECTION 99. The legislature shall not elect any other than its own officers, State librarian, and United States senators; but this section shall not prohibit the legislature from appointing presidential electors.
SECTION 100. No obligation or liability of any person, associa- tion, or corporation held or owned by this State, or levee board, or any county, city, or town thereof, shall ever be remitted, re- leased, or postponed, or in any way diminished by the legislature, nor shall such liability or obligation be extinguished except by payment thereof into the proper treasury; nor shall such liability or obligation be exchanged or transferred except upon payment of its face value; but this shall not be construed to prevent the legislature from providing by general law for the compromise of doubtful claims.
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SECTION 101. The seat of government of the State shall be at the city of Jackson, and shall not be removed or relocated without the assent of a majority of the electors of the State.
MISCELLANEOUS.
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SECTION 102. All general elections for State and county officers shall commence and be holden every four years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, until altered by law; and the electors, in all cases except in cases of treason, felony, and breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and in going to and return- ing therefrom.
SECTION 103, In all cases not otherwise provided for in this constitution, the legislature may determine the mode of filling all vacancies, in all offices, and in cases of emergency provisional appointments may be made by the governor, to continue until the vacancy is regularly filled; and the legislature shall provide suitable compensation for all officers, and shall define their re- spective powers.
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SECTION 104. Statutes of limitation in civil cases shall not run against the State, or any subdivision or municipal corporation thereof.
SECTION 105. The legislature shall provide for the enumeration of the whole number of inhabitants, and the qualified electors of the State, once in every ten years; and the first enumeration shall be made during the two months beginning on the first Monday of June, 1895, and the legislature shall provide for the same by law.
SECTION 106. There shall be a State librarian, to be chosen by the legislature, on joint vote of the two houses, to serve for four years, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. Any woman, a resident of the State four years, and who has attained the age of twenty years, shall be eligible to said office.
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