USA > Ohio > The biographical annals of Ohio, 1902-1903. A handbook of the government and institutions of the state of Ohio. Vol. 1 > Part 10
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SEC. 17. Judges may be removed from office, by concurrent reso- lution of both houses of the General Assembly, if two-thirds of the mem- bers elected to each house concur therein; but no such removal shall be made, except on complaint, the substance of which shall be entered on the journal, nor, until the party charged shall have had notice there- of, and an opportunity to be heard.
SEC. 18. The several judges of the supreme court (of the cir- cuit court), of the common pleas (court), and of such other courts as may be created, shall, respectively, have and exercise such power and jurisdiction, at chambers, or otherwise, as may be directed by law.
SEC. 19. The General Assembly may establish courts of concilia- tion, and prescribe their powers and duties ; but such courts shall not render final judgment in any case, except upon submission, by the par-
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ties, of the matter in dispute, and their agreement to abide by such judgment.
SEC. 20. The style of all process shall be "The State of Ohio;" all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name, and by the authority, of the State of Ohio; and all indictments shall conclude, "against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio."
SEC. 22. (21) A commission, which shall consist of five mem- bers, shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the members of which shall hold office for the term of three years from and after the first day of February, 1876, to dispose of such part of the business then on the dockets of the supreme court as shall, by arrangement between said commission and said court, be trans- ferred to such commission ; and said commission shall have like juris- diction and power in respect to such business as are or may be vested in said court; and the members of said commission shall receive a like compensation for the time being with the judges of said court. A ma- jority of the members of said commission shall be necessary to form a quorum or pronounce a decision, and its decision shall be certified, entered, and enforced as the judgments of the supreme court; and at the expiration of the term of said commission all business undisposed of shall by it be certified to the supreme court, and disposed of as if said commission had never existed. The clerk and reporter of said court shall be the clerk and reporter of said commission, and the commis- sion shall have such other attendants, not exceeding in number those provided by law for said court, which attendants said commission may appoint and remove at its pleasure. Any vacancy occurring in said commission shall be filled by appointment of the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, if the senate be in session; and if the senate be not in session, by the governor; but in such last case, such ap- pointment shall expire at the end of the next session of the General As- sembly. The General Assembly may, on application of the supreme court, duly entered on the journal of the court and certified, provide by law, whenever two-thirds of each house shall concur therein, from time to time, for the appointment in like manner of a like commis- sion with like powers, jurisdiction, and duties; provided that the term of any such commission shall not exceed two years, nor shall it be cre- ated oftener than once in ten years. [As adopted October 12, 1875; 72 v. 269.]
ARTICLE V.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
SECTION 1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the . age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the state one
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year next preceding the election, and of the county, township, or ward, in which he resides, such time as may be provided by law, shall have the qualifications of an elector, and be entitled to vote at all elections.
SEC. 2. All elections shall be by ballot.
SEC. 3 Electors during their attendance at elections, and in going to, and returning therefrom, shall be privileged from arrest, in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace.
SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall have power to exclude from the privilege of voting, or of being eligible to office, any person con- victed of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime.
SEC. 5. No person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States shall, by being stationed in any garrison, or military, or naval station, within the state, be considered a resident of this state.
SEC. 6. No idiot, or insane person shall be entitled to the privi- leges of an elector.
ARTICLE VI.
EDUCATION. . .
SECTION 1. The principal of all funds arising from the sale or other disposition of lands or other property granted or entrusted to this state for educational or religious purposes, shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished; and the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original grants or ap- propriations.
SEC. 2. The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state, but no religious or other sect or sects shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.
ARTICLE VII.
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.
SECTION 1. Institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind and deaf and dumb, shall always be fostered and supported by the state; and be subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the General As- sembly.
SEC. 2. The directors of the penitentiary shall be appointed or elected in such manner as the General Assembly may direct; and the trustees of the benevolent and other state institutions now elected by the General Assembly, and of such other state institutions as may be here- after created, shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the ad-
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vice and consent of the senate; and upon all nominations made by the governor, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals of the senate.
SEC. 3. The governor shall have power to fill all vacancies that may ocur in the offices aforesaid, until the next session of the General Assembly, and until a successor to his appointee shall be confirmed and qualified.
ARTICLE VIII.
PUBLIC DEBT AND PUBLIC WORKS.
SECTION 1. The state may contract debts to supply casual defi- cits or failures in revenues, or to meet expenses not otherwise provided for; but the aggregate amount of such debts, direct or contingent, whether contracted by virtue of one or more acts of the General As- sembly, or at different periods of time, shall never exceed seven hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars; and the money arising from the cre- ation of such debts shall be applied to the purpose for which it was ob- tained, or to repay the debts so contracted, and to no other purpose what- ever.
SEC. 2. In addition to the above limited power, the state may con- tract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, defend the state in war, or to redeem the present outstanding indebtedness of the state; but the money arising from the contracting of such debts shall be ap- plied to the purpose for which it was raised, or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose whatever; and all debts incurred to redeem the present outstanding indebtedness of the state, shall be so contracted as to be payable by the sinking fund, hereinafter provided for, as the same shall accumulate.
SEC. 3. Except the debts above specified in sections one and two of this article, no debt whatever shall hereafter be created by or on behalf of the state.
SEC. 4. The credit of the state shall not, in any manner. be given or loaned to, or in aid of, any individual association or corporation whatever; nor shall the state ever hereafter become a joint owner or stockholder in any company or association in this state, or elsewhere formed, for any purpose whatever.
SEC. 5. The state shall never assume the debts of any county, city, town or township, or of any corporation whatever, unless such debt shall have been created to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state in war.
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'SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall never authorize any county, city, town or township, by vote of its citizens or otherwise, to become a stockholder in any joint stock company, corporation, or association whatever; or to raise money for, or loan its credit to, or in aid of, any such company, corporation or association.
SEC. 7. The faith of the state being pledged for the payment of its public debt, in order to provide therefor there shall be created a sinking fund, which shall be sufficient to pay the accruing interest on such debt, and annually, to reduce the principal thereof, by a sum not . less than one hundred thousand dollars, increased yearly, and each and every year, by compounding at the rate of six percent per annum. The said sinking fund shall consist of the net annual income of the public works and stocks owned by the state, or any other funds or resources that are, or may be, provided by law, and of such further sums, to be raised by taxation, as may be required for the purposes aforesaid.
SEC. 8. The auditor of state, secretary of state, and attorney- general, are hereby created a board of commissioners, to be styled, "The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund."
SEC. 9. The commissioners of the sinking fund shall, imme- diately preceding each regular session of the General Assembly, make an estimate of the probable amount of the fund, provided for in the seventh section of this article, from all sources except from taxation, and report the same, together with all their proceedings relative to said fund and the public debt, to the governor, who shall transmit the same with his regular message to the General Assembly; and the General Assembly shall make all necessary provision for raising and disbursing said sinking fund, in pursuance of the provisions of this article.
SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of the said commissioners faith- fully to apply said fund, together with all moneys that may be, by the General Assembly, appropriated to that object, to the payment of the interest, as it becomes due, and the redemption of the principal of the public debt of the state, excepting only the school and trust funds held by the state.
SEC. 11. The said commissioners shall, semi-annually, make a full and detailed report of their proceedings to the governor, who shall immediately cause the same to be published, and shall also communi- cate the same to the General Assembly forthwith, if it be in session, and if not, then at its first session after such report shall be made.
SEC. 12. So long as this state shall have public works which re- quire superintendence, there shall be a board of public works, to con- sist of three members, who shall be elected by the people at the first general election after the adoption of this constitution, one for the term
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of one year, one for the term of two years, and one for the term of three years; and one member of said board shall be elected annually thereafter, who shall hold his office for three years.
SEC. 13. The powers and duties of said board of public works, and its several members, and their compensation, shall be such as are now, or may be, prescribed by law.
ARTICLE IX.
MILITIA.
SECTION 1. . All white male citizens, residents of this state, being eighteen years of age, and under the age of forty-five years, shall be enrolled in the militia, and perform military duty, in such manner, not incompatible with the constitution and laws of the United States, as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. Majors general, brigadiers general, colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, captains, and subalterns, shall be elected by the per- sons subject to military duty, in their respective districts.
SEC. 3. The governor shall appoint the adjutant-general, quarter- master-general, and such other staff officers as may be provided for by law. Majors general, brigadiers general, colonels, or commandants of regiments, battalions, or squadrons, shall, severally, appoint their staff, and captains shall appoint their non-commissioned officers and musi- cians.
SEC. 4. The governor shall commission all officers of the line and staff, ranking as such; and shall have power to call forth the militia, to execute the laws of the state, to suppress insurrection, and repel in- vasion.
SEC. 5. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for the pro- tection and safe-keeping of the public arms.
ARTICLE X.
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATIONS.
SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for the election of such county and township officers as may be necessary.
SEC. 2. County officers shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, by the electors of each county, in such manner and for such term, not exceeding three years, as may be pro- vided by law. [As amended October 13, 1885; 82 v. 446.]
SEC. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of sheriff, or county treasurer, for more than four years, in any period of six years.
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SEC. 4. Township officers shall be elected by the electors of each township at such time, in such manner, and for such term, not exceed- ing three years, as may be provided by law; but shall hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified. [As amended October 13, 1885; 82 v. 449.]
SEC. 5. No money shall be drawn from any county or township treasury, except by authority of law.
SEC. 6. Justices of the peace, and county and township officers, may be removed in such manner, and for such cause, as shall be pre- scribed by law.
SEC. 7. The commissioners of counties, the trustees of townships, and similar boards, shall have such power of local taxation for police purposes, as may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE XI.
APPORTIONMENT.
SECTION 1. The apportionment of this state for members of the General Assembly shall be made every ten years, after the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the following manner: The whole population of the state, as ascertained by the federal census, or in such other mode as the General Assembly may direct, shall be divided by the number "one hundred," and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the house of representatives, for the ten years next succeeding such apportionment.
SEC. 2. Every county having a population equal to one-half of said ratio, shall be entitled to one representative; every county, con- taining said ratio, and three-fourths over, shall be entitled to two repre- sentatives ; every county containing three times said ratio, shall be en- titled to three representatives, and so on, requiring after the first two, an entire ratio for each additional representative.
SEC. 3. When any county shall have a fraction above the ratio, so large, that being multiplied by five, the result will be equal to one or more ratios, additional representatives shall be apportioned for such ratios, among the several sessions of the decennial period, in the follow- ing manner: If there be only one ratio, a representative shall be allot- ted to the fifth session of the decennial period; if there are two ratios, a representative shall be allotted to the fourth and third sessions, respect- ively; if three, to the third, second and first sessions, respectively ; if four, to the fourth, third, second, and first sessions, respectively.
SEC. 4. Any county forming with another county, or counties, a representative district, during one decennial period, if it have ac-
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quired sufficient population at the next decennial period, shall be en- titled to a separate representation, if there shall be left, in the district from which it shall have been separated, a population sufficient for a representative; but no such change shall be made except at the regular decennial period for the apportionment of representatives.
SEC. 5. If, in fixing any subsequent ratio, a county, previously entitled to separate representation, shall have less than the number required by the new ratio for a representative, such county shall be attached to the county adjoining it, having the least number of in- habitants; and the representation of the district, so formed, shall be determined as herein provided.
SEC. 6. The ratio for a senator shall forever, hereafter, be as- certained, by dividing the whole population of the state by the num- ber thirty-five.
SEC. 7. The state is hereby divided into thirty-three senatorial districts, as follows: The county of Hamilton shall constitute the first senatorial district; the counties of Butler and Warren the second ; Montgomery and Preble, the third; Clermont and Brown the fourth ; Greene, Clinton and Fayette, the fifth; Ross and Highland, the sixth; Adams, Pike, Scioto and Jackson, the seventh ; Lawrence, Gallia, Meigs and Vinton the eighth; Athens, Hocking and Fairfield, the ninth; Franklin and Pickaway, the tenth; Clark, Champaign and Madison, the eleventh; Miami, Darke and Shelby, the twelfth; Logan, Union, Mar- ion and Hardin, the thirteenth; Washington and Morgan, the four- teenth ; Muskingum and Perry, the fifteenth; Delaware and Licking the sixteenth; Knox and Morrow, the seventeenth; Coshocton and Tuscara- was, the eighteenth; Guernsey and Monroe, the nineteenth; Belmont and Harrison, the twentieth; Carroll and Stark, the twenty-first; Jef- ferson and Columbiana, the twenty-second; Trumbull and Mahoning, the twenty-third; Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga, the twenty-fourth; Cuyahoga, the twenty-fifth; Portage and Summit, the twenty-sixth; Medina and Lorain, the twenty-seventh; Wayne and Holmes, the twenty-eighth; Ashland and Richland, the twenty-ninth; Huron, Erie, Sandusky and Ottawa, the thirtieth; Seneca, Crawford and Wyandot, the thirty-first; Mercer, Auglaize, Allen, Van Wert, Paulding, Defi- ance and Williams, the thirty-second; and Hancock, Wood, Lucas, Ful- ton, Henry and Putnam, the thirty-third. For the first decennial pe- riod, after the adoption of this constitution, each of said districts shall be entitled to one senator, except the first district, which shall be en- titled to three senators.
SEC. 8. The same rule shall be applied in apportioning the frac- tions of senatorial districts, and in annexing districts, which may here-
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after have less than three-fourths of a senatorial ratio, as are applied to representative districts.
SEC. 9. Any county forming part of a senatorial district, having acquired a population equal to a full senatorial ratio, shall be made a separate senatorial district at any regular decennial apportionment, if a full senatorial ratio shall be left in the district from which it shall be taken.
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SEC. 10. For the first ten years after the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, the apportionment of representatives shall be as provided in the schedule, and no change shall ever be made in the principles of representation as herein established, or in the senatorial districts, except as above provided. All territory belonging to a county at the time of any appointment shall, as to the right of representation and suffrage, remain an integral part thereof during the decennial pe- riod.
SEC. 11. The governor, auditor and secretary of state, or any two of them, shall, at least six months prior to the October election, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and at each decen- nial period thereafter, ascertain and determine the ratio of representa- tion, according to the decennial census, the number of representatives and senators each county or district shall be entitled to elect, and for what years, within the next ensuing ten years, and the governor shall cause the same to be published in such manner as shall be directed by law.
JUDICIAL APPORTIONMENT.
SEC. 12. For judicial purposes, the state shall be apportioned as follows :
The county of Hamilton shall constitute the first district, which shall not be subdivided ; and the judges therein may hold separate courts or separate sittings of the same court at the same time.
The counties of Butler, Preble and Darke shall constitute the first subdivision; Montgomery, Miami and Champaign the second; and Warren, Clinton, Greene and Clark, the third subdivision of the sec- ond district; and together shall form such district.
The counties of Shelby, Auglaize, Allen, Hardin, Logan, Union and Marion, shall constitute the first subdivision; Mercer, Van Wert. Putnam, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Henry and Fulton, the sec- ond; and Wood, Seneca, Hancock, Wyandot and Crawford, the third subdivision of the third district; and, together, shall form such district.
The counties of Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie and Huron shall constitute the first subdivision ; Lorain, Medina and Summit, the sec- ond; and the county of Cuyahoga, the third subdivision of the fourth district; and, together, shall form such district.
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The counties of Clermont, Brown and Adams shall constitute the first subdivision; Highland, Ross and Fayette, the second; and Picka- way, Franklin and Madison, the third subdivision of the fifth district; and, together, shall form such district.
The counties of Licking, Knox and Delaware, shall constitute the first subdivision; Morrow, Richland and Ashland, the second; and Wayne, Holmes and Coshocton, the third subdivision of the sixth dis- trict; and, together, shall form such district.
The counties of Fairfield, Perry and Hocking, shall constitute the first subdivision; Jackson, Vinton, Pike, Scioto, and Lawrence, the second; and Gallia, Meigs, Athens and Washington, the third subdi- vision of the seventh district, and, together, shall form such district.
The counties of Muskingum and Morgan shall constitute the first subdivision ; Guernsey, Belmont and Monroe, the second ; and Jefferson, Harrison and Tuscarawas, the third subdivision of the eighth district; and, together, shall form such district.
The counties of Stark, Carroll and Columbiana shall constitute the first subdivision; Trumbull, Portage and Mahoning, the second; and Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula, the third subdivision of the ninth district ; and, together, shall form such district.
SEC. 13. The General Assembly shall attach any new counties that may hereafter be erected to such districts or subdivisions thereof as shall be most convenient.
ARTICLE XII.
FINANCE AND TAXATION.
SECTION 1. The levying of taxes by the poll is grievous and op- pressive ; therefore, the General Assembly shall never levy a poll tax for county or state purposes.
SEC. 2. Laws shall be passed taxing by a uniform rule all moneys, credits, investments in bonds, stock, joint stock companies, or otherwise ; and also all real and personal property according to its true value in money ; but burying grounds, public school houses, houses used exclu- sively for public worship, institutions of purely public charity, public property used exclusively for any public purpose, and personal property `to an amount not exceeding in value two hundred dollars, for each in- dividual may, by general laws be exempted from taxation ; but all such laws shall be subject to alteration or repeal ; and the value of all proper- ty so exempted shall from time to time, be ascertained and published, as may be directed by law.
SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall provide by law for taxing the notes and bills discounted or purchased, moneys loaned, and all other
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property, effects or dues, of every description, without deduction, of all banks, now existing, or hereafter created, and of all bankers, so that all property employed in banking shall always bear a burden of taxation equal to that imposed on the property of individuals.
SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall provide for raising revenue sufficient to defray the expenses of the state for each year, and also a sufficient sum to pay the interest on the state debt.
SEC. 5. No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law; and every law imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the same, to which only it shall be applied.
SEC. 6. The state shall never contract any debt for purposes of in- ternal improvement.
ARTICLE XIII.
CORPORATIONS.
SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall pass no special act con- ferring corporate powers.
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