USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 43
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SEC. 11. . The people are to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures.
SEC. 12. Bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, or laws impairing obligation of contracts, shall never be passed.
SEC. 13. No property shall be taken for public use without compensation.
SEC. 14. All laws in the State are allodial. Feudal tenures are prohibited.
SEC. 15. The rights of property are the same in resident aliens and citizens.
SEC. 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt. SEC. 17. Wholesome exemption laws shall be passed.
SEC. 18. Liberty of conscience and rights of worship shall never be abridged. The public money shall never be applied to sectarian uses.
SEC. 19. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any office.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
SEC. 20. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.
SEC. 21. Writs of error shall never be prohibited by law.
SEC. 22. A free government can only be maintained by adhering to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue.
ARTICLE II. BOUNDARIES.
SECTION 1. The boundary of the State, beginning at the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, runs with the boundary line of Michigan, through Lake Michigan and Green Bay, to the mouth of the Menominie River ; up that stream and the Brule River to Lake Brule; along the southern shore of that lake to the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the head of Montreal River ; down the main channel of that stream to the middle of Lake Superior ; thence through the center of said lake to the mouth of St. Louis River; up the channel of that stream to the first rapids ; thence due south to the main branch of the St. Croix; down that river and the Mississippi to the northwest corner of Illinois; thence due east with the northern boundary of that State to the place of beginning.
SEC. 2. The propositions in the enabling act of Congress are accepted and confirmed.
ARTICLE III. SUFFRAGE.
SECTION 1. The qualified electors are all male persons twenty-one years of age or upward, who are (1.) white citizens of the United States ; (2.) who are white persons of foreign birth that have declared their intentions, according to law, to become citizen's; (3) who are persons of Indian blood and citizens of the United States ; and (4.) civilized Indians not members of any tribe.
SEC. 2. Persons under guardianship, such as are non compus mentis or insane, and those convicted of treason and felony and not pardoned, are not qualified electors.
SEC. 3. All votes shall be by ballot, except for township officers when otherwise directed by law.
SEC. 4. No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence by reason of his absence on business for the State or United States.
SEC. 5. No person in the army or navy shall become a resident of the State in conse- quence of being stationed therein.
SEC. 6. Persons convicted of bribery, laiceny or any infamous crime, or those who bet on elections, may be excluded by law from the right of suffrage.
ARTICLE IV. LEGISLATIVE.
SECTION 1. The Legislative power is invested in a Senate and Assembly.
SEC. 2. Members of the Assembly shall never number less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred; of the Senate, not more than one-third, nor less than one-fourth of the mem- bers of the Assembly.
SEC. 3. Census shall be taken, every ten years, of the inhabitants of the State, beginning with 1855, when a new apportionment of members of the Senate and Assembly shall be made ; also, after each United States census.
SEC. 4. Members of the Assembly shall be chosen on the Tuesday succceding the first Monday of November of each year.
SEC. 5. Members of the Senate shall be elected for two years, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the Assembly.
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CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN.
SEC. 6. No person shall be eligible to the Legislature, unless a resident of the State one year, and a qualified elector.
SEC. 7. Each House shall be the judge of the qualifications of its members. A majority shall be necessary to form a quorum.
SEC. 8. Each House shall make its own rules.
SEC. 9. Each House shall choose its own officers.
SEC. 10. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings.
SEC. 11. The Legislature shall meet at the seat of government once a year.
SEC. 12. No member shall be eligible to any other civil office in the State, during the term for which he was elected.
SEC. 13. No member shall be eligible to any office of the United States, during the term for which he was eleeted.
SEC. 14. Writs of eleetion, to fill vacancies in either House, shall be issued by the Gov- ernor.
SEC. 15. Except treason, felony and breach of the peace, members are privileged from arrest in all cases ; nor subject to any eivil process during a session.
SEC. 16. Members are not liable for words spoken in debate.
SEC. 17. The style of all laws shall be, "The people of the State of Wisconsin rep- resented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
SEC. 18. Private or local bills shall not embrace more than one subject.
SEC. 19. Bills may originate in either House, and a bill passed by one House may be amended by the other.
SEC. 20. Yeas and nays, at the request of one-sixth of the members present, shall be entered on the journal.
SEC. 21. [Each member shall receive, as an annual compensation, three hundred and fifty dollars and ten cents for each mile traveled in going to and returning from the seat of gov- ernment]. As amended in 1867.
SEC. 22. Boards of Supervisors may be vested with powers of a local, legislative and administrative character, such as shall be conferred by the Legislature.
SEC. 23. One system only, of town and county government, shall be established by the Legislature. SEC. 24. The Legislature shall never authorize any lottery, or grant any divorec.
SEC. 25. Stationery, for State use and State printing, shall be let by contract to the low- est bidder. SEC. 26. Extra compensation to any public officer shall not be granted after service is rendered, nor shall his compensation be increased or diminished during his term of office.
SEC. 27. The Legislature shall direct, by law, in what manner and in what Courts suits against the State may be brought.
SEC. 28. Public officers shall all take an oath of office.
SEC. 29. The Legislature shall determine what persons shall constitute the militia, and may provide for organizing the same.
SEC. 30. Members of the Legislature shall vote viva voce in all elcetions made by them.
SEC. 31. [Special legislation is prohibited (1) for changing the name of persons, or con- stituting one person the heir-at-law of another ; (2) for laying out, opening or altering high - ways, except in certain cases ; (3) for authorizing persons to keep ferries; (4) for authorizing the sale of the property of minors: (5) for locating a county seat ; (G) for assessment of taxes ; (7) for granting corporate powers, except to cities : (8) for apportioning any part of the school fund ; and (9) for incorporating any town or village, or to award the charter thereof]. Added by amendment, in 1871.
SEC. 32. [General laws shall be passed for the transaction of any business prohibited by Section 21 of this Article.] Added by amendment, in 1871.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
ARTICLE V.
SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office two years. A Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the same time and for the same term.
SEC. 2. Governor and Lieutenant Governor must be citizens of the United States. and qualified electors of the State.
SEC. 3. Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected at the times and places of choosing members of the Legislature.
SEC. 4. The Governor shall be (1) commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the State : (2) he has power to convene the Legislature in extra session ; (3) he shall communi- cate to the Legislature all necessary information : (4) he shall transact all necessary business with the officers of the State ; and (5) shall expedite all legislative measures, and see that the laws are faithfully executed.
SEC. 5. [The Governor's salary shall be five thousand dollars per annum. ] As amended in 1869.
SEC. 6. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons.
SEC. 7. The executive duties shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor when, from any cause, the executive office is vacated by the Governor.
SEC. 8. The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Senate. The Secretary of State shall aet as Governor when both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are incapacitated from any causes to fill the executive office.
SEC. 9. [The Lieutenant Governor shall receive a salary of one thousand dollars per annum.] As amended in 1869.
SEC. 10. All legislative bills shall be presented to the Governor for his signature before they become laws. Bills returned by the Governor without his signature may become laws by agreement of two-thirds of the members present in each house.
ARTICLE VI. ADMINISTRATION.
SECTION 1. A Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the Legislature, who shall severally hold their offices for two years.
SEC. 2. The Secretary of State shall keep a record of the official acts of the Legislature and Executive Department. He shall be ex officio Auditor.
SEC. 3. The powers, duties and compensation of the Treasurer and Attorney General shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 4. Sheriff's, Coroners. Registers of Deeds and District Attorneys shall be elected every two years.
ARTICLE VII. JUDICIARY.
SECTION 1. The Senate shall form the Court of Impeachment. Judgment shall not extend further than removal from office : but the person impeached shall be liable to indictment. trial and punishment, according to law.
SEC. 2. The judicial power of the State is vested in a Supreme Court, Circuit Courts. Courts of Probate. and in Justices of the Peace. Municipal courts, also, may be authorized.
SEC. 3. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction only. Trial by jury is not allowed in any case. The Court shall have a general superintending control over inferior courts. and power to issue writs of habeas corpus. mandamus. injunction. quo warranto. certiorari. and other original and remedial writs.
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CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN.
SEC. 4. [The Supreme Court shall consist of one Chief Justice, and four Associate Justices, each for the term of ten years.] As amended in 1877.
SEC. 5. The State shall be divided into five Judicial Circuits.
SEC. 6. The Legislature may alter the limits or increase the number of the circuits.
SEC. 7. There shall be a Judge chosen for each Circuit, who shall reside therein ; his term of office shall be six years.
SEC. 8. The Cireuit Courts shall have original jurisdiction in all matters eivil and crim- inal, not excepted in this Constitution, and not prohibited hereafter by law, and appellate juris- diction from all inferior courts. They shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, man- damus, injunction, quo warranto, certiorari, and all other writs necessary to carry their orders and judgments into effect.
SEC. 9. Vacancies in the office of Supreme or Circuit Judge shall be filled by the Gover- nor. Election for Judges shall not be at any general election, nor within thirty days before or after said election.
SEC. 10. Judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts shall receive a salary of not less than one thousand five hundred dollars, and shall hold no other office, except a judicial one, during the term for which they are respectively elected. Each Judge shall be a citizen of the United States, and have attained the age of twenty-five years. He shall also be a qualified elector within the jurisdiction for which he may be chosen.
SEC. 11. The Supreme Court shall hold at least one term annually. A Circuit Court shall be held at least twice in each year, in each county of this State organized for judicial pur- poses.
SEC. 12. There shall be a Clerk of the Circuit Court chosen in each county, whose term of office shall be two years. The Supreme Court shall appoint its own Clerk.
SEC. 13. Any Judge of the Supre.ne or Circuit Court may be removed from office by vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to both Senate and Assembly.
SEC. 14. A Judge of Probate shall be elected in each county, who shall hold his office for two years.
SEC. 15. Justices of the Peace shall be elected in the several towns, villages and cities of the State, in such manner as the Legislature may direct, whose term of office shall be two years. Their eivil and criminal jurisdiction shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 16. Laws shall be passed for the regulation of tribunals of conciliation. These may be established in and for any township.
SEC. 17. The style of all writs and process shall be " The State of Wisconsin." Criminal prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by authority of the State : and all indictments shall conclude against the peace and dignity of the same.
SEC. 18. A tax shall be imposed by the Legislature on all civil suits, which shall consti- tute a fund, to be applied toward the payment of the salary of Judges.
SEC. 19. Testimony in equity causes shall be taken the same as in cases at law. The office of Master in Chancery is prohibited.
SEC. 20. Any suitor may prosecute or defend his ease in his own proper person, or by attorney or agent.
SEC. 21. Statute laws and such judicial decisions as are deemed expedient, shall be pub- lished. No general law shall be in force until published.
SEC. 22. The Legislature at its first session shall provide for the appointment of three Commissioners to revise the rules of practice in the several Courts of Record in the State.
SEC. 23. The Legislature may confer judicial powers on one or more persons in each organized county of the State. Powers granted to such Commissioners shall not exceed that fo a Judge of a Circuit Court at chambers.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
ARTICLE VIII.
FINANCE.
SECTION 1. Taxation shall be uniform, and taxes shall be levied upon such property as the Legislature may prescribe.
SECTION 2. [No money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance of an appro- priation by law. Claims made against the State must be filed within six years after having accrued.] As amended in 1877.
SEC. 3. The credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association or corporation.
SEC. 4. The State shall never contract any public debt, except in the cases and manner provided in this Constitution.
SEC. 5. A tax shall be levied each year sufficient to defray estimated expenses.
SEC. 6. Debts not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars may be contracted by the State, which shall be paid within five years thereafter.
SEC. 7. The Legislature may borrow moncy to repel invasion, suppress insurrection or defend the State in time of war.
SEC. 8. All fiscal laws in the Legislature shall be voted on by yeas and nays.
SEC. 9. State scrip shall not be issued except for such debts as are authorized by the sixth and seventh sections of this article.
SEC. 10. No debt for internal improvements shall be contracted by the State.
ARTICLE IX.
EMINENT DOMAIN AND PROPERTY OF THE STATE.
SECTION 1. The State shall have concurrent jurisdiction on all rivers and lakes border- ing on Wisconsin.
SEC. 2. The title to all property which has accrued to the Territory of Wisconsin shall vest in the State of Wisconsin.
SEC. 3. The ultimate property in and to all lands of the State is possessed by the people.
ARTICLE X. EDUCATION.
SECTION 1. The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a State Superintend- ent and such other officers as the Legislature shall direct. The annual compensation of the State Superintendent shall not exceed twelve hundred dollars.
SEC. 2. The school fund to support and maintain common schools, academies and nor- mal schools, and to purchase apparatus and libraries therefor, shall be created out of (1) the proceeds of lands from the United States: (2) out of forfeitures and escheats ; (3) out of moneys paid as exemptions from military duty ; (4) out of fines collected for breach of penal laws ; (5) out of any grant to the State where the purposes of such grant are not specified : (6) out of the proceeds of the sale of five hundred thousand acres of land granted by Congress Sep- tember 14, 1841; and (7) out of the five per centum of the net proceeds of the public lands to which the State shall become entitled on lier admission into the Union (if Congress shall con- sent to such appropriation of the two grants last mentioned.)
SEC. 3. District schools shall be established by law which shall be free to all children be- tween the ages of four and twenty years. No sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein.
SEC. 4. Each town and city shall raise for common schools therein by taxation a sum equal to one-half the amount received from the school fund of the State.
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CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN.
SEC. 5. Provisions shall be made by law for the distribution of the income of the schools fund among the several towns and cities for the support of common schools therein ; but no appropriation shall be made when there is a failure to raise the proper tax, or when a school shall not have been maintained at least three months of the year.
SEC. 6. Provision shall be made by law for the establishment of a State University. The proceeds of all lands granted for the support of a university by the United States shall consti- tute " the University fund," the interest of which shall be appropriated to the support of the State University. No seetarian instruction shall be allowed in such university.
SEC. 7. The Seeretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General shall constitute a Board of Commissioners to sell school and university lands and for the investments of the proceeds thereof.
SEC. 8. School and university lands shall be appraised and sold according to law. The Commissioners shall execute deeds to purchasers, and shall invest the proceeds of the sales of such lands in such manner as the Legislature shall provide.
ARTICLE XI. CORPORATIONS.
SECTION 1. Corporations without banking powers may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes, and in cases where, in the judgment of the Legislature, the objects of the corporation cannot be attained under general laws.
SEC. 2. No municipal corporation shall take private property for public use, against the consent of the owner, except by jury trial.
SEC. 3. Cities and incorporated villages shall be organized, and their powers restricted by law so as to prevent abuses. [No county, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal corporation, shall become indebted to exceed five per centum on the value of the taxable property therein.] As amended in 1874.
SEC. 4. Banks shall not be created except as provided in this article.
SEC. 5. The question of " bank " or "no bank " may be submitted to the voters of the State; and if a majority of all the votes cast shall be in favor of banks, the Legislature shall have power to grant bank charters, or pass a general banking law.
ARTICLE XII.
SECTION 1. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in either house of the Legis- lature, and referred to the next Legislature and published for three months previous. If agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then the amendment or amendments shall submit them to the vote of the people; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, they shall become a part of the Constitution.
SEC. 2. If a convention to revise or change the Constitution shall be deemed necessary by the Legislature, they shall recommend to the electors of the State to vote at the next general election for or against the same. If the vote shall be for the calling of such convention, then the Legislature, at its next session, shall provide for the same.
ARTICLE XIII. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
SECTION 1. The political year for Wisconsin shall commence on the first Monday in Jan- uary in each year. General elections shall be holden on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November.
SEC. 2. A duelist shall not be qualified as an elector in this State.
SEC. 3. United States officers (except Postmasters), publie defaulters, or persons convicted of infamous crimes, shall not be eligible to office in this State.
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SEC. 4. A great seal for the State shall be provided, and all official acts of the Governor (except his approbation of the laws), shall be authenticated thereby.
SEC. 5. Residents on Indian lands may vote, if duly qualified, at the polls nearest their residence.
SEC. 6. Elective officers of the Legislature, other than the presiding officers, shall be a Chief Clerk, and a Sergeant-at-Arms, to be elected by cach House.
SEC. 7. No county with an area of nine hundred square miles or less, shall be divided. without submitting the question to the vote of the people of the county.
SEC. 8. [The Legislature is prohibited from enacting any special or private laws, for locating or changing any county seat.] See amendment adopted in 1871, as Sec. 31 (Subdivision 5) of Art. IV.
SEC. 9. Officers not provided for by this Constitution shall be elected as the Legislature shall direct.
SEC. 10. The Legislature may declare the eases in which any office shall be deemed vacant, and also the manner of filling the vacancy, where no provision is made for that purpose in this Constitution.
ARTICLE XIV. SCHEDULE.
SECTION 1. All rights under the Territorial government are continued under the State government. Territorial processes are valid after the State is admitted into the Union.
SEC. 2. Existing laws of the Territory of Wisconsin not repugnant to this Constitution shall remain in force until they expire by limitation or are altered or repealed.
SEC. 3. All fines, penalties or forfeitures acerning to the Territory of Wisconsin shall inure to the use of the State.
SEC. 4. Territorial recognizances. bonds and public property shall pass to and be vested in the State. Criminal prosecutions, offenses committed against the laws, and all actions at law and suits in equity in the Territory of Wisconsin shall be contained in and prosecuted by the State.
SEC. 5. Officers holding under authority of the United States or of the Territory of Wis- consin shall continue in office until superseded by State authority.
SEC. 6. The first session of the State Legislature shall commence on the first Monday in June next, and shall be held at the village of Madison, which shall be and remain the seat of government until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 7. Existing county and town officers shall hold their offices until the Legislature of the State shall provide for the holding of elections to fill such offices.
SEc. 8. A copy of this Constitution shall be transmitted to the President of the United States to be laid before Congress at its present session.
SEC. 9. This Constitution shall be submitted to the vote of the people for ratification or rejection on the second Monday in March next. If ratified, an election shall be held for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, members of the State Legisla- ture and members of Congress, on the second Monday of May next.
SEC. 10. [Omitted. See Section 1, Chapter 3. Acts of Extra Session of 1878.]
SEC. 11. The several elections provided for in this Article shall be conducted according to the existing laws of the Territory of Wisconsin.
SEC. 12. [Omitted. See Scetion 1, Chapter 3, Acts of Extra Session of 1878.]
SEC. 13. The common law in force in the Territory of Wisconsin shall continue in force in the State until altered or suspended by the Legislature.
SEC. 14. The Senators first elected in the even-numbered Senate distriets, the Governor. Lieutenant Governor and other State officers first eleeted under this Constitution, shall enter upon their duties ou the first Monday of June next, and hold their offices for one year from the first Monday of January next. The Senators first elected in the odd-numbered districts and the
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CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
members of the Assembly first elected shall enter upon their duties on the first Monday of June next, and continue in office until the first Monday in January next.
SEC. 15. The oath of office may be administered by any Judge or Justice of the Peace, until the Legislature shall otherwise direct.
We, the undersigned, members of the Convention to form a Constitution for the State of Wisconsin, to be submitted to the people thereof for their ratification or rejection, do hereby certify that the foregoing is the Constitution adopted by the Convention.
In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, at Madison, the 1st day of Feb- ruary, A. D. 1848.
MORGAN L. MARTIN,
President of the Convention and Delegute from Brown County.
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