or of violating, his said oath shall forfeit his office and be disqualified thereafter from holding any office of profit or trust in this State. APPORTIONMENT-SENATORIAL. SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall apportion the State every ten years. beginning with the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, by dividing the population of the State, as ascertained by the federal census, by the number fifty-one, and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the senate. The State shall be divided into fifty-one senatorial districts, each of which shall elect one senator, whose term of office shall be four years. The Senators elected in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in districts bearing odd numbers, shall vacate their offices at the end of two years, and those elected in districts bearing even numbers at the end of four years, and vacancies occurring by the expiration of term shall be filled by the election of senators for the full term. Senatorial districts shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory, bounded by county lines, and contain as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants; but no district shall contain less than four-fifths of the senatorial ratio. Counties containing not less than the ratio and three-fourths may be divided into separate districts, and shall be entitled to two senators, and to one additional senator for each number of inhabitants equal to the ratio contained by such counties in excess of twice the number of said ratio. REPRESENTATIVES. SEC. 7. The population of the State, as ascertained by the federal census, shall be divided by the number 153, and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the House of Representatives. Every county or district shall be entitled to one representative, when its population is three-fifths of the ratio; if any county has less than three-fifths of the ratio, it shall be attached to the adjoining county having the least population, to which no other county has, for the same reason, been attached, and the two shall constitute a separate district. Every county or district having a population not less than the ratio and three-fifths, shall be entitled to two representatives, and for each additional number of inhabitants, equal to the ratio, one representative. Counties having over 200,000 inhabitants may be divided into districts, each entitled to not less than three nor more than five representatives. After the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the whole population shall be divided by the number 159, and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the House of Representatives for the ensuing ten years, and six additional representatives shall be added for every 500,000 increase of population at each decennial census thereafter, and be apportioned in the same manner as above provided. SEC. 8 When a county or district shall have a fraction of population above what shall entitle it to one representative, or more, according to the provisions of the foregoing section, amounting to one-fifth of the ratio, it shall be entitled to one additional representative in the fifth term of each decennial period; when such fraction is two-fifths of the ratio, it shall be entitled to an additional representative in the fourth and fifth terms of said period; when the fraction is three-fifths of the ratio. it shall be entitled to an additional representative in the first, second and third terms, respectively; when a fraction is four-fifths of the ratio, it shall be entitled to an additional representative in the first, second, third and fourth terms, respectively. NOTE. By the adoption of minority representation, Sections 7 and 8 of this Article, above set forth, cease to be a part of the Constitution. Under Section 12 of the Schedule and the vote of adoption, the following section, relating to minority representation, is submitted for said sections: MINORITY REPRESENTATION. SECS. 7 and S. The House of Representatives shall consist of three times the number of the members of the Senate, and the term of office shall be two years. Three representatives shall be elected in each senatorial district at the general election in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and every two years thereafter. In all elections of representatives aforesaid, each qualified voter may cast as many votes for one candidate as there are representatives to be elected, or may distribute the same, or equal parts thereof. among the candidates, as he shall see fit; and the candidates highest in votes shall be declared elected. TIME OF MEETING AND GENERAL RULES. SEC. 9. The sessions of the General Assembly shall commence at 12:00 o'clock noon, on the Wednesday next after the first Monday in January, in the year next ensuing the election of members thereof, and at no other time, unless as provided by this constitution. A majority of the members elected to each house shall constitute a quorum. Each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings, and be the judge of the election, returns and qualifications of its members: shall choose its own officers; and the Senate shall choose a temporary president to preside when the Lieutenant Governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as Governor. The Secretary of State shall call the House of Representatives to order at the opening of each new assembly, and preside over it until a temporary presiding officer thereof shall have been chosen, and shall have taken his seat. No member shall be expelled by either house, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to that house, and no member shall be twice expelled for the same offense. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person not a member who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence. But no such imprisonment shall extend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless the person shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous behavior. SEC. 10. The door of each house and of committees of the whole shall be kept open, except in such cases as, in the opinion of the house, require secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, or to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be published. In the Senate, at the request of two members, and in the House, at the request of five members. the yeas and nays shall be taken on any question, and entered upon the journal. Any two members of either house shall have liberty to dissent from and protest, in respectful language, against any act or resolution which they think injurious to the public or to any individual, and have the reasons of their dissent entered upon the journals. STYLE OF LAWS AND PASSAGE OF BILLS. SEC. 11. The style of the laws of this State shall be: "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly.” SEC. 12. Bills may originate in either house, but may be altered, amended or rejected by the other; and. on the final passage of all bills, the vote shall be by yeas and nays, upon each bill separately, and shall be entered upon the journal; and no bill shall become a law without the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each house. SEC. 13. Every bill shall be read at large on three different days, in each house; and the bill and all amendments thereto shall be printed before the vote is taken on its final passage; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speaker thereof. No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. But if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed; and no law shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the law revived, or the section amended, shall be inserted at length in the new act. And no act of the General Assembly shall take effect until the first day of July next after its passage, unless, in case of emergency (which emergency shall be expressed in the preamble or body of the act), the General Assembly shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, otherwise direct. PRIVILEGES AND DISABILITIES. SEC. 14. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. SEC. 15. No person elected to the General Assembly shall receive any civil appointment within this State from the Governor, the Governor and Senate, or from the General Assembly, during the term for which he shall have been elected; and all such appointments, and all votes given for any such members for any such office or appointment, shall be void; nor shall any member of the General Assembly be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract with the State, or any county thereof, authorized by any law passed during the term for which he shall have been elected, or within one year after the expiration thereof. SEC. 16. The General Assembly shall make no appropriation of money out of the treasury in any private law. Bills making appropriations for the pay of members and officers of the General 'Assembly, and for the salaries of the officers of the government, shall contain no provision on any other subject. SEC. 17. No money shall be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law, and on the presentation of a warrant issued by the Auditor thereon; and no money shall be diverted from any appropriation made for any purpose, or taken from any fund whatever, either by joint or separate resolution. The Auditor shall, within sixty days after the adjournment of each session of the General Assembly, prepare and publish a full statement of all money expended at such session, specifying the amount of each item, and to whom and for what paid. SEC. 18. Each General Assembly shall provide for all the appropriations necessary for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the government until the expiration of the first fiscal quarter after the adjournment of the next regular session, the aggregate amount of which shall not be increased without a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, nor exceed the amount of revenue authorized by law to be raised in such time; and all appropriations, general or special, requiring money to be paid out of the State treasury, from funds belonging to the State, shall end with such fiscal quarter: Provided, the State may, to meet casual deficits or failures in revenues. contract debts, never to exceed in the aggregate two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and money thus borrowed shall be applied to the purpose for which they were obtained, or to pay the debt thus created, and to no other purpose; and no other debt, except for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or defending the State in war (for payment of which the faith of the State shall be pledged), shall be contracted, unless the law authorizing the same shall. at a general election, have been submitted to the people and have received a majority of the votes cast for members of the General Assembly at such election. The General Assembly shall provide for the publication of said law for three months, at least, before the vote of the people shall be taken upon the same; and provision shall be made, at the time. for the payment of the interest annually, as it shall accrue, by a tax levied for that purpose, or from other sources of revenue; which law, providing for the payment of such interest by such tax, shall be irrepealable until such debt be paid: And, provided further, that the law levying the tax shall be submitted to the people with the law authorizing the debt to be contracted. 1 SEC. 19. The General Assembly shall never grant or authorize extra compensation. fee or allowance to any public officer, agent, servant or contractor, after service has been rendered or a contract made, nor authorize the payment of any claim, or part thereof, hereafter created against the State under any agreement or contract made without express authority of law; and all such unauthorized agreements or contracts shall be null and void: Provided, the General Assembly may make appropriations for expenditures incurred in suppressing insurrection or repelling invasion. SEC. 20. The State shall never pay, assume or become responsible for the debts or liabilities of, or in any manner give, loan or extend its credit to, or in aid of, any public or other corporation, association or individual. PAY OF MEMBERS. SEC. 21. The members of the General Assembly shall receive for their services the sum of five dollars per day, during the first session held under this Constitution, and ten cents for each mile necessarily traveled in going to and returning from the seat of government, to be computed by the Auditor of Public Accounts; and thereafter such compensation as shall be prescribed by law, and no other allowance or emolument, directly or indirectly, for any purpose whatever, except the sum of fifty dollars per session to each member, which shall be in full for postage, stationery, newspaper and all other incidental expenses and perquisites; but no change shall be made in the compensation of members of the General Assembly during the term for which they may have been elected. The pay and mileage allowed to each member of the General Assembly shall be certified by the speakers of their respective houses, and entered on the journals, and published at the close of each session. SPECIAL LEGISLATION PROHIBITED. SEC. 22. The General Assembly shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say: for-- Granting divorces; Changing the names of persons or places; Laying out, opening, altering and working roads or highways; Locating or changing county seats; Regulating county and township affairs; Regulating the practice in courts of justice; Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace. police magistrates and constables; Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases; Incorporating cities, towns or villages, or changing or amending the charter of any town, city or village; Providing for the election of members of the board of supervisors in townships, incorporated towns or cities; Summoning and impaneling grand or petit juries; Providing for the management of common schools; Regulating the rate of interest on money; The opening and conducting of any election, or designating the place of voting; The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others under disability; Protection of game or fish; Chartering or licensing ferries or toll bridges; Remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures; Creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentage or allowances of public officers, during the term for which said officers are elected or appointed ; Changing the law of descent; Granting to any corporation, association or individual the right to lay down railroad tracks or amending existing charters for such purpose; Granting to any corporation, association or individual any special or exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever; In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted. SEC. 23. The General Assembly shall have no power to release or extinguish, in whole or in part, the indebtedness, liability or obligation of any corporation or individual to this State or to any municipal corporation therein. IMPEACHMENT. SEC. 24. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment; but a majority of all the members elected must concur therein. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. When the Governor of the State is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators elected. But judgment, in such cases, shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, profit or trust under the government of this State. whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to prosecution, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. MISCELLANEOUS. The party. SEC. 25. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, that the fuel, stationery and printing paper furnished for the use of the State; the copying. printing, binding and distributing the laws and journals, and all other printing ordered by the General Assembly shall be let by contract to the lowest responsible bidder; but the General Assembly shall fix a maximum price, and no member thereof, or other officer of the State, shall be interested. directly or indirectly, in such contract. But all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, and if he disapproves the same, there shall be a reletting of the contract, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. SEC. 26. The State of Illinois shall never be made defendant in any court of law or equity. SEC. 27. The General Assembly shall have no power to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises, for any purpose, and shall pass laws to prohibit the sale of lottery or gift enterprise tickets in this State. SEC. 28. No law shall be passed which shall operate to extend the term of any public officer after his election or appointment. SEC. 29. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass such laws as may be necessary for the protection of operative miners, by providing for ventilation, when the same may be required, and the construction of escapement shafts, or such other appliances as may secure safety in all coal mines. and to provide for the enforcement of said laws by such penalties and punishment as may be deemed proper. SEC. 30. The General Assembly may provide for establishing and opening roads and cartways, connected with a public road, for private and public use. SEC. 31. The General Assembly may pass laws permitting the owners of lands to construct drains, ditches and levees for agricultural, sanitary or mining purposes, across the lands of others, and provide for the organization of drainage districts, and vest the corporate authorities thereof with power to construct and maintain levees, drains and ditches, and to keep in repair all drains, ditches and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of this State, by special assessments upon the property benefited thereby.1 SEC. 32. The General Assembly shall pass liberal homestead and exemp tion laws. SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall not appropriate out of the State treasury, or expend on account of the new capitol grounds, and construction. completion and furnishing of the State house, a sum exceeding in the aggre gate $3,500,000.00, inclusive of all appropriations heretofore made, without first submitting the proposition for an additional expenditure to the legal voters of the State at a general election; nor unless a majority of all the votes cast at such election shall be for the proposed additional expenditure. SEC. 34. The General Assembly shall have power, subject to the conditions and limitations hereinafter contained, to pass any law (local, special or general) providing a scheme or charter of local municipal government for the territory now or hereafter embraced within the limits of the City of Chi1Amendment proposed by the General Assembly of 1877, ratified on November 5, and proclaimed adopted on November 29, 1878. |