SEC. 27. Every statute shall be a public law, unless otherwise declared in the statute itself.

SEC. 28. No act shall take effect until the same shall have been published and circulated in the several counties of this State, by authority, except in case of emergency; which emergency shall be declared in the preamble or in the body of the law.

SEC. 29. The members of the General Assembly shall receive for their services a compensation, to be fixed by law; but no increase of compensation shall take effect during the session at which such increase may be made. No session of the General Assembly, except the first under this Constitution, shall extend beyond the term of sixty-one days, nor any special session beyond the term of forty days.

SEC. 30. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he may have been elected, be eligible to any office, the election to which is vested in the General Assembly, nor shall he be appointed to any civil office of profit, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during such term; but this latter provision shall not be construed to apply to any office elective by the people.

ARTICLE V.
EXECUTIVE.

SECTION 1. The executive powers of the State shall be vested in a Governor. He shall hold his office during four years, and shall not be eligible more than four years in any period of eight years.

SEC. 2. There shall be a Lieutenant-Governor, who shall hold his office during four years.

SEC. 3.

The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the General Assembly.

SEC. 4. In voting for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor the electors shall designate for whom they vote as Governor, and for whom as Lieutenant-Governor. The returns of every election for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall open and publish them in the presence of both Houses of the General Assembly.

SEC. 5. The persons, respectively, having the highest number of votes for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected; but in case two or more persons shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for either office, the General Assembly shall, by joint vote, forthwith proceed to elect one of the said persons Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, as the case may be.

SEC. 6. Contested elections for Governor or Lieutenant-Governor shall be determined by the General Assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or LieutenantGovernor who shall not have been five years a citizen of the United States, and also a resident of the State of Indiana during the five years next preced ing his election; nor shall any person be eligible to either of the said offices who shall not have attained the age of thirty years.

SEC. 8. No member of Congress, or person holding any office under the United States, or under this State, shall fill the office of Governor or Lieuten ant-Governor.

SEC. 9. The official term of the Governor or Lieutenant--Governor shall commence on the second Monday of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three; and on the same day every fourth year thereafter.

SEC. 10. In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the duties of the office, the same shall devolve on the Lieutenant-Governor; and the General Assembly shall, by law, provide for the case of removal from office, death, resignation, or inability both of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor declaring what officer then shall act as Governor; and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a Governor be elected.

SEC. 11. Whenever the Lieutenant-Governor shall act as Governor, or shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the Senate shall elect one of its own members as President for the occasion.

SEC. 12. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, or to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion.

SEC. 13. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly infor mation touching the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as He shall judge to be expedient.

SEC. 14. Every bill which shall have passed the General Assembly shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he B shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it shall have originated, which House shall enter the objections at large upon its journals, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after such reconsideration, a majority of all the members elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the Governor's objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by a majority of all the members elected to that House, it shall be a law. If any bill shall not be returned by the Gorernor within three days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law without his signature, unless the general adjournment shall prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, unless the Governor, within five days next after such adjournment, shall file such bill, with his objections thereto in the office of the Secretary of State, who shall lay the same before the General Assembly at its next session in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor. But no bill shall be presented to the Governor within two days next previous to the final adjournment of the General Assembly.

SEC. 15. The Governor shall transact all necessary business with the offcers of government, and may require any information in writing from the offcers of the administrative department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

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SEC. 16. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

SEC. 17. He shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction. for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the General Assembly at its next meeting. when the General Assembly shall either grant a pardon, commute the sentence. direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, and shall report to the General Assembly at its next meeting each case of reprieve. commutation, or pardon granted, and also the names of all persons in whose favor remission of fines and forfeitures shall have been made, and the several amounts remitted: Provided, however, That the General Assembly may, by law, constitute a council, to be composed of officers of State, without whose advice and consent the Governor shall not have power to grant pardons, in any case, except such as may, by law, be left to his sole

power.

SEC. 18. When, during a recess of the General Assembly, a vacancy shall happen in any office, the appointment to which is vested in the General As sembly, or when, at any time, a vacancy shall have occurred in any other State office, or in the office of Judge of any court, the Governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment, which shall expire when a successor shall have been elected and qualified.

SEC. 19. He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may have occurred in the General Assembly.

SEC. 20. Should the seat of government become dangerous from disease or a common enemy, he may convene the General Assembly at any other place. SEC. 21. The Lieutenant-Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be President of the Senate; have a right, when in Committee of the Whole, to join

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in debate, and to vote on all subjects, and, whenever the Senate shall be equally divided, he shall give the casting vote.

SEC. 22. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 23. The Lieutenant-Governor, while he shall act as President of the Senate, shall receive for his services the same compensation as the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and any person acting as Governor shall receive the compensation attached to the office of Governor.

SEC. 24. Neither the Governor nor Lieutenant-Governor shall be eligible to any other office during the term for which he shall have been elected.

ARTICLE VI.
ADMINISTRATIVE.

SECTION 1. There shall be elected by the voters of the State a Secretary, an Auditor, and a Treasurer of State, who shall severally hold their offices for two years. They shall perform such duties as may be enjoined by law; and no person shall be eligible to either of said offices more than four years in any period of six years.

SEC. 2. There shall be elected in each county, by the voters thereof, at the time of holding general elections, a Clerk of the Circuit Court, Auditor, Re corder, Treasurer, Sheriff, Coroner and Surveyor. The Clerk, Auditor and Recorder shall continue in office four years; and no person shall be eligible to the office of Clerk, Recorder or Auditor more than eight years in any period of twelve years. The Treasurer, Sheriff, Coroner and Surveyor shall continue in office two years; and no person shall be eligible to the office of Treasurer or Sheriff more than four years in any period of six years.

SEC. 3. Such other county and township officers as may be necessary shall he elected or appointed, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 4. No person shall be elected or appointed as a county officer who shall not be an elector of the county; nor any one who shall not have been an inhabitant thereof during one year next preceding his appointment, if the county shall have been so long organized; but if the county shall not have been so long organized, then within the limits of the county or counties out of which the same shall have been taken.

SEC. 5. The Governor, and the Secretary, Auditor and Treasurer of State. shall, severally, reside and keep the public records, books and papers, in any manner relating to the respective offices, at the seat of government.

SEC. 6. All county, township and town officers shall reside within their respective counties, townships, and towns, and shall keep their respective offices at such places therein, and perform such duties as may be directed by law.

SEC. 7. All State officers shall, for crime, incapacity, or negligence, be liable to be removed from office, either by impeachment by the House of Representatives, to be tried by the Senate, or by a joint resolution of the General Assembly; two-thirds of the members elected to each branch voting, in either case, therefor.

SEC. S. All State, county, township and town officers may be impeached, or removed from office, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 9. Vacancies in county, township, and town offices shall be filled in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 10. The General Assembly may confer upon the Boards doing county business in the several counties powers of a local administrative character.

ARTICLE VII.

JUDICIAL.

SECTION 1. The Judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, in Circuit Courts, and in such other courts as the General Assembly may establish.7

See Note 1, p. 415.

SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of not less than three, nor more than five Judges; a majority of whom shall form a quorum. They shall hold their offices for six years, if they so long behave well.

SEC. 3. The State shall be divided into as many districts as there are Judges of the Supreme Court, and such districts shall be formed of contiguous territory, as nearly equal in population as, without dividing a county, the same can be made. One of said Judges shall be elected from each district, and reside therein; but said Judge shall be elected by the electors of the State at large.

SEC. 4. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction, co-extensive with the limits of the State, in appeals and writs of error, under such regulations and restrictions as may be prescribed by law. It shall also have such original jur. isdiction as the General Assembly may confer.

SEC. 5. The Supreme Court shall, upon the decision of every case, give a statement in writing of each question arising in the record of such case, and the decisions of the court thereon.

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the speedy publi cation of the decisions of the Supreme Court, made under this Constitution, but no judge shall be allowed to report such decision.

SEC. 7. There shall be elected by the voters of the State a Clerk of the Supreme Court, who shall hold his office four years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 8. The Circuit Courts shall each consist of one judge and shall have such civil and criminal jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 9. The State shall, from time to time, be divided into judicial cir- 15 cuits, and a judge for each circuit shall be elected by the voters thereof. He shall reside within the circuit, and shall hold his office for the term of six years, if he so long behave well.

SEC. 10. The General Assembly may provide, by law, that the judge of one circuit may hold the courts of another circuit, in cases of necessity or convenience; and in case of temporary inability of any judge, from sickness or other cause, to hold the courts in his circuit, provision may be made, by law, for holding such courts.

SEC. 11. There shall be elected, in each judicial circuit, by the voters thereof, a prosecuting attorney, who shall hold his office for two years.

SEC. 12. Any judge or prosecuting attorney. who shall have been convicted of corruption or other high crime, may, on information in the name of the State, be removed from office by the Supreme Court, or in such other manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 13. The judges of the Supreme Court and Circuit Courts shall, at stated times, receive a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

· SEC. 14. A competent number of justices of the peace shall be elected by the voters in each township in the several counties. They shall continue in office four years, and their powers and duties shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 15. All judicial officers shall be conservators of the peace in their respective jurisdictions.

SEC. 16. No person elected to any judicial officer shall during the terms for which he shall have been elected be eligible to any office of trust or profit under the State, other than a judicial office.

SFC. 17. The General Assembly may modify or abolish the grand jury system.

SEC. 18. All criminal prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the State; and the style of all processes shall be, "The State of Indiana."

SEC. 19. Tribunals of conciliation may be established, with such powers and duties as shall be prescribed by law: or the powers and duties of the same may be conferred upon other courts of justice; but such tribunals or other courts, when sitting as such, shall have no power to render judgment to be obligatory on the parties unless they voluntarily submit their matters of difference and agree to abide the judgment of such tribunal or court.

SEC. 20. The General Assembly, at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall provide for the appointment of three commissioners whose duty it shall be to revise, simplify and abridge the rules, practice, pleadings and forms of the courts of justice. And they shall provide for abolishing the distinct forms of action at law now in use; and that justice shall be administered in a uniform mode of pleading, without distinction between law and equity. And the General Assembly may, also, make it the duty of said commissioners to reduce into a systematic code the general statute law of the State; and said commissioners shall report the result of their labors to the General Assembly, with such recommendations and suggestions as to the abridgement and amendment, as to said commissioners may seem necessary or proper. Provision shall be made by law for filling vacancies, regulating the tenure of office and the compensation of said commissioners.

SEC. 21. Every person of good moral character, being a voter, shall be entitled to admission to practice law in all courts of justice.

ARTICLE VIII.

EDUCATION.

SECTION 1. Knowledge and learning generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific and agricultural improvement, and to provide by law for a general and uniform system of common schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.

SEC. 2. The common school fund shall consist of the congressional township fund, and the lands belonging thereto;

The surplus revenue fund;

The saline fund, and the lands belonging thereto;

The bank tax fund, and the fund arising from the one hundred and fourteenth section of the charter of the State Bank of Indiana;

The fund to be derived from the sale of county seminaries, and the moneys and property heretofore held for such seminaries; from the fines assessed for breaches of the penal laws of the State; and from all forfeitures which may accrue:

All lands and other estate which shall escheat to the State for want of heirs or kindred entitled to the inheritance;

All lands that have been or may hereafter be granted to the State, where no special purpose is expressed in the grant and the proceeds of the sales thereof; including the proceeds of the sales of the Swamp Lands granted to the State of Indiana by the act of Congress, of the 28th of September, 1850, after deducting the expense of selecting and draining the same;

Taxes on the property of corporations that may be assessed by the General Assembly for Common School purposes.

SEC. 3. The principal of the Common School Fund shall remain a perpetual fund, which may be increased, but shall never be diminished; and the income thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of Common Schools, and to no other purpose whatever.

SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall invest, in some safe and profitable manner, all such portions of the Common School Fund as have not heretofore been entrusted to the several counties; and shall make provisions, by law. for the distribution, among the several counties, of the interest thereof.

SEC. 5. If any county shall fail to demand its proportion of such interest for Common School purposes, the same shall be reinvested for the benefit of such county.

SEC. 6. The several counties shall be held liable for the preservation of so much of the said fund as may be entrusted to them, and for the payment of the annual interest thereon.

SEC. 7. All trust funds held by the State shall remain inviolate, and be faithfully and exclusively applied to the purposes for which the trust was created.