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senatorial ratio entitling a senatorial district to a senator. Single or contigious parishes shall be formed into districts having a population the nearest possible to the number entitling a district to a senator; and if in the apportionment to be made, a parish or district fall short of or exceed the ratio one-fifth, then a district may be formed having not more than two senators, but not otherwise.

17. At the first session of the General Assembly after this Constitution takes effect, the senators shall be equally divided, by lot, into two classes; the seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year; so that one half shall be chosen every two years, and a rotation thereby kept up perpetually. In case any district shall have elected two or more senators, said senators shall vacate their seats respectively at the end of two and four years, and lots shall be drawn between them.

18. No person shall be a senator who at the time of his election, has not been a citizen of the United States ten years and who has not attained the age of twenty-seven years, and resided in the State four years next preceding his election, and the last year thereof, in the district in which he may be chosen.

19. The first election for senators shall be general throughout the State, and at the same time that the general election for representatives is held; and thereafter there shall be biennial elections to fill the place of those whose time of service may have expired.

20. Not less than a majority of the members of each house of the General Assembly shall form a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and shall be authorized by law to compel the attendance of absent members.

21. Each house of the General Assembly shall judge of the qualification, election and returns of its members; but a contested election, shall be determined in such manner as shall be directed by law.

22. Each house of the General Assembly may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish a member for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same offence.

23. Each house of the General Assembly shall keep and publish a weekly journal of its proceedings; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any two of them, be entered on the journal.

24. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person not a member for disorderly behavior, such imprisonment not to exceed ten days for any one offence.

25. Neither house, during the session of the General Assembly, shall without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any place than that in which they may be sitting.

26. The members of the General Assembly shall receive from the public treasury a compensation for their services which shall be four

dollars per day during their attendance, going to and returning from the session of their respective houses. The compensation may be increased or diminished by law; but no alteration shall take effect during the period of service of the members of the House of Representatives by whom such alteration shall be made. No session shall extend to a period beyond sixty days, to date from its commencement. This provision shall not apply to the first Legislature which is to convene after the adoption of this Constitution.

27. The members of the General Assembly shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and going to or returning from the same, and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

28. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, nor for one year thereafter, be appointed or elected to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during the time such senator or representative was in office, except to such offices or appointments as may be filled by the election of the people.

29. No person, while he continues to exercise the functions of a clergyman, priest, or teacher of any religious persuasion, society or sect, shall be eligible to the General Assembly.

30. No person who at any time may have been a collector of taxes, or who may have been otherwise entrusted with public money, shall be eligible to the General Assembly, or to any office of profit or trust under the State government, until he shall have obtained a discharge for the amount of such collection, and for all public moneys with which he may have been entrusted.

31 No bill shall have the force of a law until, on three several days, it be read over in each house of the General Assembly, and free discussion allowed thereon; unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the house where the bill shall be pending, may deem it expedient to dispense with this rule.

32. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments as in other bills; provided they shall not introduce any new matter under color of an amendment, which does not relate to raising revenue.

33. The General Assembly shall regulate by law by whom, and in what manner writs of election shall be issued to fill the vacancies which may happen in either branch thereof.

34. A majority of all the members elected to the Senate shall be required for the confirmation or rejection of officers, to be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate; and the Senate in deciding thereon shall vote by yeas and nays, and the names of the senators voting for and against the appointments, respectively, shall be entered on a journal to be kept for that purpose, and made public at the end of each session, or before.

35. Returns of all elections for members of the General Assembly shall be made to the Secretary of State.

36. A Treasurer of the State shall be elected biennially by joint ballot of the two houses of the General Assembly. The Governor shall have power to fill any vacancy which may happen in that office during the recess of the Legislature.

37. In the year in which a regular election for a senator of the United States is to take place, the members of the General Assembly shall meet in the hall of the House of Representatives, on the Monday following the meeting of the Legislature, and proceed to said election.

TITLE III-Executive Department.

ART. 38. The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of Louisania. He shall hold his office during the term of four years; and together with the Lieutenant-Governor, chosen for the same term, shall be elected by the qualified electors at the time and place of voting for representatives; and the returns shall be made to the General Assembly, on the second day of the session of the General Assembly next to be holden. The persons having the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected. But if two or more persons shall be equal in the highest number of votes polled, one of them shall immediately be chosen Governor, by the joint vote of the members of the General Assembly. The Lieu tenant-Governor is chosen in the same manner as the Governor.

39. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant-Governor who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citizen of the United States, and a resident within the State for the same space of time next preceding his election.

40. The Governor shall enter on the discharge of his duties on the fourth Monday of January next ensuing his election.

41. The Governor shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years after the expiration of the time for which he shall have been elected.

42. No member of Congress or person holding any office under the United States, or minister of any religious society, shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant-Governor.

43. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal from office, death, refusal or inability to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor, for the residue of the term, or until the Governor absent or impeached shall return or be acquitted. The Legislature may provide by law for the case of removal, impeachment, death, resignation, disability, or refusal to qualify, of both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, declaring what officer shall act as Governor; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or for the residue of the term.

44. The Lieutenant-Governor, or other officer discharging the duties of Governor, shall, during his administration, receive the same compensation to which the Governor would have been entitled, had he continued in office.

45. The Lieutenant-Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be President of the Senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. Whenever he shall administer the government, or shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the senators shall elect one of their own members as President of the Senate for the time being.

46. While he acts as President of the Senate, the LieutenantGovernor shall receive for his services the same compensation which shall for the same period be allowed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and no more.

47. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves for all of fences against the State, and except in cases of impeachment, shall, with the consent of the Senate, have power to grant pardons and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In cases of treason, he may grant reprieves, until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, in which the power of pardoning shall be vested.

48. 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.

49. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this State, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.

50. He shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this Constitution, and whose appointment is not therein otherwise provided for provided, however, that the Legislature shall have a right to prescribe the mode of appointment to all other offices established by law.

51. The Governor shall have power to fill vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the next session, unless otherwise provided for in this Constitution; but no person who has been nominated for office, and rejected by the Senate, shall be appointed to the same office during the recess of the Senate.

52. He may require information in writing from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

53. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information respecting the situation of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient.

54. He may on extraordinary occasions convene the General Assembly at the seat of Government, or at a different place if that should have become dangerous from an enemy or from epidemic; and in case of disagreement between the two houses as to the time

of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not exceeding four months.

55. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

56. Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, if not, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to re-consider it; if after such re-consideration, two-thirds of all the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections to the other house, by which it shall likewise be re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to that house, it shall be a law; but in such cases the vote of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members 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 Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall be a law, unless sent back within three days after their next meeting.

57. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, except on a question of adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor; and before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be re-passed by twothirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly.

58. There shall be a Secretary of State, who shall hold his office during the time for which the Governor shall have been elected. The records of the State shall be kept and preserved in the office of the Secretary; he shall keep a fair register of the official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and when necessary, shall attest them. He shall, when required, lay the said register, and all papers. minutes, and vouchers relative to his office, before either house of the General Assembly, and shall perform such other duties as may be enjoined on him by law.

59. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Louisiana, and shall be sealed with the State seal, and signed by the Governor.

60. The free white men of the State shall be armed and disciplined for its defense but those who belong to religious societies whose tenets forbid them to carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, but shall pay an equivalent for personal services.

61. The militia of the State shall be organized in such manner as may be hereafter deemed most expedient by the Legislature.

TITLE IV-Judiciary Depart vent.

ART. 62. The judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, in district courts, and in justices of the peace.

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