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tion, the legislature shall apportion the representation among the several parishes and election districts on the basis of the total population as aforesaid. A representative number shall be fixed, and each parish and election district shall have as many representatives as its aggregate population shall entitle it to, and an additional representative for any fraction exceeding one-half the representative number. The number of representatives shall not be more than one hundred nor less than seventy.

Until an apportionment shall be made, and elections held under the same, in accordance with the first enumeration to be made as directed in this article, the representation in the senate and house of representatives shall be and remain as at present established by law.

The limits of the parish of Orleans are hereby extended, so as to embrace the whole of the present city of New Orleans, including that part of the parish of Jeffer son, formerly known as the city of Lafayette.

All that part of the parish of Orleans which is situated on the left bank of the Mississippi river, shall be divided by the legislature into not more than ten representative districts, and until a new apportionment shall be made according to the first census to be taken under this constitution, that part of the city of New Orleans which was comprised within the former limits of the city of Lafayette, shall vote for senators from the parish of Orleans, and form the tenth representative district, and shall elect two out of the three representatives now apportioned by law to the parish of Jefferson; the other representative districts shall remain as they are now established.

Art. 9. The house of representatives shall choose its speaker and other officers. Art. 10. Every free white male who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and who has been a resident of the state twelve months next preceding the election, and the last six months thereof in the parish in which he offers to vote, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, shall have the right of voting, but no voter, on removing from one parish to another, within the state, shall lose the right of voting in the former until he shall have acquired it in the latter. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest, during their attendance at, going to, or returning from elections.

Art. 11. The legislature shall provide by law, that the names and residence of all qualified electors of the city of New Orleans shall be registered, in order to entitle them to vote; but the registry shall be free of cost to the elector.

Art. 12. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the United States, no pauper, no person under interdiction, nor under conviction of any crime punishable with hard labour, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this state.

Art. 13. No person shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this state except in the parish of his residence, and in cities and towns divided into election precincts, in the election precinct in which he resides.

Art. 14. The members of the senate shall be chosen for the term of four years. The senate, when assembled, shall have the power to choose its officers.

Art. 15. The legislature, in every year in which they shall apportion representation in the house of representatives, shall divide the state into senatorial districts. No parish shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district-the parish of Orleans excepted. And whenever a new parish shall be created, it shall be attached to the senatorial district from which most of its territory was taken, or to another contiguous district, at the discretion of the legislature; but shall not be attached to more than one district. The number of senators shall be thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned among the senatorial districts according to the total population contained in the several districts; Provided, that no parish shall be entitled to more than five senators.

Art. 16. In all apportionments of the senate, the population of the city of New Orleans shall be deducted from the population of the whole state, and the remainder of the population divided by the number twenty-seven, and the result produced by this division shall be the senatorial ratio entitling a senatorial district to a senator. Single or contiguous 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 appor tionment 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. No new apportionment shall have the effect of abridging the term of service of any senator already elected at the time of making the apportionment. After an enumeration has been made as directed in the eighth article, the legislature shall not pass any law until an apportionment of representation in both houses of the general assembly be made.

Art. 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.

Art. 18. 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 places of those whose time of service may have expired.

Art. 19. 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.

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Art. 20. 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.

Art. 21. Each house of the general assembly may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish a member for disorderly behaviour, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member, but not a second time for the same offence.

Art. 22. 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, he entered on the journal.

Art. 23. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person, not a member, for disrespectful and disorderly behaviour in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not exceed ten days for any one offence.

Art. 24. Neither house, during the sessions of the general assembly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.

Art. 25. 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 have been made. No session shall extend to a period beyond sixty days, to date from its commencement, and any legislative action had after the expiration of the said sixty days shall be null and void. This provision shall not apply to the first legislature which is to convene after the adoption of this constitution.

Art. 26. The members of the general assembly shall, in all cases except treason, felony, breach 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.

Art. 27. 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 elections of the people.

Art. 28. No person who at any time may have been a collector of taxes, whether state, parish, or municipal, or who may have been otherwise intrusted 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 collections, and for all public moneys with which he may have been entrusted.

Art. 29. 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,

Art. 30. 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 colour of an amendment, which does not relate to raising revenue.

Art. 31. The general assembly shall regulate by law, by whom, and in what manner writs of elections shall be issued to fill the vacancies which may happen in either branch thereof.

Art. 32. The senate shall vote on the confirmation or rejection of officers, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, by yeas and nays, and the names of the senators voting for and against the appointments respect

ively, shall be entered on a journal to be kept for that purpose, and made public at the end of each session, or before.

Art. 33. Returns of all elections for members of the general assembly shall be made to the secretary of state.

Art. 34. 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 the said election.

TITLE III.
Executive Department.

Art. 35. The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the governor of the state of Louisiana. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the lieutenantgovernor, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: The qualified electors for representatives, shall vote for a governor and lieutenant-governor, at the time and place of voting for representatives; the returns of every election shall be sealed up and transmitted by the proper returning officer to the secretary of state, who shall deliver them to the speaker of the house of representatives, on the second day of the session of the general assembly, then next to be holden. The members of the general assembly shall meet in the house of representatives, to examine and count the votes. The person having the greatest number of votes for governor shall be declared duly elected, but if two or more persons shall be equal and highest in the number of votes polled for governor, one of them shall immediately be chosen governor by joint vote of the members of the general assembly. The person having the greatest number of votes for lieutenant-governor shall be lieutenant-governor; but if two or more persons shall be equal and highest in the number of votes polled for lieutenant-governor, one of them shall be immediately chosen lieutenant-governor by joint vote of the members of the general assembly.

Art. 36. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant-governor who shall not have attained the age of twenty-eight years, and been a citizen and a resident within the state for the space of four years next preceding his election.

Art. 37. The governor shall enter on the discharge of his duties on the fourth Monday of January next ensuing his election, and shall continue in office until the Monday next succeeding the day that his successor shall be declared duly elected, and shall have taken the oath or affirmation required by the constitution.

Art. 38. The governor shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years, after the expiration of the time for which he shall have been elected.

Art. 39. No member of congress or person holding any office under the United States shall be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant-governor.

Art. 40. 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 or 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. Art. 41. The lieutenant-governor, or 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.

Art. 42. 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. Art. 43. While he acts as president of the senate, the lieutenant-governor 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.

Art. 44. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves for all offences 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 forfeiture, 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.

Art. 45. 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.

Art. 46. 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.

Art. 47. 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 legis lature shall have a right to prescribe the mode of appointment to all other offices established by law.

Art. 48. 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.

Art. 49. He may require information in writing from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Art. 50. 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.

Art. 51. 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.

Art. 52. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

Art. 53. 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 reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration twothirds 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 reconsidered, 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 or 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 (Sunday 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 session.

Art. 54. 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 repassed by two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly.

Art. 55. 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.

Art. 56. There shall be a treasurer of the state who shall hold his office during the term of two years.

Art. 57. The secretary of state and treasurer of state, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state. And in case of any vacancies caused by the death, resignation, or absence of the treasurer or secretary of state, the governor shall order an election, to fill said vacancy.

Art. 58. 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.

Art. 59. The free white men of the state shall be armed and disciplined for its defence; 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.

Art. 60. The militia of the state shall be organized in such manner as may be hereafter deemed most expedient by the legislature.

TITLE IV.

Judiciary Department.

Art. 61. The judiciary power shall be vested in a supreme court, in such inferior

courts as the legislature may, from time to time, order and establish, and in justices of the peace.

Art. 62. The supreme court, except in the cases hereinafter provided, shall have appellate jurisdiction only; which jurisdiction shall extend to all cases when the matter in dispute shall exceed three hundred dollars; to all cases in which the constitutionality or legality of any tax, toll, or impost whatsoever, or of any fine, forfeiture, or penalty imposed by a municipal corporation, shall be in contestation; and to all criminal cases on questions of law alone, whenever the offence charged, is punishable with death, or imprisonment at hard labour, or when a fine exceeding three hundred dollars is actually imposed. The legislature shall have power to restrict the jurisdiction of the supreme court in civil cases to questions of law only. Art. 63. The supreme court shall be composed of one chief justice and four associate justices, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The chief justice shall receive a salary of six thousand dollars, and each of the associate judges a salary of five thousand five hundred dollars, annually, until otherwise provided by law. The court shall appoint its own clerks; the judges shall be elected for the term of ten years.

Art. 64. The chief justice shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state. The legislature shall divide the state into four districts, and the qualified electors of each district shall elect one of the associate justices. The state shall be divided into the following districts until the legislature shall otherwise direct.

FIRST DISTRICT.

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard, that portion of the parish of Orleans on the right bank of the Mississippi river, and that portion of the city of New Orleans which lies below the line extending from the river Mississippi, along the middle of Julia street, until it strikes the New Orleans canal, and thence down said canal to the lake.

SECOND DISTRICT.

That portion of the city of New Orleans which is situated above the line extending along the middle of Julia street until it strikes the New Orleans canal, and thence down said canal to the lake, and the parishes of Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche Interior, Terrebonne, West Baton Rouge, and Iberville.

THIRD DISTRICT.

The parishes of St. Tammany, Washington, Livingston, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Point Coupee, Avoyelles, Tensas, Concordia, Lafayette, Vermillion, St. Mary, St. Martin, and St. Landry.

FOURTH DISTRICT.

The parishes of Calcasieu, Rapides, Sabine, Natchitoches, De Soto, Caddo, Bossier, Claiborne, Bienville, Caldwell, Union, Ouachita, Morehouse, Jackson, Franklin, Catahoula, Madison, Carroll, and Winn.

Art. 65. The office of one of the associate justices shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of another at the expiration of the fourth year, of a third at the expiration of the sixth year, and of the fourth at the expiration of the eighth year-so that one of the judges of the supreme court shall be elected every second year.

Art. 66. The secretary of state, on receiving the official returns of the first elec tion, shall proceed immediately, in the presence and with the assistance of two justices of the peace, to determine by lot among the four candidates having the highest number of votes in the respective districts, which of the associate justices elect shall serve for the term of two years, which shall serve for the term of four years, which for the term of six years, and which for the term of eight years, and the governor shall issue commissions accordingly.

Art. 67. Any vacancy that may occur in the supreme court from resignation or otherwise, shall be filled by election for the remainder of the unexpired term, but if such remainder do not exceed one year, the vacancy shall be filled by executive appointment.

Art. 68. The supreme court shall hold its sessions in New Orleans from the first Monday of the month of November to the end of the month of June inclusive. The legislature shall have power to fix the sessions elsewhere during the rest of the year; until otherwise provided, the sessions shall be held as heretofore.

Art. 69. The supreme court and each of the judges thereof shall have power to

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