Sec. 10. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county in which the crime shall have been committed; provided that the venue may be changed to any other county of the judicial district in which the indictment is found, upon the application of the accused, in such manner as now is, or may be, prescribed by law; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; and to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to be heard by himself and his counsel.

Sec. 11. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, except by the General Assembly, in case of rebellion, insurrection or invasion, when the public safety may require it.

Sec. 12. No power of suspending or setting aside the law or laws of the State shall ever be exercised except by the General Assembly.

Sec. 13. Every person is entitled to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs he may receive in his person, property or character; he ought to obtain justice freely, and without purchase, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, conformably to the laws.

Sec. 14. Treason against the State shall only consist in levying and making war against the same, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Sec. 15. The right of the people of this State to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.

Sec. 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud.

Sec. 17. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law or law impair ing the obligation of contracts shall ever be passed; and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.

Sec. 18. The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen or class of citizens privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.

Sec. 19. Perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a republic, and shall not be allowed; nor shall any hereditary emoluments, privileges or honors ever be granted or conferred in this State.

Sec. 20. No distinction shall ever be made by law between resident aliens and citizens in regard to the possession, enjoy. ment or descent of property.

Sec. 21. No person shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his estate, freehold, liberties or privileges; or outlawed, or in any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty or property; except by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; nor shall any person, under any circumstances, be exiled from the State.

Sec. 22. The right of property is before and higher than any constitutional sanction; and private property shall not be taken, appropriated or damaged for public use, without just compensation therefor.

Sec. 23. The State's ancient right of eminent domain and of taxation is herein fully and expressly conceded; and the General Assembly may delegate the taxing power, with the necessary restriction, to the State's subordinate political and municipal corporations to the extent of providing for their existence, maintenance and well-being, but no further.

Sec. 24. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can, of right, be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship; or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human authority can, in any case or manner whatsoever, control or interfere with the right of conscience; and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishment, denomination or mode of worship above any other.

Sec. 25. Religion, morality and knowledge being essential to good government, the General Assembly shall enact suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship.

Sec. 26. No religious test shall ever be required of any per son as a qualification to vote or hold office, nor shall any person be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations.

Sec. 27. There shall be no slavery in this State, nor involun. tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime. No standing army shall be kept in time of peace; the military shall at all times be in strict subordination to the civil power; and no soldier shall be quartered in any house, or on any premises, without the consent of the owner in time of peace; nor in time of war, except in a manner prescribed by law.

Sec. 28. All lands in this State are declared to be allodial; and feudal tenures of every description, with all their incidents, are prohibited.

Sec. 29. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people; and to guard against any encroachments on the rights herein retained, or any transgression of any of the high powers herein delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of the government, and shall forever remain inviolate; and that all laws contrary thereto, or to the other provisions herein contained, shall be void.

ARTICLE III.

Franchise and Elections.

Section 1. Every male citizen of the United States, or male person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the same, of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the State twelve months, and in the county six months, and in the voting precinct or ward one month, next preceding any election, where he may propose to vote, shall be entitled to vote at all elections by the people.

Sec. 2. Elections shall be free and equal. No power, civil or military, shall ever interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage; nor shall any law be enacted whereby the right to vote at any election shall be made to depend upon any privious registration of the elector's name; or whereby such right

shall be impaired or forfeited, except for the commission of a felony at common law, upon lawful conviction thereof.

Sec. 3. All elections by the people shall be by ballot. Every ballot shall be numbered in the order in which it shall be received, and the number recorded by the election officers on the list of voters opposite the name of the elector who presents the ballot. The election officers shall be sworn or affirmed not to disclose how any elector shall have voted, unless required to do so as witnesses in a judicial proceeding, or a proceeding to contest an election.

Sec. 4. Electors shall, in all cases (except treason, felony and breach of the peace), be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and going to and from the same.

Sec. 5. No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.

Sec. 6. Any person who shall be convicted of fraud, bribery or other willful and corrupt violation of any election law of this State shall be adjudged guilty of a felony, and disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit in this State.

Sec. 7. No soldier, sailor or marine in the military or naval service of the United States shall acquire a residence by reason of being stationed on duty in this State.

Sec. 8. The general elections shall be held biennially, on the first Monday of September; but the General Assembly may by law fix a different time.

Sec. 9. In trials of contested elections and in proceedings for the investigation of elections no person shall be permitted to withhold his testimony on the ground that it may criminate himself or subject him to public infamy; but such testimony shall not be used against him in any judicial proceeding, except for perjury in giving such testimony.

Sec. 10. No person shall be qualified to serve as an election officer who shall hold at the time of the election any office, appointment or employment in or under the government of the United States, or of this State, or in any city or county, or any municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only the justices of the peace and aldermen, notaries public and persons in the militia servce of the State. Nor shall any election officer be eligible to any civil office to be filled at an election at which

he shall serve--save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below the grade of city or county officers, as shall be designated by general law.

Sec. 11. If the officers of any election shall unlawfully refuse or fail to receive, count or return the vote or ballot of any qualified elector, such vote or ballot shall nevertheless be counted upon the trial of any contest arising out of said election.

Sec. 12. All elections by persons acting in a representative capacity shall be viva voce.

ARTICLE IV.

Departments.

Section 1. The powers of the government of the State of Arkansas shall be divided into three distict departments, each of them to be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: Those which are legislative to one, those which are executive to another, and those which are judicial to another.

Sec. 2. No person or collection of persons, being of one of these departments, shall exercise any power belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

ARTICLE V.
Legislative.

Section 1. The legislative power of this State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall consist of members to be chosen every second year by the qualified electors of the several counties.

Sec. 3. The Senate shall consist of members to be chosen every four years by the qualified electors of the several districts. At the first session of the Senate the Senators shall divide themselves into two classes by lot, and the first class shall hold their places for two years only, after which all shall be elected for four years.

Sec. 4. No person shall be a Senator or Representative who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, nor anyone who has not been for two years next preceding his election a resident of this State, and for one year next preceding his