Providing for the sale of real estate belonging to minors or other persons laboring under legal disabilities, by executors, administrators, guardians, or trustees. 119. Laws must be general. 23. In all the cases enumerated in the preceding section, and in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general, and of uniform operation throughout the State. 120. Suits against the State. 24. Provision may be made, by general law, for bringing suit against the State, as to all liabilities originating after the adoption of this Constitution; but no special Act authorizing such suit to be brought, or making compensation to any person claiming damages against the State, shall ever be passed. 121. Passage of bills. 25. A majority of all the members elected to each House shall be necessary to pass every bill or joint resolution; and all bills and joint resolutions so passed shall be signed by the presiding officers of the respective Houses. 122. Protest and entry. 26. Any member of either House shall have the right to protest, and to have his protest, with his reasons for dissent, entered on the journal. 123. Public laws. 27. Every statute shall be a public law, unless otherwise declared in the statute itself. 124. Publication of statutes. 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. 125. Pay of members. 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. 126. Members ineligible to certain offices. 30. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he may have been elected, be eligible to any office, the election of 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. 127. Governor. 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. 128. Lieutenant-Governor. 2. There shall be a Lieutenant-Governor, who shall hold his office during four years. 129. Election. 3. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the General Assembly. 130. Manner of voting. 4. In voting for Governor and LieutenantGovernor, 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. 131. Plurality elects. 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. 132. Contests. 6. Contested elections for Governor or LieutenantGovernor shall be determined by the General Assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 133. Qualifications. 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant-Governor 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 preceding his election; nor shall any person be eligible to either of the said offices who shall not have attained the age of thirty years. 134. Persons ineligible. 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 Lieutenant-Governor. 135. Term of office. 9. The official term of the Governor and 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. 136. Vacancies. 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 LieutenantGovernor, declaring what officer shall then act as Governor; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a Governor be elected. 137. President pro tem. of Senate. 11. Whenever the LieutenantGovernor 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. 138. Governor-Commander-in-Chief. 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. 139. Messages. 13. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information touching the condition of the State, and recommend. such measures as he shall judge to be expedient. 140. Bills signed or vetoed. 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 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 Governor within three days, Sunday 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 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. 141. Information from officers. 15. The Governor shall transact all necessary business with the officers of Government, and may require information, in writing, from the officers of the Administrative Department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. 142. Execution of laws. 16. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 143. Pardons and reprieves. 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. 144. He may fill vacancies. 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 Assembly; 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. 145. Writs of election to Assembly. 19. He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may have occurred in the General Assembly. 146. May change place of meeting. 20. Should the seat of Government become dangerous from disease or a common enemy, he may convene the General Assembly at any other place. 147. Duties of Lieutenant-Governor. 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 in debate, and to vote on all subjects; and whenever the Senate shall be equally divided, he shall give the casting-vote. 148. Pay of Governor. 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. 149. Pay of Lieutenant-Governor. 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. 150. Their ineligibility to office. 24. Neither the Governor nor Lieutenant-Governor shall be eligible to any other office during the term for which he shall have been elected. 151. Secretary, Auditor, and Treasurer of State. I. 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. 152. Terms of county officers. 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, Recorder, 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. 153. County and township officers. 3 Such other county and township officers, as may be necessary, shall be elected or appointed in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 154. Qualifications of county officers. 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. 155. Residence of officers of State. 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 their respective offices, at the seat of Government. 156. Residence of other officers. 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. 157. Impeachment of State officers. 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. 158. Impeachment of county officers. 8. All State, county, township, and town officers may be impeached, or removed from office, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 159. Vacancies, how filled. 9. Vacancies in county, township, and town offices shall be filled in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 160. County boards. 10. The General Assembly may confer upon the boards doing county business in the several counties, powers of a local, administrative character. 161. Judicial powers. SEC 172. Removal of Judges and Prosecutors. 173. Pay of Judges. 174. Justices of the Peace. 175. Conservators of the peace. 176. Ineligibility of Judges. 177. Grand jury system. 178. Criminal prosecutions. 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. [As amended March 14, 1881.] 162. Supreme Court. 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. 163. Judicial districts. 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 Judges. shall be elected by the electors of the State at large. 164. Jurisdiction. 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 jurisdiction as the General Assembly may confer. |