CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA—1864.* PREAMBLE. We, the people of the State of Louisiana, do ordain and establish this constitution: TITLE I. EMANCIPATION. ARTICLE 1. Slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are hereby forever abolished and prohibited throughout the State. ART. 2. The legislature shall make no law recognizing the right of property in man. TITLE II. DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS. ART. 3. The powers of the government of the State of Louisiana shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them shall be confined 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. ART. 4. No one of these departments, nor any person holding office in one of them, shall exercise power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. TITLE III. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. ART. 5. The legislative power of the State shall be vested in two distinct branches, the one to be styled "the house of representatives," the other "the senate," and both "the general assembly of the State of Louisiana." ART. 6. The members of the house of representatives shall continue in service for the term of two years from the day of the closing of the general elections. ART. 7. Representatives shall be chosen on the first Monday in November every two years, and the election shall be completed in one day. The general assembly shall meet annually on the first Monday in January, unless a different day be appointed by law, and their sessions shall be held at the seat of government. There shall also be a session of the general assembly in the city of New Orleans, beginning on the first Monday of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-four; and it shall be the duty of the governor to cause a special election to be held for members of the general assembly, in all the parishes where the same may be held, on the day of the election for ratification or rejection of this constitution, to be valid in case of ratification; and in other parishes or districts he shall cause elections to be held as soon as it may become practicable, to fill the vacancies for such parishes or districts in the general assembly. The term of office of the first general assembly shall expire as though its members had been elected on the first Monday of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. ART. 8. Every duly-qualified elector under this constitution shall be eligible to a seat in the general assembly: Provided, That no person shall be a representative or senator unless he be, at the time of his election, a duly-qualified voter of the representative or senatorial district from which he is elected. *This constitution was formed by a convention which met at New Orleans (under the auspices of General Banks, then commanding the Military Department of the Gulf,) April 6, 1864, and completed its labors July 23, 1864. It was submitted to the people in September, 1864, and ratified by a vote of 6,836 against 1,566. The State government organized under it was not recognized by Congress. ART. 9. Elections for the members of the general assembly shall be held at the several election-precincts established by law. ART. 10. Representation in the house of representatives shall be equal and uniform, and shall be regulated and ascertained by the number of qualified electors. Each parish shall have at least one representative. No new parish shall be created with a territory less than six hundred and twenty-five square miles, nor with a number of electors less than the full number entitling it to a representative; nor when the creation of such new parish would leave any other parish without the said extent of territory and number of electors. The first enumeration by the State authorities, under this constitution, shall be made in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six; the second in the year eighteen hundred and seventy; the third in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six; after which time the general assembly shall direct in what manner the census shall be taken, so that it be made at least once in every period of ten years for the purpose of ascertaining the total population, and the number of qualified electors in each parish and election-district; and in case of informality, omission, or error in the census-returns from any district, the legislature shall order a new census taken in such parish or election-district. ART. 11. At the first session of the legislature after the making of each enumeration, the legislature shall apportion the representation amongst the several parishes and election-districts on the basis of qualified electors, as aforesaid. A representative number shall be fixed, and each parish and election-district shall have as many representatives as the aggregate number of its electors will 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 and twenty, nor less than ninety. ART. 12. Until an apportionment shall be made, and elections held under the same, in accordance with the first enumeration to be made, as directed in article ten, the representation in the senate and house of representatives shall be as follows: For the parish of Orleans, forty-four representatives, to be elected as follows: First representative district, three; second representative district, five; third representative district, seven; fourth representative district, three; fifth representative district, four; sixth representative district, two; seventh representative district, three; eighth representative district, three; ninth representative district, four; tenth representative district, eight; Orleans, right bank, two. For the parish of Livingston, one; For the parish of Saint Tammany, one; For the parish of Saint John the Baptist, one; For the parish of West Baton Rouge, one; For the parish of Saint Helena, one; Total, one hundred and eighteen. And the State shall be divided into the following senatorial districts: All that portion of the parish of Orleans lying on the left bank of the Mississippi River shall be divided into two senatorial districts; the first and fourth districts of the city of New Orleans shall compose one district, and shall elect five senators; and the second and third districts of said city shall compose the other district, and shall elect four sena tors. The parishes of Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, and all that part of the parish of Orleans on the right bank of the Mississippi River, shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parish of Jefferson shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Saint Charles and La Fourche shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Saint John the Baptist and Saint James shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Ascension, Assumption, and Terre Bonne shall form one district, and shall elect two senators. tor. The parish of Iberville shall form one district, and shall elect one Senator. The parish of East Baton Rouge shall form one district, and shall elect one sena The parishes of West Baton Rouge, Point Coupee, and West Feliciana shall form one district, and shall elect two senators. The parish of East Feliciana shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Washington, Saint Tammany, Saint Helena, and Livingston shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Concordia and Tensas shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Madison and Carroll shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Morehouse, Ouachita, Union, and Jackson shall form one district, and shall elect two senators. The parishes of Catahoula, Caldwell, and Franklin shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parishes of Bossier, Bienville, Claiborne, and Winn shall form one district, and shall elect two senators. The parishes of Natchitoches, Sabine, De Soto, and Caddo shall form one district, and shall elect two senators. The parishes of Saint Landry, La Fayette, and Calcasieu shall from one district, and shall elect two senators. The parishes of Saint Martin and Vermillion shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. The parish of Saint Mary shall form one district, and shall elect one senator. senators. ART. 13. The house of representatives shall choose its speaker and other officers. ART. 14. Every 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 three 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. ART. 15. The legislature shall have power to pass laws extending suffrage to such other persons, citizens of the United States, as by military service, by taxation to support the government, or by intellectual fitness, may be deemed entitled thereto. ART. 16. 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 privi leged from arrest during their attendance at, going to, or returning from elections. ART. 17. The legislature shall provide by law that the names and residence of all qualified electors shall be registered in order to entitle them to vote; but the registry shall be free of cost to the elector. ART. 18. No pauper, no person under interdiction, nor under conviction of any crime punishable with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State. ART. 19. 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 electionprecincts, in the election-precinct in which he resides. ART. 20. 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 own officers. ART. 21. The legislature, in every year in which they apportion representation in the house of representatives, shall divide the State into senatorial districts. ART. 22. No parish shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district, the parish or 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-six; and they shall be apportioned among the senatorial districts according to the electoral population contained in the several districts; Provided, That no parish be entitled to more than nine senators. ART. 23. In all apportionments of the senate, the electoral population of the whole State shall be divided by the number thirty-six, 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 the apportionment to make a parish or district fall short of or exceed the ratio, 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 tenth article, the legislature shall not pass any law until an apportionment of representation in both houses of the general assembly be made. ART. 24. 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 term of the first house of representatives; of the second class, at the expiration of the term of the second house of representatives; 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 the term aforesaid, and lots shall be drawn between them. ART. 25. The first election for senators shall be held at the same time that the election for representatives is held; and thereafter there shall be elections of senators at the same time with each general election of representatives, to fill the places of those senators whose term of service may have expired. ART. 26. 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. ART. 27. Each house of the general assembly shall judge of the qualifications, elections, and return of its members; but a contested election shall be determined in such a manner as shall be directed by law. ART. 28. Each house of the general assembly may determine the rules of its proceeding, punish a member for disorderly behavior, and, with a concurrence of twothirds, expel a member; but not a second time for the same offence. ART. 29. Each house of the general assembly shall keep and publish weekly a 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. ART. 30. Each house may punish, by imprisonment, any person, not a member, for disrespectful and disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not exceed ten days for any one offence. ART. 31. 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. 32. The members of the general assembly shall receive from the public treasury a compensation for their services, which shall be eight dollars per day during their attendance, going to, and returning from the sessions 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. 33. 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 shall not be questioned in any other place. ART. 34. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, nor for one year thereafter, be appointed 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 as may be filled by the election of the people. ART. 35. 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 intrusted. ART. 36. No person while he continues to exercise the functions of a clergyman of any religious denomination whatever shall be eligible to the general assembly. ART. 37. 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. 38. 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 |