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Legislative Authority

     Section 1, Article III. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in a legislature consisting of a senate and house of representatives, but the people reserve to themselves power to propose laws, and amendments to the constitution, and to enact or reject the same at the polls independent of the legislature, and also reserve power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any act passed by the legislature.

Legislative Apportionment

     Section 5, Article III. At the regular session of the legislature, held in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one the legislature shall by law divide the state into senatorial and representative districts. In the creation of senatorial and representative districts, any county that contains population sufficient to entitle it to two or more senators or representatives, shall be divided into separate and distinct districts, as nearly equal in population as may be and composed of contiguous and compact territory. After the creation of such districts, one senator shall be elected from each senatorial district, and one representative from each representative district. The basis of apportionment shall be the population excluding aliens, as shown by next preceding federal census. In like manner, when necessary to a correction of inequalities in the population of such districts, the

state may be redistricted from time to time, but not oftener than once in ten years.

Number of Members; Sessions.

     Section 6, Article III'. The house of representatives shall consist of not more than one hundred members and the senate not more than fifty members. The sessions of the legislature shall be biennial except as otherwise provided by this constitution.

Term of Office; Compensation; Length of Session; Time in which Bills May Be Introduced

     Section 7, Article III. Senators and representatives shall be elected for a term of two years. They shall each receive the sum of eight hundred dollars for attendance at each regular biennial session of the legislature and ten dollars for each day in actual attendance at special sessions; but in no case shall compensation for attendance at any one special session exceed one hundred dollars. They shall also be paid ten cents per mile for each mile traveled in once going to and returning from each regular or special session of the legislature by the most usual route. Members of the legislature shall receive no pay nor perquisites other than their mileage and salary per diem, as the case may be, nor shall employes receive any other compensation than their salary or per diem. After the expiration of twenty days of the session, no bills nor joint resolutions of the nature of bills shall be introduced, unless the governor shall, by special message, call the attention of the legislature to the necessity of passing a law on the subject matter embraced in the message, and the introduction of bills shall be restricted thereto. Provided, that the general appropriation bills may he introduced up to and including the fortieth day.

Who Not Eligible.

     Section 8, Article III. No person shall be eligible to the office of senator, or member of the house of representatives, who shall not be an elector and have resided within the district from which he is elected for the term of one year next before his election, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or this state. And no person elected as aforesaid shall hold his office after he shall have removed from such district.

     Section 9, Article III. No person holding office under the authority of the United States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this state, shall be eligible to, or have a seat in, the legislature, but this provision shall not extend to precinct or township officers, justices of the peace, notaries public, or officers of the militia, nor shall any person interested in a contract with, or an unadjusted claim against, the state hold a seat in the legislature.

Commencement of Sessions; Quorum; Rules; Officers; Opening; Punishments.

     Section 10, Article III. The session of the legislature shall commence at 12 o'clock (noon) on the first Tuesday in January in the year next ensuing the election of members thereof, and at no other time, unless as provided by this constitution. A majority of the members elected to each house shall constitute a quorum; each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the election returns, and qualifications of its members, shall choose its own officers, and the senate shall choose a temporary president, to preside when the lieutenant-governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as governor. The secretary of state shall call the house of representatives to order at the opening of each new legislature, and preside over it until a tempor-

ary presiding officer thereof shall have been chosen, and shall have taken his seat. No member shall be expelled by either house, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to that house, and no member shall be twice expelled for the same offense. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person not a member thereof who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence, but no such imprisonment shall extend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless the person shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous behavior.

Journals; Votes; Doors Open; Adjournment.

     Section 11, Article III. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish them (except such parts as may require secrecy) 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. All votes in either house shall be viva voce. The doors of each house, and the committees of the whole, shall be open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.

Origin of Bills.

     Section 12, Article III. Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, except bills appropriating money, which shall originate only in the house of representatives, and all bills passed by one house may be amended by the other.

Style of Bills; Vote on Final Passage.

     Section 13, Article III. The style of all bills shall be: "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska," and no law shall be enacted except by bill. No bill shall be passed by the legislature unless by the assent of a

majority of all members elected to each house of the legislature, and the question upon final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last reading and the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal. No amendment to any bill by one house shall be concurred in by the other nor shall the report of any conference committee as to any bill be adopted by either house except by the assent of the same number of members as is required for the passage of the original bill taken by yeas and nays entered upon the journal.

Reading of Bills; Printing; Subject; Title; Amendment; Signing.

     Section 14, Article III. Every bill and concurrent resolution shall be read by title when introduced, and a printed copy thereof provided for the use of each member, and the bill and all amendments thereto shall be printed and read at large before the vote is taken upon its final passage. No bill shall contain more than one subject, and the same shall be clearly expressed in the title. And no law shall be amended unless the new act contain the section or sections as amended and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed. The presiding officer of each house shall sign, in the presence of the house over which he presides while the same is in session and capable of transacting business, all bills and concurrent resolutions passed by the legislature.

Privilege from Arrest.

     Section 15, Article III. Members of the legislature in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during the session of the legislature, and for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination thereof.

Disabilities of Members as to Appointment.

     Section 16, Article III. No person elected or appointed to the legislature shall receive any civil appointment to a state office during the term for which he has been elected or appointed, and all such appointments shall be void; nor shall any member of the legislature, or any state officer be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract, with the state or any county or municipality thereof, authorized by any law enacted during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed, or within one year after the expiration of such term.

Power of Impeachment.

     Section 17, Article III. The senate and house of representatives in joint convention shall have the sole power of impeachment, but a majority of the members elected must concur therein. Upon the entertainment of a resolution to impeach by either house, the other house shall at once be notified thereof and the two houses shall meet in joint convention for the purpose of acting upon such resolution within three days of such notification. A notice of an impeachment of any officer other than a justice of the supreme court, shall be forthwith served upon the chief justice, by the secretary of the senate, who shall thereupon call a session of the supreme court to meet at the capitol within ten days after such notice to try the impeachment. A notice of an impeachment of a justice of the supreme court shall be served by the secretary of the senate, upon the judge of the judicial district, within which the capitol is located, and he thereupon shall notify all the judges of the district court in the state to meet with him within thirty days at the capitol, to sit as a court to try such impeachment, which court shall organize by electing one of its members to preside. No person shall be convicted without the con-

currence of two-thirds of the members of the court of impeachment, but judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, profit, or trust, in this state, but the party impeached, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to prosecution and punishment according to law. No officer shall exercise his official duties after he shall have been impeached and notified thereof, until he shall have been acquitted.

Prohibition of Certain Special Legislation.

     Section 18, Article III. The legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following cases, that is to say:

     For granting divorces.

     Changing the names of persons or places.

     Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads or highways.

     Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public grounds.

     Locating or changing county seats.

     Regulating county and township offices.

     Regulating the practice of courts of justice.

     Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, police magistrates and constables.

     Providing for change of venue in civil and criminal cases.

     Incorporating cities, towns and villages, or changing or amending the charter of any town, city, or village.

     Providing for the election of officers in townships, incorporated towns or cities.

     Summoning or empaneling grand or petit juries.

     Providing for the bonding of cities, towns, precincts, school districts or other municipalities.

     Providing for the management of public schools.

     Regulating the interest on money.

     The opening and conducting of any election, or designating the place of voting.

     The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors, or others under disability.

     The protection of game or fish.

     Chartering or licensing ferries, or toll bridges, remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures, creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentages or allowances of public officers, during the term for which said officers are elected or appointed.

     Changing the law of descent.

     Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, the right to lay down railroad tracks, or amending existing charters for such purpose.

     Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, any special or exclusive privileges, immunity, or franchise whatever. In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted.

Shall Not Grant Extra Compensation.

     Section 19, Article III. The legislature shall never grant any extra compensation to any public officer, agent or servant after the services have been rendered nor to any contractor after the contract has been entered into, nor shall the compensation of any public officer, including any officer whose compensation is fixed by the legislature subsequent to the adoption hereof be increased or diminished during his term of office.

Natural Resources.

     Section 20, Article III. The salt springs, coal, oil, minerals, or other natural resources on or contained in the land belonging to the state shall never be alienated; but provision may be made by law for the leasing or development of the same.

Shall Not Donate Land.

     Section 21, Article III. Lands under control of the state shall never be donated to railroad companies, private corporations or individuals.

Appropriations.

     Section 22, Article III. Each legislature shall make appropriations for the expenses of the government until the expiration of the first fiscal quarter after the adjournment of the next regular session, and all appropriations shall end with such fiscal quarter. And whenever it is deemed necessary to make further appropriations for deficiencies, the same shall require a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each house, and shall not exceed the amount of revenue authorized by law to be raised in such time. Bills making appropriations for the pay of members and officers of the legislature, and for the salaries of the officers of the government, shall contain no provision on any other subject.

Vacancies in Offices.

     Section 23, Article III. All offices created by this constitution shall become vacant by the death of the incumbent, by removal from the state, resignation, conviction a felony, impeachment, or becoming of unsound mind. And the legislature shall provide by general law for the filling of such vacancy, when no provision is made for that purpose in this constitution.

Lotteries Prohibited.

     Section 24, Article HI. The legislature shall not authorize any games of chance, lottery, or gift enterprise, under any pretense or for any purpose whatever.

Money, How Drawn; Statement of Legislative Expenses.

     Section 25, Article III. No allowance shall be made for the incidental expenses of any state officers, except

the same be made by general appropriation and upon an account specifying each item. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in pursuance of a specific appropriation made by law, and on the presentation of a warrant issued by the auditor thereon, and no money shall be diverted from any appropriation made for any purpose or taken from any fund whatever, either by joint or separate resolution. The auditor shall, within sixty days after the adjournment of each session of the legislature prepare and publish a full statement of all moneys expended at such session, specifying the amount of each item, and to whom and for what paid.

Member Not Liable for Debate.

     Section 26, Article III. No member of the legislature shall be liable in any civil or criminal action whatever for words spoken in debate.

When Acts Take Effect; Publication of Same.

     Section 27, Article III. No act shall take effect until three calendar months after the adjournment of the session at which it passed, unless in case of emergency, to be expressed in the preamble or body of the act, the legislature shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, otherwise direct. All laws shall be published in book form within sixty days after the adjournment of each session and distributed among the several counties in such manner as the legislature may provide.

Apportionment.

     Section 28, Article III. Senatorial and representative districts shall continue as now existing until otherwise provided by law.

Executive Departments.

     Section 1, Article IV. The executive officers of the state shall be the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, commissioner of public lands and buildings, treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and the heads of such other executive departments as may be established by law. The legislature may provide for the placing of the above named officers as heads over such departments of government as it may by law create. The governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, commissioner of public lands and buildings, and treasurer shall he chosen at the general election held in November, 1922, and in each even numbered year thereafter, and their term of office shall be two years and until their successors shall be elected and qualified. The superintendent of public instruction shall be elected in November, 1922, and every four years thereafter, and his term of office shall be four years and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. The records, books and papers of all executive officers shall be kept at the seat of government, and such officers, excepting the lieutenant-governor, shall reside there during their respective terms of office. Officers in the executive department of the state shall perform such duties as may be provided by law. The heads of all executive departments established by law, other than those to be elected as provided herein, shall be appointed by the governor, with the consent of a majority of all the members elected to the senate and house of representatives meeting in joint session, but officers so appointed may be removed by the governor. Subject to the provisions of this constitution, the heads of the various executive or civil departments

shall have power to appoint, and remove, all subordinate employes in their respective departments.

Legislature to Convass (sic) Election Returns; Contests.

     Section 4, Article IV. The returns of every election for the officers of the executive department shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers to the secretary of state, directed to the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall immediately after the organization of the house, and before proceeding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of each house of the legislature, who shall, for that purpose, assemble in the hall of the house of representatives. The person having the highest number of votes for either of said offices shall be declared duly elected; but if two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes, the legislature shall, by joint vote, choose one of such persons for said office. Contested elections for all of said offices shall be determined by both houses of the legislature, by joint vote, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

Message of Governor to Legislature-Budget.

     Section 7, Article IV. The governor shall, at the commencement of each session, and at the close of his term of office and whenever the legislature may require, give by message to the legislature information of the condition of the state, and shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. He shall, by message, make to the legislature an account and statement, with vouchers attached, of all moneys received and paid out by him, from any and all funds subject to his order, and, at the commencement of each regular session shall present, by message, a complete itemized budget of the financial requirements of all departments, institutions and agencies

of the state for the ensuing biennium. Said budget shall be prepared with such expert assistance and under such regulations as may be provided by law. No appropriation shall be made in excess of the recommendation contained in such budget unless by three-fifths vote of each house of the legislature, and such excess so approved by a three-fifths vote shall not be subject to veto by the governor.

Governor May Convene Legislature.

     Section 8, Article IV. The governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the legislature by proclamation, stating therein the purpose for which they are convened, and the legislature shall enter upon no business except that for which they were called together.

Governor May Prorogue Legislature.

     Section 9, Article IV. In case of a disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, the governor may, on the same being certified to him by the house first moving the adjournment, adjourn the legislature to such time as he thinks proper not beyond the first day of the next regular session.

Appointments by Governor with Advice and Consent of Senate.

     Section 10, Article IV. The governor shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the senate (expressed by a majority of all senators elected, voting by yeas and nays), appoint all officers whose offices are established by this constitution, or which may be created by law, and whose appointment or election is not otherwise by law or herein provided for; and no such officer shall be appointed or elected by the legislature.

Vacancies During Recess of Senate.

     Section 11, Article IV. In case of a vacancy during

the recess of the senate, in any office which is not elective, the governor shall make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of the senate, when he shall nominate some person to fill such office; and any person so nominated, who is confirmed by the senate (a majority of all the senators elected concurring by voting yeas and nays), shall hold his office during the remainder of the term, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. No person after being rejected by the senate, shall be again nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at request of the senate, or be appointed to the same office during the recess of the legislature.

Pardoning Power of Governor and Legislature.

     Section 13, Article IV. The governor, attorney general, and secretary of state shall constitute a board to be known as the board of pardons, of which the governor shall be chairman. Said board, or a majority thereof, shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures and to grant commutations, pardons and paroles after conviction and judgment, under such conditions as may be prescribed by law, for any offenses committed against the criminal laws of the state except treason and cases of impeachment. But no fine or forfeiture shall be remitted, and no commutation, pardon or parole granted except upon the approval of a majority of the board after a full hearing in open session, and not until notice of the time and place of such hearing, and of the relief sought, shall have been given by personal service thereof upon the judge of the court by which the sentence! was pronounced and the county attorney of the county where the offense was committed. Provided, however, the governor shall have power to grant respites or reprieves in all cases of conviction for offenses against the laws of the state, except treason and cases of im-

peachment, but such respites or reprieves shall not extend beyond the next meeting of the board of pardons, and in no case for a greater period than thirty days. The proceedings and decisions shall be reduced to writing, and with the reasons for such action in each case, signed by the members of the board concurring therein, and with all papers used upon the hearing including the dissent of any member who may not concur, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The governor shall communicate to the legislature, at each regular session, each case of remission of fine, forfeiture, reprieve, commutation, pardon or parole, granted since the last previous report, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of remission, commutation, pardon, parole or reprieve, with the reasons for granting the same, and the objections, if any, of any members of the board made thereto. The board shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence imposed for treason until the case can be reported to the legislature at its next session, when the legislature shall either grant a pardon, or commute the sentence or direct the execution, or grant a further reprieve.

Bills Must Be Presented to Governor for Approval; Veto Power.

     Section 15, Article IV. Every bill passed by the legislature, before it becomes a law, and every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary (except on questions of adjournment) shall be presented to the governor. If he approves he shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law, but if he do not approve, 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 journal,

and proceed to reconsider the hill. If then three-fifths of the members elected agree to pass the same, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by three-fifths of the members elected to that house, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. In all such cases the vote of each house shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered upon the journal. Any bill which shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it; unless the legislature by their adjournment prevent its return; in which case it shall be filed, with his objections, in the office of the secretary of state within five days after such adjournment, or become a law. The governor may disapprove any item or items of appropriation contained in bills passed by the legislature, and the item or items so disapproved shall be stricken therefrom, unless repassed in the manner prescribed in cases of disapproval of bills.

Lieutenant-Governor President of Senate; When He May Vote.

     Section 17, Article IV. The lieutenant-governor shall be president of the senate, and shall vote only when the senate is equally divided.

Consent of Senate Necessary to Appointments to Board of Control.

     Section 19, Article IV. There shall be a "board of control" of state institutions consisting of three members who shall be appointed by the governor and with the consent of two-thirds of the members of the senate. Not more than two of the members of said board shall be

long to the same political party, and no two of them shall reside in the same congressional district when appointed. They shall he appointed for a term of six years, except to fill vacancy which shall be for the unexpired term. The present members shall hold office until their successors are appointed, and one member shall be appointed in the month of January, 1921, and one every two years thereafter. The board of control shall have full power to manage, control and govern, subject only to such limitations as may be established by law, all state charitable, reformatory, and penal institutions that now are or may hereafter be established. They shall give such bonds, receive such salaries and perform such duties as may be provided by law.

Governor Shall Transmit Reports of Executive Officers To Legislature.

     Section 23, Article IV. The officers of the executive department and of all the public institutions of the state shall at least ten days preceding each regular session of the legislature severally report to the governor, who shall transmit such reports to the legislature together with the reports of the judges of the supreme court of defects in the constitution and laws, and the governor or either house of the legislature may at any time require information, in writing, under oath, from the officers of the executive department and all officers and managers of state institutions, upon any subject relating to the condition, management and expenses of their respective offices.

Legislature May Not Create New Executive State Office.

     Section 27, Article IV. No executive state office other than herein provided shall be created except by a two-thirds majority of all members elected to the senate and house of representatives respectively.

Tax Commissioner; Powers and Duties.

     Section 28, Article IV. A tax commissioner shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. He shall have jurisdiction over the administration of the revenue laws of the state, and together with the governor, secretary of state, state auditor and state treasurer, shall have power to review and equalize assessments of property for taxation within the state. He shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as the legislature may provide. His term of office and compensation shall be as provided by law.

Five Judges to Hold Act Unconstitutional.

     Section 2, Article V. No legislative act shall be held unconstitutional except by the concurrence of five judges.

Supreme Court Districts.

     Section 5, Article V. The legislature shall divide the state along county lines into six compact districts, of approximately equal population, which shall he numbered from one to six, consecutive numbers to be given adjacent districts. Such districts shall correspond as nearly as may be practicable, in location and numbers with the present six congressional districts of the state. Such districts shall not be changed except upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature, nor shall any such change vacate the office of any judge. Until such districts are established, the six congressional districts of the state as now constituted and numbered shall be the supreme court judicial districts.

     A chief justice shall be elected in the year 1920 and each six years thereafter; in the year 1922, and each six years thereafter, there shall be elected by the electors of each of the three even numbered districts one judge

of the supreme court; and the judges so elected shall be the successors of the judges whose terms of office expire in January, 1923; in the year 1924, and each six years thereafter, there shall he elected by the electors of each of the three odd numbered districts one judge of the supreme court, and the judges so elected shall be the successors of the judges whose terms of office expire in January, 1925.

Changes in Judicial Districts.

     Section 11, Article V. The concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature shall be required to change the number of judges of the district courts, or to alter the boundaries of judicial districts. Such change in number or alterations in boundaries shall not vacate the office of any judge. Such districts shall be formed by compact territory bounded by county lines.

Laws Relating to Courts Must be Uniform.

     Section 19, Article V. The organization, jurisdiction, powers, proceedings, and practice of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law and the force and effect of the proceedings, judgments and decrees of such courts, severally, shall be uniform.

Suits Against State.

     Section 22, Article V. The state may sue and be sued, and the legislature shall provide by law in what manner and in what courts suits shall be brought.

Practice and Procedure in Courts.

     Section 25, Article V. For the effectual administration of justice and the prompt disposition of judicial proceedings the supreme court may promulgate rules of practice and procedure for all courts, uniform as to each

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