CONSTITUTION
OF THE
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
AND COPY OF THE ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
(CHAPTER 81, PUBLIC LAWS, EXTRA SESSION OF 1913)
ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE
SECRETARY OF STATE
RALEIGH
BY AUTHORITY OF THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
RALEIGH
EDWARDS & BROUGHTON PRINTING COMPANY
STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS
1914
Received through the
Bureau for Municipal Research
By direction of the General Assembly, this pamphlet is furnished for distribution to, and the information of, citizens of the State of North Carolina. It contains the Constitution of the State of North Carolina as it now stands, and shows, on page 39 and the pages following, the proposed amendments, and a copy of the official ballot. Additional copies of this pamphlet may be had upon application to the County Clerk of Court, or to the Secretary of State, Raleigh.
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
PREAMBLE.
We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union, and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do for the more certain security thereof, and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution:
ARTICLE I.
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.
That the great, general and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, and that the relations of this State to the Union and Government of the United States, and those of the people of this State to the rest of the American people, may be defined and affirmed, we do declare:
Section 1. That we hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness.
Sec. 2. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people; all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.
Sec. 3. That the people of this State have the inherent, sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of altering and abolishing their Constitution and form of government whenever it may be necessary for their safety and happiness; but every such right should be exercised in pursuance of law, and consistently with the Constitution of the United States.
Sec. 4. That this State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; that the people thereof are a part of the American Nation; that there is no right on the part of the State to secede, and that all attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve said Union, or to sever said Nation, ought to be resisted with the whole power of the State.
Sec. 5. That every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and government of the United States, and that no law or ordinance of the State in contravention or subversion thereof can have any binding force.
Sec. 6. The State shall never assume or pay, or authorize the collection of any debt or obligation, express or implied, incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; nor shall the General Assembly assume or pay, or authorize the collection of any tax to pay, either directly or indirectly, expressed or implied, any debt or bond incurred, or issued, by authority of the Convention of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, nor any debt or bond incurred or issued by the Legislature of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, at its special session of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, or at its regular sessions of the years one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine and one thousand eight hundred and seventy, except the bonds issued to fund the interest on the old debt of the State, unless the proposing to pay the same shall have first been submitted to the people and by them ratified by the vote of a majority of all the qualified voters of the State, at a regular election held for that purpose.
Sec. 7. No man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community but in consideration of public services.
Sec. 8. The legislative, executive and supreme judicial powers of the government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other.
Sec. 9. All power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
Sec. 10. All elections ought to be free.
Sec. 11. In all criminal prosecutions, every man has the right to be informed of the accusation against him and to confront the accusers and witnesses with other testimony, and to have counsel for his defense, and not to be compelled to give evidence against himself, or to pay costs, jail fees, or necessary witness fees of the defense, unless found guilty.
Sec. 12. No person shall be put to answer any criminal charge, except as hereinafter allowed, but by indictment, presentment or impeachment.
Sec. 13. No person shall be convicted of any crime but by the unanimous verdict of a jury of good and lawful men in open court. The Legislature may, however, provide other means of trial for petty misdemeanors, with the right of appeal.
Sec. 14. Excessive bail should not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.
Sec. 15. General warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places, without evidence of the act committed,
Sec. 16. There shall be no imprisonment for debt in this State, except in cases of fraud.
Sec. 17. No person ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the law of the land.
Sec. 18. Every person restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy to enquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same, if unlawful; and such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed.
Sec. 19. In all controversies at law respecting property, the ancient mode of trial by jury is one of the best securities of the rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and inviolable.
Sec. 20. The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and therefore ought never to be restrained, but every individual shall be held responsible for the abuse of the same.
Sec. 21. The privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.
Sec. 22. As political rights and privileges are not dependent upon, or modified by, property, therefore no property qualification ought to affect the right to vote or hold office.
Sec. 23. The people of the State ought not to be taxed, or made subject to the payment of any impost or duty, without the consent of themselves, or their representatives in General Assembly freely given.
Sec. 24. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up, and the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing herein contained shall justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons, or prevent the Legislature from enacting penal statutes against said practice.
Sec. 25. The people have a right to assemble together to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the Legislature for redress of grievances. But secret political societies are dangerous to the liberties of a free people, and should not be tolerated.
Sec. 26. All men have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority should, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience.
Sec. 27. The people have the right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right.
Sec. 28. For redress of grievances, and for amending and strengthening the laws, elections should be often held.
Sec. 29. A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty.
Sec. 30. No hereditary emoluments, privileges or honors ought to be granted or conferred in this State.
Sec. 31. Perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State and ought not to be allowed.
Sec. 32. Retrospective laws, punishing acts committed before the existence of such laws, and by them only declared criminal, are oppressive, unjust and incompatible with liberty; wherefore no ex post facto law ought to be made. No law taxing retrospectively sales, purchases, or other acts previously done, ought to be passed.
Sec. 33. Slavery and Involuntary servitude, otherwise than for crime, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and are hereby forever prohibited within the State.
Sec. 34. The limits and boundaries of the State shall be and remain as they now are.
Sec. 35. All courts shall be open; and every person for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay.
Sec. 36. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in a manner prescribed by the law.
Sec. 37. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people; and all powers not herein delegated remain with the people.
ARTICLE II.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
Section 1. The legislative authority shall be vested in two distinct branches, both dependent on the people, to wit, a Senate and House of Representatives.
Sec. 2. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet biennially on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January next after their election; and, when assembled, shall be denominated the General Assembly. Neither House shall proceed upon public business unless a majority of all the members are actually present.
Sec. 3. The Senate shall be composed of fifty Senators, biennially chosen by ballot.
Sec. 4. The Senate Districts shall be so altered by the General Assembly, at the first session after the return of every enumeration by order of Congress, that each Senate District shall contain, as near as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens and Indians not taxed, and shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration, and shall at all times consist of contiguous territory; and no county shall be divided in the formation of a Senate District, unless such county shall be equitably entitled to two or more Senators.
Sec. 5. The House of Representatives shall be composed of one hundred and twenty
Sec. 6. In making the apportionment in the House of Representatives, the ratio of representation shall be ascertained by dividing the amount of the population of the State, exclusive of that comprehended within those counties which do not severally contain the one hundred and twentieth part of the population of the State, by the number of Representatives, less the number assigned to such counties; and in ascertaining the number of the population of the State, aliens and Indians not taxed shall not be included. To each county containing the said ratio and not twice the said ratio, there shall be assigned one Representative; to each county containing two but not three times the said ratio, there shall be assigned two Representatives, and so on progressively, and then the remaining representatives shall be assigned severally to the counties having the largest fractions.
Sec. 7. Each member of the Senate shall not be less than twenty-five years of age, shall have resided in the State as a citizen two years, and shall have usually resided in the district for which he is chosen one year immediately preceding his election.
Sec. 8. Each member of the House of Representatives shall be a qualified elector of the State, and shall have resided in the county for which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election.
Sec. 9. In the election of all officers, whose appointment shall be conferred upon the General Assembly by the Constitution, the vote shall be viva voce.
Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to pass general laws regulating divorce and alimony, but shall not have power to grant a divorce or secure alimony in any individual case.
Sec. 11. The General Assembly shall not have power to pass any private law to alter the name of any person, or to legitimate any person not born in lawful wedlock, or to restore to the rights of citizenship any person convicted of an infamous crime, but shall have power to pass general laws regulating the same.
Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall not pass any private law, unless it shall be made to appear that thirty days' notice of application to pass such a law shall have been given, under such direction and in such manner as shall be provided by law.
Sec. 13. If vacancies shall occur in the General Assembly by death, resignation or otherwise, writs of election shall be issued by the Governor under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.
Sec. 14. No law shall be passed to raise money on the credit of the State, or to pledge the faith of the State, directly or indirectly, for the payment of any debt, or to impose any tax upon the people of the State, or allow the counties, cities or towns to do so, unless the bill for the purpose shall have been read three several times in each House of the General Assembly and passed three several readings, which readings shall have been on three different days, and agreed to by each House respectively, and unless the yeas and nays on the second and third readings of the bill shall have been entered on the journal.
Sec. 15. The General Assembly shall regulate entails in such manner as to prevent perpetuities.
Sec. 16. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be printed and made public immediately after the adjournment of the General Assembly.
Sec. 17. Any member of either House may dissent from and protest against any act or resolve, which he may think injurious to the public, or any individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journal.
Sec. 18. The House of Representatives shall choose their own Speaker and other officers.
Sec. 19. The Lieutenant-Governor shall preside in the Senate, but shall have no vote unless it may be equally divided.
Sec. 20. The Senate shall choose its other officers and also a Speaker (pro tempore) in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor.
Sec. 21. The style of the acts shall be: "The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact."
Sec. 22. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and election of its own members, shall sit upon its own adjournment from day to day, prepare bills to be passed into laws; and the two Houses may also jointly adjourn to any future day or other place.
Sec. 23. All bills and resolutions of a legislative nature shall be read three times in each House, before they pass into laws; and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both Houses.
Sec. 24. Each member of the General Assembly, before taking his seat, shall take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, and will faithfully discharge his duty as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives.
Sec. 25. The terms of office for Senators and members of the House of Representatives shall commence at the time of their election.
Sec. 26. Upon motion made and seconded in either House by one-fifth of the members present, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be taken and entered upon the journals.
Sec. 27. The election for members of the General Assembly shall be held for the respective districts and counties, at the places where they are now held, or may be directed hereafter to be held, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, on the first Thursday in August, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But the General Assembly may change the time of holding the elections.
ARTICLE III.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
Section 1. The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, in whom shall be vested the supreme executive power of the State, a Lieutenant-Governor, a Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, and an Attorney-General, who shall be elected for a term of four years by the qualified electors of the State, at the same time and places and in the same manner as members of the General Assembly are elected. Their term of office shall commence on the first day of January next after their election, and continue until their successors are elected and qualified: Provided, that the officers first elected shall assume the duties of their office ten days after the approval of this Constitution by the Congress of the United States, and shall hold their offices four years from and after the first day of January.
Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible as Governor or Lieutenant-Governor unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, shall have been a citizen of the United States five years, and shall have been a resident of this State for two years next before the election; nor shall the person elected to either of these two offices be eligible to the same office more than four years in any term of eight years, unless the office shall have been cast upon him as Lieutenant-Governor or President of the Senate.
Sec. 3. The return of every election for officers of the Executive Department shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government by the returning officers, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of the members of both Houses of the General Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes respectively shall be declared duly elected; but if two or more be equal and highest in votes for the same office, one of them shall be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses of the General Assembly. Contested elections shall be determined by a joint ballot of both Houses of the General Assembly in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
Sec. 4. The Governor, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall, in the presence of the members of both branches of the General Assembly, or before any Justice of the Supreme Court, take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United States, and of the State of North Carolina, and that he will faithfully perform the duties appertaining to the office of Governor, to which he has been elected.
Sec. 5. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government of this State, and he shall, from time to time, give the General Assembly information of the affairs of the State, and recommend to their consideration, such measures as he shall deem expedient.
Sec. 6. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses (except in cases of impeachment), upon such conditions as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. He shall biennially communicate to the General Assembly each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon granted, stating the name of each convict, the crime for which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, the date of the commutation, pardon or reprieve and the reasons therefor.
Sec. 7. The officers of the Executive Department and of the public institutions of the State shall, at least five days previous to each regular session of the General Assembly, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such reports with his message to the General Assembly; and the Governor may, at any time, require information in writing from the officers in the Executive Department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
Sec. 8. The Governor shall be Commander in Chief of the militia of the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
Sec. 9. The Governor shall have power, on extraordinary occasions, by and with the advice of the Council of State, to convene the General Assembly in extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.
Sec. 10. The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of a majority of the Senators-elect, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this Constitution and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for.
Sec. 11. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless the Senate is equally divided. He shall, whilst acting as President of the Senate, receive for his services the same pay which shall, for the same period, be allowed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and he shall receive no other compensation except when he is acting as Governor.
Sec. 12. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his failure to qualify, his absence from the State, his inability to discharge the duties of his office, or, in case the office of Governor shall in any wise become vacant, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor until the disability shall cease or a new Governor shall be elected and qualified. In every case in which the Lieutenant-Governor shall be unable to preside over the Senate, the Senators shall elect one of their own number President of their body; and the powers, duties and emoluments of the office of Governor shall devolve upon him whenever the Lieutenant-Governor shall, for any reason, be prevented from discharging the duties of such office as above provided, and he shall continue as acting Governor until the disabilities are removed, or a new
Sec. 13. The respective duties of the Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Attorney-General shall be prescribed by law. If the office of any of said officers shall be vacated by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Governor to appoint another until the disability be removed or his successor be elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after the vacancy has taken place, and the persons chosen shall hold the office for the remainder of the unexpired term fixed in the first section of this article.
Sec. 14. The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall constitute, ex officio, the Council of State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, any three of whom shall constitute a quorum. Their advice and proceedings in this capacity shall be entered in a journal to be kept for this purpose exclusively, and signed by the members present, from any part of which any member may enter his dissent; and such journal shall be placed before the General Assembly when called for by either House. The Attorney-General shall be, ex officio, the legal adviser of the Executive Department.
Sec. 15. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated periods, receive for their services a compensation to be established by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the time for which they shall have been elected, and the said officers shall receive no other emolument or allowance whatever.
Sec. 16. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him as occasion may require, and shall be called "The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina." All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of North Carolina, sealed with "The Great Seal of the State," signed by the Governor and counter-signed by the Secretary of State.
Sec. 17. The General Assembly shall establish a Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, under such regulations as may best promote the agricultural interests of the State, and shall enact laws for the adequate protection and encouragement of sheep husbandry.
ARTICLE IV.
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
Section 1. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity, and the forms of all such actions and suits, shall be abolished; and there shall be in this State but one form of action for the enforcement or protection of private rights or the redress of private wrongs, which shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted by the people of the State as a party against a person charged with a public offense, for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a criminal action. Feigned issues shall also be abolished, and the fact at issue tried by order of Court before a jury.
Sec. 2. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Court for the Trial of Impeachments, a Supreme Court, Superior Courts, Courts of Justices of the Peace, and such other courts inferior to the Supreme Court as may be established by law.
Sec. 3. The Court for the Trial of Impeachments shall be the Senate. A majority of the members shall be necessary to a quorum, and the judgment shall not extend beyond removal from and disqualification to hold office in this State; but the party shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.
Sec. 4. The House of Representatives solely shall have the power of impeaching. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present. When the Governor is impeached, the Chief Justice shall preside.
Sec. 5. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or 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. No conviction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture.
Sec. 6. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.
Sec. 7. The terms of the Supreme Court shall be held in the city of Raleigh, as now, unless otherwise provided by the General Assembly.
Sec. 8. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon appeal, any decision of the courts below, upon any matter of law or legal inference. And the jurisdiction of said Court over "issues of fact" and "questions of fact" shall be the same exercised by it before the adoption of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and the Court shall have the power to issue any remedial writs necessary to give it a general supervision and control over the proceedings of the inferior courts.
Sec. 9. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear claims against the State, but its decisions shall be merely recommendatory; no process in the nature of execution shall issue thereon; they shall be reported to the next session of the General Assembly for its action.
Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into nine judicial districts, for each of which a judge shall be chosen; and there shall be held a Superior Court in each county at least twice in each year, to continue for such time in each county as may be prescribed by law. But the General Assembly may reduce or increase the number of districts.
Sec. 11. Every judge of the Superior Court shall reside in the district for which he is elected. The judges shall preside in the courts of the different districts successively, but no judge shall hold the courts in the same district oftener than once in four years; but in case of the protracted illness of the judge assigned to preside in any district, or of any other unavoidable accident to him, by reason of which he shall be unable to preside, the Governor may require any judge to hold one or more specified terms in said district, in lieu of the judge assigned to hold the courts of the said district.
Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall have no power to deprive the Judicial Department of any power or jurisdiction which rightfully pertains to it as a coördinate department of the government; but the General Assembly shall allot and distribute that portion of this power and jurisdiction which does not pertain to the Supreme Court, among other Courts prescribed in this Constitution or which may be established by law, in such manner as it may deem best; provide also a proper system of appeals, and regulate by law, when necessary, the methods of proceedings in the exercise of their powers, of all the courts below the Supreme Court, so far as the same may be done without conflict with other provisions of this Constitution.