CONSTITUTION

OF THE

STATE OF MISSOURI.

WE, the people of Missouri, inhabiting the limits hereinafter designated, by our Representatives, in Convention assembled, at St. Louis, on Monday, the 12th day of June, 1820, do mutually agree to form and establish a free and independent republic, by the name of "THE STATE OF MISSOURI;" and, for the government thereof, do ordain and establish this Constitution:

ARTICLE I.

Of Boundaries.

SECTION 1. We do declare, establish, ratify and confirm, the following as the permanent boundaries of said State, that is to say: "Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi River, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west, along said parallel of latitude, to the St. François river; thence up, and following the course of that river in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west along the same, to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties into the Missouri river; thence, from. the point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east, from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down along the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning."

ARTICLE II.

Of the Distribution of Power.

SECTION 1. The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate magistracy; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any powers properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter directed or permitted.

ARTICLE III.

Of the Legislative Power.

SECTION 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a " General Assembly," which shall consist of a "Senate" and of a "House of Representatives."

SEC. 2. The House of Representatives shall consist of members to be chosen every second year by the qualified electors of the several counties. Each county shall have at least one Representative, but the whole number of Representatives shall never exceed one hundred."

SEC. 3. No person shall be a member of the House of Representatives who shall not have attained to the age of twentyfour years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State two years, and of the county which he represents one year next before his election, if such county shall have been so long established; but if not, then of the county or counties from which the same shall have been taken; and who shall not, moreover, have paid a State or county tax.

SEC. 4. The General Assembly, at their first session, and in the years one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, respectively, and every fourth year thereafter, shall cause an enumeration of the inhabitants of this State to be made; and, at the first session after each enumeration, shall apportion the number of Representatives among the several counties, according to the number of free white male inhabitants therein.

SEC. 5. The Senators shall be chosen by the qualified electors, for the term of four years. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State four years, and of the district which he may be chosen to represent one year next before his election, if such district shall have been so long established, but if not, then of the district or districts from which the same shall have been taken; and who shall not, moreover, have paid a State or county tax.

SEC. 6. The Senate shall consist of not less than fourteen nor more than thirty-three members; for the election of whom the State shall be divided into convenient districts which may be altered from time to time, and new districts established, as public convenience may require; and the Senators shall be apportioned among the several districts, according to the number of free white male inhabitants in each; Provided, that when a Senatorial district shall be composed of two or more counties, the counties of which such district consists shall not be entirely separated by any county belonging to another district, and no county shall be divided in forming a district.

SEC. 7. At the first session of the General Assembly, the Senators shall be divided by lot, as equally, as may be, into two classes. The seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of the second year, and the seats of the second class at the end of the fourth year; so that one-half of the Senators shall be chosen every second year.

SEC. 8. After the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, all general elections shall commence on the first Monday in August, and shall be held biennially; and the electors, in all cases, except of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their continuance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same.

SEC. 9. The Governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the General Assembly.

SEC. 10. Every free white male citizen of the United States, who may have attained to the age of twenty-one years, and who shall have resided in this State one year before an election, the last three months whereof shall have been in the county or district in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified elector of all elective offices; Provided, that no soldier, seaman, or mariner, in the regular army or navy of the United States, shall be entitled to a vote at any election in the State.

SEC. 11. No judge of any court of law or equity, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, state or county treasurer, register or recorder, clerk of any court of record, sheriff, coroner, member of congress, nor other person holding any lucrative office under the United States, or this State, (militia officers, justices of the peace and postmasters, excepted) shall be eligible to either house of the General Assembly.

SEC. 12. No person who now is, or who hereafter may be, a collector or holder of public money, nor any assistant or deputy of such collector or holder of public money, shall be eligible to either house of the General Assembly, nor to any office of profit or trust, until he shall have accounted for and paid all sums for which he may be accountable.

SEC. 13. No person, while he continues to exercise the func

tions of a bishop, priest, clergyman, or teacher of any religious persuasion, denomination, society or sect whatsoever, shall be eligible to either house of the General Assembly; nor shall he be appointed to any office of profit within the State, the office of justice of the peace excepted.

SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall have power to exclude from every office of honor, trust or profit, within this State, and from the right of suffrage, all persons convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime.

SEC. 15. Every person, who shall be convicted of having, directly or indirectly, given or offered any bribe to procure his election or appointment, shall be disqualified for any office of honor, trust or profit, under this State; and any person, who shall give or offer any bribe to procure the election or appointment of any other person, shall, on conviction thereof, be disqualified for an elector, or for any office of honor, trust or profit, under this State, for ten years after such conviction.

SEC. 16. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office under this State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during his continuance in office, except to such offices as shall be filled by elections of the people.

SEC. 17. Each House shall appoint its own officers, and shall judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its own members. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

SEC. 18. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its own members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause. They shall each, from time to time, publish a journal of their proceedings, except such parts as may, in their opinion, require secresy; and the yeas and nays on any question shall be entered on the journal at the desire of any two members.

SEC. 19. The doors of each house, and of committees of the whole, shall be kept open, except in cases which may require secresy; and each house may punish, by fine or imprisonment, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house by any disorderly, or contemptuous behavior in their presence, during their session; Provided, that such fines shall not exceed three hundred dollars, and such imprisonment shall not exceed forty-eight hours for one offence.

SEC. 20. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days at any one time, nor to any other place than to that in which the two houses may be sitting.

SEC. 21. Bills may originate in either house, and may be altered, amended or rejected, by the other; and every bill shall be read on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house, where the same is depending, shall dispense with this rule; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and by the President of the Senate.

SEC. 22. When any officer, civil or military, shall be appointed by the joint or concurrent vote of both houses, or by the separate vote of either house of the General Assembly, the votes shall be publicly given viva voce, and entered on the journals. The whole list of members shall be called, and the names of absentees shall be noted and published with the journal.

SEC. 23. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

SEC. 24. The members of the General Assembly shall severally receive from the public treasury a compensation for their services, which may from time to time be increased or diminished by law, but no alteration, increasing or tending to increase the compensation of members, shall take effect during the session at which such alteration shall be made.

SEC. 25. The General Assembly shall direct by law in what manner, and in what courts, suits may be brought against the State.

SEC. 26. The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws

First: For the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, or without paying them, before such emancipation, in full, equivalent for such slaves so emancipated; and

Second: To prevent bona fide emigrants to this State, or actual settlers therein, from bringing from any of the United States, or from any of their territories, such persons as may there be deemed to be slaves, so long as any persons of the same description are allowed to be held as slaves by the laws of this State.

They shall have power to pass laws

First: To prohibit the introduction into this State of any slaves who may have committed any high crime in any other State or Territory;

Second: To prohibit the introduction of any slave, for the purpose of speculation, or as an article of trade or merchandise; Third: To prohibit the introduction of any slave, or the offspring of any slave, who have been, or hereafter may be, imported from any foreign country into the United States, or