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AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 1849 @

(Ratified September 3, 1862)

Strike out the following-named sections and in lieu thereof insert: ART. IV. SEC. 2. The sessions of the Legislature shall be biennial, and shall commence on the first Monday of December next ensuing the election of its members, unless the Governor of the State shall in the interim, convene the Legislature by proclamation. No session shall continue longer than one hundred and twenty days.

SEC. 3. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen biennially, by the qualified electors of their respective districts, on the first Wednesday in September, unless otherwise ordered by the Legislature, and their term of office shall be two years.

SEC. 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, at the same time and places as members of Assembly; and no person shall be a member of the Senate, or Assembly, who has not been a citizen. and inhabitant of the State, and of the county or district for which he shall be chosen, one year next before his election.

SEC. 6. The number of Senators shall not be less than one third, nor more than one-half, of the members of the Assembly; and at the first session of the Legislature after this section takes effect, the Senators shall be divided by lot, as equally as may be, into two classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, so that one-half shall be chosen biennially.

SEC. 30. When a Congressional, Senatorial, or Assembly District shall be composed of two or more counties, it shall not be separated by any county belonging to another district. No county shall be divided, in forming a Congressional, Senatorial, or Assembly District, so as to attach one portion of a county to another county; but the Legislature may divide each county into as many Congressional, Senatorial, or Assembly Districts as such county may by apportionment be entitled to.

SEC. 39. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of the amendments proposed to Article Four by the Legislature of eighteen hundred and sixty-one, no officer shall be suspended or superseded thereby, until the election and quali fication of the several officers provided for in said amendments.

ART. V. SEC. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified electors, at the time and places for voting for members of the assembly, and shall hold his office four years from and after the first Monday in December subsequent to his election, and until his successor is elected and qualified.

SEC. 18. A secretary of state, a comptroller, a treasurer, an attorneygeneral, and a surveyor-general shall be elected at the same time and places, and in the same manner, as the governor and lieutenantgovernor, and whose term of office shall be the same as the governor.

SEC. 19. The secretary of state shall keep a fair record of the official acts of the legislative and executive departments of the government, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all matters relative

a These amendments, prepared by the legislature in 1861, approved by the legislature of 1862, and ratified by the people.

thereto, before either branch of the legislature, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned him by law; and in order that no inconvenience may result to the public service, from the taking effect of the amendments proposed to said article five by the legislature of 1861, no officer shall be superseded or suspended thereby, until the election and qualification of the several officers provided for in said amendments.

ART. VI. SECTION 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a supreme court, in district courts, in county courts, in probate courts, and in justices of the peace, and in such recorders and other inferior courts as the legislature may establish in any incorporated city or town.

SEC. 2. The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and four associate justices. The presence of three justices shall be necessary for the transaction of business, excepting such business as may be done at chambers, and the concurrence of three justices shall be necessary to pronounce a judgment.

SEC. 3. The justices of the supreme court shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at special elections to be provided by law, at which elections no officer other than judicial shall be elected, except a superintendent of public instruction. The first election for justices of the supreme court shall be held in the year 1863. The justices shall hold their offices for the term of ten years from the 1st day of January next after their election, except those elected at the first election, who, at their first meeting, shall so classify themselves by lot that one justice shall go out of office every two years. The justice having the shortest term to serve shall be the chief justice.

SEC. 4. The supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all cases in equity; also, in all cases at law which involve the title or possession of real estate, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, toll, or municipal fine, or in which the demand, exclusive of interest, or the value of the property in controversy, amounts to three hundred dollars; also, in all cases arising in the probate courts; and also, in all criminal cases amounting to felony, on questions of law alone. The court shall also have power to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, and habeas corpus, and also all writs necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. Each of the justices shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the State, upon petition on behalf of any person held in actual custody, and may make such writs returnable before himself, or the supreme court, or before any district court, or any county court in the State, or before any judge of said

courts.

SEC. 5. The State shall be divided by the legislature of 1863 into fourteen judicial districts, subject to such alteration from time to time, by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to both houses, as the public good may require; in each of which there shall be a district court, and for each of which a district judge shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district, at the special judicial elections to be held as provided for the election of justices of the supreme court, by section three of this article. The district judges shall hold their offices for the term of six years from the 1st day of January next after their election. The legislature shall have no power to grant leave of

absence to a judicial officer, and any such officer who shall absent himself from the State for upwards of thirty consecutive days shall be deemed to have forfeited his office.

SEC. 6. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in all cases in equity; also, in all cases at law which involve the title or possession of real property, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, toll, or municipal fine, and in all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest or the value of the property in controversy, amounts to three hundred dollars; and also in all criminal cases not otherwise provided for. The district courts and their judges shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, on petition by or on behalf of any person held in actual custody in their respective districts.

SEC. 7. There shall be in each of the organized counties of the State, a county court, for each of which a county judge shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county, at the special judicial elections to be held as provided for the election of justices of the supreme court by section three of this article. The county judges shall hold their offices for the term of four years from the first day of January next after their election. Said courts shall also have power to issue naturalization-papers. In the city and county of San Francisco, the legislature may separate the office of probate judge from that of county judge, and may provide for the election of a probate judge, who shall hold his office for the term of four years.

SEC. 8. The county courts shall have original jurisdiction of actions of forcible entry and detainer, of proceedings in insolvency, of actions to prevent or abate a nuisance, and of all such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for; and also such criminal jurisdiction as the legislature may prescribe; they shall also have appellate jurisdiction in all cases arising in courts held by justices of the peace and recorders, and in such inferior courts as may be established, in pursuance of section one of this article, in their respective counties. The county judges shall also hold in their several counties probate courts, and perform such duties as probate judges as may be prescribed by law. The county courts and their judges shall also have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, on petition by or on behalf of any person in actual custody in their respective counties.

SEC. 9. The legislature shall determine the number of justices of the peace to be elected in each city and township of the State, and fix by law their powers, duties, and responsibilities; Provided, Such powers shall not in any case trench upon the jurisdiction of the several courts of record. The supreme court, the district courts, county courts, the probate courts, and such other courts as the legislature shall prescribe, shall be courts of record.

SEC. 10. The legislature shall fix by law the jurisdiction of any recorder's or other inferior municipal court which may be established in pursuance of section one of this article, and shall fix by law the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the judges thereof.

SEC. 11. The legislature shall provide for the election of a clerk of the supreme court, county clerks, district attorneys, sheriffs, and other necessary officers, and shall fix by law their duties and compensation. County clerks shall be ex-officio clerks of the courts of record in and for their respective counties. The legislature may

also provide for the appointment by the several district courts of one or more commissioners in the several counties of their respective districts, with authority to perform chamber business of the judges of the district courts and county courts, and also to take depositions, and to perform such other business connected with the administration of justice as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 12. The times and places of holding the terms of the several courts of record shall be provided for by law.

SEC. 13. No judicial officer, except justices of the peace, recorders, and commissioners, shall receive to his own use any fees or perquisites of office.

SEC. 14. The legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of such opinions of the supreme court as it may deem expedient; and all opinions shall be free for publication by any person.

SEC. 15. The justices of the supreme court, district judges, and county judges shall severally, at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected: Provided, That county judges shall be paid out of the county treasury of their respective counties.

SEC. 16. The justices of the supreme court, and the district judges, and the county judges, shall be ineligible to any other office than a judicial office during the term for which they shall have been elected. SEC. 17. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law.

SEC. 18. The style of all process shall be, " The People of the State of California," and all prosecutions shall be conducted in their name and by their authority.

SEC. 19. In order that no inconvenience may result to the public service from the taking effect of the amendments proposed to said article six by the legislature of 1861, no officer shall be superseded thereby, nor shall the organization of the several courts be changed thereby, until the election and qualification of the several officers provided for in said amendments.

ART. IX. SECTION 1. A superintendent of public instruction shall, at the special election for judicial officers to be held in the year 1863, and every four years thereafter at such special elections, be elected by the qualified voters of the State, and shall enter upon the duties of his office on the 1st day of December next after his election.

ART. X. SEC. 2. And if at any time two-thirds of the senate and assembly shall think it necessary to revise or change this entire constitution, they shall recommend to the electors, at the next election for members of the legislature, to vote for or against a convention, and if it shall appear that a majority of the electors, voting at such election, have voted in favor of calling a convention, the legislature shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling a convention, to be holden within six months after the passage of such law; and such convention shall consist of a number of members not less than that of both branches of the legislature. The constitution that may have been agreed upon and adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the people at a special election, to be provided for by law, for their

ratification or rejection; each voter shall express his opinion by depositing in the ballot-box a ticket, whereon shall be written or printed the words "For the new constitution," or "Against the new constitution." The returns of such election shall, in such manner as the convention shall direct, be certified to the executive of the State, who shall call to his assistance the comptroller, treasurer, and secretary of state, and compare the votes so certified to him. If by such examination it be ascertained that a majority of the whole number of votes cast at such election be in favor of such new constitution, the executive of this State shall, by his proclamation, declare such new constitution to be the constitution of the State of California.

(Ratified in 1871 a)

ART. I. SEC. 22. The legislature shall have no power to make an appropriation, for any purpose whatever, for a longer period than two years.

CONSTITUTION OF CALIFORNIA-1879 *

Adopted in convention at Sacramento, March 3, A. D. 1879; submitted to and ratified by the people May 7, 1879.

PREAMBLE AND DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

PREAMBLE

We, the people of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.

ARTICLE I

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

SECTION 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

SEC. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right to alter or reform the same whenever the public good may require it.

* Verified from "Department of public instruction, Thomas J. Kirk, superintendent. School law of California. Extracts from the Political and Penal Codes; Acts of the Legislature, Relating to Schools, Still in Force; Laws Relating to the State Normal and Polytechnic Schools; Acts Relating to the State Series of Text-Books; Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Education for the Government of Public Schools; Constitution of California; Constitution of the United States. Published for the use of the public schools. Sacramento, W. W. Shannon, superintendent of State printing, 1903." 299 pp.

Also by copies of amendments furnished by the Secretary of State of California, April 4, 1907. [Editor.]

This amendment was proposed by the legislature in 1866, approved by the legislature in 1868, and ratified by the people in 1871.