held when the vote shall be taken on the ratification of this Constitution by the voters of the State, and the General Assembly then elected, shall meet on the fifteenth day after the approval thereof by the Congress of the United States, if it fall not on Sunday, but if it shall so fall, then on the next day thereafter; and the members then elected shall hold their seats until their successors are elected at a regular election. ARTICLE III. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. Officers of the Executive De partment. 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 Works, 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 Term of office. 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, 1869. of Governor and ernor. Qualifications SEC. 2. No person shall be eligible as Governor or LieuLieutenant-Gov- tenant-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 un less 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 persons 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, then one of them shall be chosen by joint-ballot of both Houses of the General Assembly. Contested elections shall be determined by a joint vote of both Houses of the General Assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Returns elections. for Governor. of SEC. 4. The Governor, before entering upon the duties of Oath of office 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. Governor. SEC. 5. The Governor shall reside at the seat of govern- Duties of the ment 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. commutations SEC. 6. The Governor shall have power to grant reprie- Reprieves, ves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all of- and pardons. fences, (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 annually 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 Annual reports from officers of partment and of tions. date of commutation, pardon, or reprieve, and the reasons therefor. SEC. 7. The officers of the Executive Department and Executive De of the Public Institutions of the State, shall at least five Public Institu- 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. Commander in-chief. Extra Sessions of General Assembly. Officers whose appointments wise provided for. 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 extraor dinary 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 not other the advice and consent of a majority of the Senators elect, appoint, all officers whose offices are established by this Constitution, or which shall be created by law, and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for, and no such officer shall be appointed or elected by the General Assembly. Duties of the Lieutenant-Gov ernor. In case of impeachment of SEC. 11. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless the Senate be 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 GovernGovernor, or va- or, his failure to qualify, his absence from the State, his inacancy caused by bility to discharge the duties of his office, or in case the office of Governor shall in anywise become vacant, the death or resigna tion. powers, Executive offi SEC. 13. The respective duties of the Secretary of State, Duties of other Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Works, Su- ters. perintendent 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 person 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, Superintendent of Public Works, and Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall constitute ex officio, the Council of State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, and 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 Council of State. Compensation of Executive of ficers. Seal of State. Bureau of Sta tistics, Agricul gration. 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 countersigned by the Secretary of State. SEC. 17. There shall be established in the office of Secreture, and Immi- tary of State, a Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture and Immigration, under such regulations as the General Assembly may provide. ARTICLE IV. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. Abolishes the distinction be law and suits in equity. SECTION 1. The distinction between actions at law and tween actions at 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 offence, for the punishment of the same, shall Feigned issues be termed a criminal action. Feigned issues shall also be abolished, and the fact at issue tried by order of Court before a jury. abolished. Apportionment and duties of SEC. 2. Three Commissioners shall be appointed by this three Commis- Convention to report to the General Assembly at its first sioners. |