Constitution of the State of North Carolina and Copy of the Act of the General Assembly Entitled Part 3

[Sidenote: Terms of office.]

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 a.s.sembly 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 a.s.sume the duties of their office ten days after the approval of this Const.i.tution by the Congress of the United States, and shall hold their offices four years from and after the first day of January.

[Sidenote: Qualifications of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.]

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.

[Sidenote: Returns of elections.]

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 a.s.sembly. 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 a.s.sembly. Contested elections shall be determined by a joint ballot of both Houses of the General a.s.sembly in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

[Sidenote: Oath of office for Governor.]

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 a.s.sembly, or before any Justice of the Supreme Court, take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Const.i.tution 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.

[Sidenote: Duties of Governor.]

SEC. 5. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government of this State, and he shall, from time to time, give the General a.s.sembly information of the affairs of the State, and recommend to their consideration, such measures as he shall deem expedient.

[Sidenote: Reprieves, commutations and pardons.]

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 a.s.sembly 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.

[Sidenote: Annual reports from officers of Executive Department and of public inst.i.tutions.]

SEC. 7. The officers of the Executive Department and of the public inst.i.tutions of the State shall, at least five days previous to each regular session of the General a.s.sembly, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such reports with his message to the General a.s.sembly; 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.

[Sidenote: Commander in chief.]

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.

[Sidenote: Extra sessions of General a.s.sembly.]

SEC. 9. The Governor shall have power, on extraordinary occasions, by and with the advice of the Council of State, to convene the General a.s.sembly in extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.

[Sidenote: Officers whose appointments are not otherwise provided for.]

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 Const.i.tution and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for.

[Sidenote: Duties of the Lieutenant-Governor.]

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.

[Sidenote: In case of impeachment of Governor, or vacancy caused by death or resignation.]

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 Governor or Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected and qualified. Whenever, during the recess of the General a.s.sembly, it shall become necessary for the President of the Senate to administer the government, the Secretary of State shall convene the Senate, that they may select such President.

[Sidenote: Duties of other executive officers.]

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.

[Sidenote: Council of State.]

SEC. 14. The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall const.i.tute, _ex officio_, the Council of State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, any three of whom shall const.i.tute 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 a.s.sembly when called for by either House. The Attorney-General shall be, _ex officio_, the legal adviser of the Executive Department.

[Sidenote: Compensation of executive officers.]

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.

[Sidenote: Seal of State.]

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.

[Sidenote: Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics.]

SEC. 17. The General a.s.sembly 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.

[Sidenote: Abolishes the distinction between actions at law and suits in equity.]

[Sidenote: Feigned issues abolished.]

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.

[Sidenote: Division of Judicial powers.]

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.

[Sidenote: Trial court of impeachment.]

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.

[Sidenote: Impeachment.]

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.

[Sidenote: Treason against the State.]

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.

[Sidenote: Supreme court justices.]

SEC. 6. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and four a.s.sociate Justices.