Proposition on providing for the executive department. (File No. 31)

File No. 31

Introduced by Dennis C. Eichnor

A Proposition to provide for the Executive Department.

Taken from Washington, Idaho, California, Pennsylvania and Wyoming

The delegates of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Utah, in Convention assembled, do propose as follows:

Section I: The executive department shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at the time and places of voting for the members of the Legislature. They shall hold their office, except as otherwise provided, in this constitution, for the term of four years respectively, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

Section 2: The returns of every election for the officers named in the first section of this article shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officer, directed to the Secretary of State, who shall deliver the same to the speaker of the House of Representatives at the first meeting of the house thereafter, who shall open, publish, and declare the result thereof in the presence of a majority of the members of both houses. The person having the highest number of votes shall be declared duly elected and a certificate thereof shall be given to such person, signed by the presiding officers of both houses; but if any two or more shall be highest and equal in votes for the same office, one of them shall be chose by a joint vote of both houses. Contested elections for such offices shall be decided by the Legislature in such manner as shall be determined by law. The terms of all officers named in section one of this article shall commence on the ……… in January after their election.

Section 3: No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years at the time of his election; nor to the office of Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, or Superintendent of Public Instruction, unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years; nor to the office of Attorney-General, unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years and have been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory of Utah and have been a practising lawyer five years before his election. Each of the officers named in this section shall be a citizen of the United States and shall have resided within the State or Territory of Utah five years next preceding his election. Except the Superintendent of Public Instruction, they shall be ineligible to re-election as their own successors.

Section 4: The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be st...led the Governor of the State of Utah. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

Section 5: The Governor shall transact all executive business with the officers of the government, civil and military, and may require information in writing from the officers of the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Section 6: He shall communicate by message to the legislature, at every regular session the condition of the affairs of the State and recommend such measure as he shall deem expedient.

Section 7: He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature by proclamation, stating therein the purposes for which he has convened it; but when so convened, it shall have no power to legislate on any subjects, other than those specified in proclamation; except to provide for the expenses of the session, and other matters incidental thereto.

Section 8: In case of a disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor shall have power to adjourn the Legislature to such time as he may think; provided, it be not beyond the time fixed for the meeting of the next Legislature.

Section 9: The Governor shall be Commander-in-chief of the military forces of the State, except when they are called into the service of the United States, and may call out the same to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion.

Section 10: Every act which shall have passed the Legislature shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, which house shall enter the objections at large upon the journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds of the members present, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by the yeas and nays, and the name of the members voting for or against the bill shall be entered upon the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days, Sunday excepted, after it shall be presented to him, the same shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevent such, in which case, it shall become a law, unless the Governor within ten days after such adjournment, Sunday excepted, shall file the same with his objections thereto, in the office of the Secretary of State.

Section 11: If any bill presented to the Governor contain several sections or items, he may object to one or more sections or items, while approving other portions of the bill. In such case he shall append to the bill at the time of signing, a statement of the section or sections, item or items, to which he objects, and the reasons therefor, and the section or sections, item or items, so objected to shall be void, unless separately reconsidered and passed over the veto of the Governor, as hereinbefore provided.

Section 12: The Governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the Senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this constitution, or which may be created by law and whose appointment or election is not otherwise provided for. If, during the recess of the senate, a vacancy occurs in any State or district office, or in the Supreme Court, the Governor shall appoint some proper person to discharge the duties until the next general election or the meeting of the senate. If such vacancy occurs in an elective office, a person shall be chosen to fill the same at the next general election, unless the vacancy shall happen within thirty day immediately preceding such election, in which case a person shall be chosen at the second succeeding general election.

Section 13: There shall be a seal of the State kept by the Governor for official purposes, which shall be called “The great seal of the State of Utah.” The seal of the Territory of Utah, as now used shall be the seal of the State until otherwise provided by law.

Section 14: All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Utah, sealed with the great seal of the State, signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Secretary of State.

Section 15: The Governor shall receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum.

Section 16: In case of the failure to qualify, death, resignation, impeachment, removal, absence from the State, or inability of the Governor, the powers, duties, and emoluments of his office for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall cease, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor. If the Lieutenant Governor for any of the above named causes shall become incapable of performing the duties of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the Secretary of State, until such disqualification of either the Governor or Lieutenant Governor be removed or the vacancy filled.

Section 17: The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall vote only when the senate is equally divided. He shall discharge such other duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall receive an annual salary of five hundred dollars.

Section 18: The Secretary of State shall keep a record of the official acts of the Legislature and executive department of the State, and shall, when required, lay the same and all matters relative thereto, before either branch of the Legislature, and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned him by law. He shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars.

Section 19: The Treasurer shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by law. He shall receive an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars.

Section 20: The Auditor shall be auditor of public accounts and shall have such power and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars.

Section 21: The Attorney-General shall be the legal advisor of the State officers and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall be reporter for the Supreme Court. He shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum.

Section 22: The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have supervision over all matters pertaining to public schools and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars.

Section 23: The Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney-General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall severally keep the public records, books, and papers, relating to their respective offices, at the seat of the government, at which place each, except the Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall reside.

Section 24: No officer named in this article shall receive for the performance of any official duty any fee for his own use, but all fees fixed by law for the performance of any official duty shall be collected in advance and deposited with the State Treasurer quarterly to the credit of the State.

• Proposition on Providing for the Executive Department [File No. 31] (introduced on 1895-03-13 10:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e697263) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]
  • None (introduced on 1895-03-23 10:00:00 - REPORT_PROPOSAL - e697267) [view current proposal at this moment]