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UPPLEMEN T
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 18, 1865.
• . -'-4 ' — __
*
PREAMBLE
TO THE
CONSTITUTION.
We, the people of the State of Geor
aia, in order to form a permanent Got
eminent, establish justice, insure domes
tic tranquility and secure the blessings
of liberty to dbrselves and our posterity
—acknowledging and invoking the ^nd-
ance of Almighty God, the author of ml
rood Governments, do ordain and estab
lish this Constitution for the State of
Georgia.
((institution of the State of Georgia.
ARTICLE 1.
Declaration of Rights.—1. Protection
to person and property is the duty of
government. - '
2. No person shall be deprived of life,
property, or liberty, except by due pro
cess of law.
;i . The writ of habeas _ corpus shall
not be suspended unless in case of re
bellion or invasion, the public safety may
require it. , .
I. A well regulatedmilitia being neces
sary to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear arms
Shall not be infringed.
5. Perfect freedom of religious senti
ments, be and the same is hereby secur
ed, and no inhabitant of this State shall
ever bo molested in person or property,
nor prohibited from holding any public
office or trust, on account of his religious
opinion. , , ,
6. Freedom of speech, and freedom of
the press, are inherent elements of poli
tical liberty. But while every citizen may
freely speak or write, or print on any sub
ject,he shall be responsible for the abuse
of the liberty.
7. Tho right of the people to appeal
to the courts, to petition government on
all matters of legitimate cognizance and
and peaceably to assemble for the con
sideration of any matter of public con
cern shall never be impaired.,
8. Every person charged with an of
fence against the laws of the State, shall
lave the privilege and benefit of counsel,
shall bo furnished on demand with a copy
of the accusation, and list of the wit
nesses on whose testimony the charge
against him is founded ; shall have com
pulsory process to obtain the attendance
of his owu witnesses ; shall be confront
ed with the witnesses testifying against
him, and shall have a public and speedy
trial by an impartial jury, as heretofore
practiced in Georgia.
!). No person shall be put in jeopardy
of life or liberty, more than once for the
same offence, save by his or her own mo
tion for a new trial after conviction, or in
case of mistrial.
10. No conviction shall work cor
ruption of blood or general forfeiture of
estate.
II. Excessive bail shall not be requir
ed, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
12. The powers of the courts to punish
for contempts shall be limited by legisla
tive acts.
13. Legislative acts in violation of the
Constitution are void, and the judiciary
shall declare them.
11. Ex post facto law?—laws impairing
the obligation of contracts, and retroac
tive laws injuriously affecting any right
of the citizen, are prohibited.
15. Laws should have a general oper
ation. and no general law affecting pri
vate rights shall be varied in a particular
case by special legislation, except with
the free consent, in writing, of all per
sons to be affected thereby; and no per
son being under a legal disability to con
tract, is capable of such free consent.
16. The power of taxation over the
whole State shall be exercised by the
General Assembly only to raise revenue
for the support of government, to pay
the public debt, to provide for the com
mon defense, and for such other purposes
as the General Assembly may be specially
required or empowered to accomplish by
this Contitution. But the General As
sembly may, by statute, grant the power
of taxation for designated purposes, with
such limitations as they may deem expe
dient, no county authorities and munici
pal corporations to be exercised within
thei r several territorial limits.
1". In cases of necessity, private ways
may be granted upon just compensation
being first paid ; and with this exception
private property si mil not be taken, save
for public use, and then only on just
compensation to be first provided and
paid, unless there he a pressing, unfor-
seen necessity ; in which event the Gen
eral Assembly shall take early provision
for such compensation.
18. The right to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seiz-
wes, shall not be violated; and no war
rant sliall issue but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place or places
be searched, and the person and things
*o be seized.
19. The person of a debtor shall not,
be detained in prison, after delivery for
|ne benefit of his creditor of all hns es-
fate, not expressly exempted by law
from levy and sale.
29 The Government of the United
otutes having, as a war measure, pro
claimed all slaves held or owned in this
otate emancipated from slavery, and
having carried that proclamation into full
practical effect, there shall henceforth be
withm the State of Georgia, neither
lavery nor involuntary servitude, save
as a punishment for crime, after legal
.conviction thereof: Provided, his ac
quiescence in the action of the Govern
ment of the United States, is not intend-
ed to operate as a relinquishment, or
waiver, or estopel of such claim for mm-
pensation of loss sustained by reason^
tbe emancipation of his slaves, aa *™
iipontw■ hereafter make
. , ARTICLE II.
Section.
L The Legislative, Executive and
Judicial Departments shall be distinct;
and each department shall be confided to
a separate body of magistracy. No • _
son, or collection of persons, being of
one department, shall exercise any power
properly attached to either of the ott
except in cases herein expressly provided.
2. The Legislative power shall "be
vested in a General Assembly, which
»h»ll consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives, the' members whereof
shall be elected, and returns of the elec
tions made in the manner now prescribed
bylaw, (until changed by the General As
sembly) on the 15th day of November, in
the present year, and biennially thereaf
ter, on the 1st Wednesday of October,
to serve until their successors shall be
elected; but the General Assembly may,
by law, change the day of election.
3. The first meeting of the General
Assembly, under this Constitution, shall
be on the first Monday in December next,
after which it shall meet annually on the
first Thursday in November, or on such
other day as the General Assembly may
prescribe. A majority of each House
shall constitute a quorum to transact
business, but a smaller number may ad
joum from day to day and compel the at
tendance of its absent members, as each
House may provide. No session of the
General Assembly, after the first above
mentioned, shall continue longer than
forty days, unless prolonged by a vote of
two-thirds of each branch thereof.
4. No person holding any military
commission, or other appointment, hav
ing any emolument or compensation an
nexed thereto, under this State or the
United States, or either of them, (except
Justices of the Inferior Court, Justices
of the Peace, and officers of the militia)
nor any defaulter of public money, or for
any legal taxes required of him, shall
have a seat in either branch of the Gen
eral Assembly ; nor shall any Senator or
Representative, after his qualification as
such, be elected by the General Assembly
or appointed by the Governor with the
advice and consent of two-thirds of the
Senate, to any choice or appointment
having any emolument or compensation
annexed thereto, during the time for
which he shall have been elected.
No person convicted of any felony
before any Court of this State, or of the
United States, shall be eligible to any of
fice, or appointment of honor, profit or
trust, within this State, until he shall
have been pardoned.
6. No person who is a collector or hold
er of public money, shall be elligible to
any oifice in this State, until the same
is accounted for and paid into the trea
sury. . ■ . ,
Section 2..
There shall be forty-four Senatorial Dis
tricts in the State of Georgin, each com
posed of three contiguous counties, from
each of which 'district one Senator shall
be chosen, until otherwise arranged, as
hereinafter provided.
[The said Districts shall be constituted of
counties as follows:
The first District of Chatham, Bryan
and Effingham.
The Second, of Liberty,* Tatnall and
McIntosh;
The third ol Wayne, Pierce and Ap
pling.
The fourth, of Glynn, Camden and
Charlton.
The fifth, of Coffee, Ware and Clinch.
The sixth, of Echols, Lowndes and
Berrien.
The seventh, of Brooks, Thomas and
Colquitt.
The eighth, of Decatur, Mitchell and
Miller.
The ninth, of Early, Calhoun and Ba
ker.
The tenth, of Dougherty, Lee and
Worth.
The eleventh, of Clay, Randolph and
Terrell. _
The twelfth, of Stewart, Webster and
Quitman.
The thirteenth, of Sumter, Schley and
Macon.
The fourteenth, of Dooly, Wilcox and
Pulaski.
The fifteenth, of Montgomery, Telfair
and Irwin.
The sixteenth, of Laurens, Johnson
and EmanueL 4
The seventeenth, of Bulloch, Scriven
and Burke.
The eighteenth, of Richmond, Glas
cock and Jefferson.
The nineteenth, of Taliaferro, Warren
and Greene.
The twentieth, of Baldwin, Hancock
and Washington.
The twenty-first, of Twiggs, Wilkinson,
and Jones.
The twenty-second, 'of Bibb, Monroe
and Pike.
The twenty-third, of Houston, Craw
ford and Taylor. <,• v
The twenty-fourth, of Marion, Chatta
hoochee and Muscogee.
The twenty-fifth of Harris, Upson and
Talbot.'
The twenty-sixth, of Spalding, Butts
and Fayette. • .
The twenty-seventh, of Newton, Wal
ton and Clark.
The twenty-eighth, of, Jasper, Putnam
and Morgan.
The twenty-ninth, of Wilkes, Lincoln
and Columbia.
The thirtieth, of Oglethorpe, Madison
and Elbert.
The thirty-first, of Hart, Franklin and
Habersham.
The thirty-second, of White, Lump-
kin and Dawson.
The thirty-third, of Hall, Banks and
Jackson.
The thirty-fourth, of Gwinnett, De-
Kalb and Henry.
and h Cohb rty ‘ fifth ’ ° f Cla y ton * Fulton
The thirty-sixth, of Meriwether, Cow
eta and CampbelL
The thirty-seventh, of Troupe, Heard
and Carroll.
The thirty-eighth, of Harralson, Polk
and Paulding.
The thirty-ninth, of Cherokee, Milton
and Forsyth.
The fortieth, of Union, Towns and
Rabun.
The forty-first, of Fannin, Gilmer and
Pickens. « ? *
The forty-second, of Bartow* Floyd
Chattooga,
The forty-third, of Murray, Whitfield
and Chattooga.
The forty-fourth, of Walker, Dadeaud
Catoosa.
If a new county be established, it shall
be added to a district which it adjoins.—
The Senatorial districts may be changed
by the General Assembly, but only at the
first session after the taking of each cen
sus by the United States Government,
and their number shall never he in
creased.
'"2. No person shall be a Senator who
shall not have attained to the age of
twenty-five years, and be a citizen of the
United States, and have been for three
years an inhabitant of this State, and for
one year a resident of the district from
which he is chosen.
3. The presiding officer shall be styled
the President of the Senate, and shall be
elected viva voice from their own body.
1. The Senate shall have the sole pow
er to try all impeachments. When sit
ting for that purpose they shall be on
oath or affirmation, and no person shall
be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members present.—
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall
not extend further than removal from of
fice, and disqualification to hold and en
joy any office of honor, profit, or trust,
within this State; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless, be liable and subject
to indictment, trial, judgment and pun
ishment according to law.
section 3.
1. The House of Representatives shall
be composed as follows: The thirty-
seven counties having the largest Repre
sentative population, shall have two Rep
resentatives each. Every other county
shall have one Representative. The de
signation of the counties having two Rep
resentatives shall be made by the Gener
al Assembly immediately after the taking
of each census.
2. No person shall be a Representative
who shall not have attained the ago of
twenty-one years, and be a citizen of the
United States, and have been for three
years an inhabitant of the State, and for
one year a resident of the county which
he represents.
3. The presiding officer of the House
of Representatives shall be styled the
Speaker, and shall be elected viva voce
from their own body. .
4. They shall have the sole power to
impeach all persons who have been or
may be in office.
5. All bills for raising revenue or ap
propriating shall originate in the House
of Representatives; but the Senate may
propose or concur in amendments, as in
other bills. -
section 4,
1. Each House shall he the judge of
the election returns and qualifications of
its own members; and shall have power
to punish them for disorderly behavior or
misconduct, by censure, fine, imprison
ment or expulsion; but no member shall
be expelled except by a vote of two-thirds
of the House from which he is expelled.
2. Each House may punish by inipris-
ment not extending beyond the session,
any person not a member, who shall be
guilty of a contempt by any disorderly
behavior in its presence; or who, during
the session, shall threaten injury to the
person or estate of any member, for any
thing said or done in either House; or
who shall arrest any witness going to or
returning from, or who shall rescue, or
attempt to rescue, any person arrested by
either House.
3. That members of both Houses shall
be free from arrest during their attend
ance on the General Assembly, and in go
ing to and returning therefrom, except
for treason, felony, or breach of the
peace. And no member shall be liable to
answer in any place, for anything spoken
in debate in either House.
4. Each House shall keep a journal of
its proceedings, and publish them imme
diately after its adjournment. The yeas
and nays of their members on any ques
tion, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of
the members present, be entered on the
journals. The original journals shall be
preserved (after publication,) in the office
of Hie Secretary of State; but there shall
be no other record thereof.
5. Every bill, before it shall pass, shall
be read three times, and on three separate
and distinct days in each House, unless
in cases of actual invasion or insurrec
tion. Nor shall any law or ordinance
pass, which refers to more than one sub
ject matter, or contains matter different
from what is expected in the title thereof.
6. AU acts shall be signed .by the Pres
ident of the Senate and Speaker of the
House of Representatives; and no bill,
ordinance or resolution, intended to have
the effect of law* which shall have been
rejected by either House, shall be again
proposed under the same or any other
title, without the consent of two-thirds
of the House, by which the same was re
jected.
7. Neither House shall adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other
place, without the consent of the other;
and in case of disagreement between the
two Blouses, on a question of adjourn
ment, the Governor may adjourn them.
8. Every Senator and Representative,
before taking his seat, shall take an oath
or affirmation to support the Constitution
of the United States and of this State;'
and also, that he hath not practiced di
rectly or indirectly, to procure his. elec
tion. And every person convicted of
having given or offered a bribe, shall be
disqualified from serving as a member of
either House for the term for which he
was elected. •
9. Whenever this Constitution requires
an act to be passed by two-thirds of
both Houses, the yeas and nays on the
age thereof shall be entered on the
journals of each.
SECTION' 5.
1. The General Assembly shall have
power to make all laws and ordinances
consistent with the Constitution, and not
repugnant td the Constitution of the
United States, which they shall deem ne
cessary and proper for the welfare of the
State.
2. They may alter the- boundaries of
counties, and establish new counties; but
every bill to establish a new county shall
be passed by at least two-thirds of the
members present in each branch of the
G*a«al Assembly,
£3. The General Assembly shall have
power to appropriate money for the pro
motion of learning and science, and to
provide for the education of the people;
and shall provide for the early resump
tion of the regular exercises of the Uni
versity of Georgia, by the adequate en
dowment of the same.
4. The General Assembly shall have
the po'vrer, by a vote of two-thirds of
each branch, to grant pardons in cases of
final conviction of treason, and to par
don or commute after final conviction in
capital cases.
5. It shall be the duty of the General
Assembly, at its next session, and there
after as the public welfare may require,
to provide by law for the government of
free persons of oolor; for the protection
and security of their persona and pro
perty; guarding them and the State
against any evil that may arise from their
sudden emancipation, and prescribing in
what cases their testimony shall be ad
mitted in the courts; for the regulation
of their transactions with citizens, for
the legalizing of their existing, and the
contracting and solemnization of their
future marital relations, and connected
therewith their rights of inheritance and
testamentary capacity; and for lhe regu
lation or prohibition of their immigrae
tion into this State from other States of
the Union, or elsewhere. And, further,
it shall be the duty of the General As
sembly to confer jurisdiction upon courts
now existing, or to create county courts
with juris die tion Jin criminal cases excep
ted from the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Superior Court, and in civil cases where
to free persons of color may be parties.
■ SECTION 6.
1. The General Assembly shall have no
power to grant corporate powers and
privileges to private companies, except to
banking, insurance, railroad, canal, plank
road, navigation, mining, express, lum
ber, manufacturing and telegraph com
panies; nor to make or change election
precincts; nor to establish bridges and
ferries; nor to change names, nor legitim a*
tize children; but shall by law prescribe
the manner in which such power shall be
exercised by the courts. But no bank
charter shall be granted or extended, and
no act passed authorizing the suspension
of specie payment by any chartered
hank, except by a vote of two-thirds of
each branch of the General Assembly.
2. No money shall be drawn from the
Treasury of this State, except by appro
priation made by law; and a regular state
ment and account of the receipt and ex
penditure of all public money shall be
published from time to time.
3. No vote, resolution, law, or order
shall pass granting a donation or gratuity
in favor of any person, except by the con
currence of two thirds of the GeneraLAs-
sembly.
4. No law shall be passed by which a
citizen shall be compelled, directly or in
directly, to become a stockholder in or
contribute to a railroad, or other work of
internal improvement, without his con
sent, except the inhabitants*of a corpor
ate town or city. This provision shall
not be construed to deny the power of
taxation for the purpose of making levees
or dams to prevent the overflow of rivers.
ARTICLE in.
SECTION 1. * ' ' •
1. The executive power shall be vested
in a Governor, the first of whom under
this Constitution, shall hold the office from
the time of his inauguration as by law
provided, until the election and qualifica
tion of his successor." Each Governor
subsequently elected shall hold the office
for two years and until his successor shall
be elected and qualified, and shall not be
eligible to election after the expiration of
a second term for the period of four years.
He shall have a competent salary, which
shall not be increased or diminished dur
ing the time for which he shall have been
elected; neither shall he receive within
that time any other emolument from the
United States, or either of them, nor from
any foreign power.
2. The Governor shall be elected by the
persons qualified to vote for member of
the General Assembly, on the fifteenth
day of November, in the year eighteen
hundred and sixty-five, and biennially
thereafter, on the first Wednesday of Oc
tober, until such time be altered by law,
which election shall be held at the places
of holding general elections in the sev
eral counties of this State, in the manner
prescribed for the election of members of
the General Assembly. The returns for
every election of Governor shall be sealed
up by the managers, separately from other
returns, and directed to the President of
the Senate and Speaker of the Honse of
Representatives; and transmiited to the
Governor, or the person exercising the
duties of Governor for the time being;
who shall, without opening the said re
turns, cause the same to be laid before,
the Senate, on the day after the two
houses shall have been organized ; and
they shall be transmitted, by the Senate
to the House ®f Representatives^ The
members ol each branch of the General
Assembly shall convene in the Represen
tative chamber, and the President of the
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, shall op4n and publish
the returns in presence of the General
Assembly; and the person having tha
majority of the whole number of votes
given in, shall be declared duly elected
Governor of this State; but if no person
have such majority, then from the two
persons having the highest number of
votes, 9I10 shall be in life, and shall not
decline an election at the time appointed
for Hie Legislature to elect, the General
Assembly shall immediately elect a Gov-
and in all cases of
t re-
,te, ex-
and to
election and qualification of a Governor,
5. The Governor shall, before he enters
on the dnties of his office, take the fol
lowing oath or affirmation : “I do sol
emnly swear or affirm (as the case may
be), that I will faithfully execute the of
fice of Governor of the State of Georgia;
and will, to the best of my abilities, pre
serve, protect, and defend the constitu
tion thereof, and of Hie constitution ol!
the United States of America.
section 2.
1; The Governor shall be commander-
in-chief of the army and navy of this
State, and of the militia thereof.
2. He shall have power to
prieves for offences against the
cept in cases of impeachment,
grant pardons, or to remit any part of a
sentence, in all cases after conviction, ex
cept for treason, murder, or other capital
offenses in which cases he may respite the
execution, and make report thereof to the
next General Assembly,
3. He shall issue writs of elections to
fill vacancies that happen in the Senate or
House of Representatives, and shall have
power to convene the General Assembly
on extraordinary occasions; and shall give
them, from time to time, information of
the state of the republic, and recommend
to their consideration such measures as
he may deem necessary and expedient.
4. When any office shall become vacant
by death, resignation, or otherwise, the
Governor shall have power to fill such va
cancy unless otherwise provided for by
law; and persons so appointed shall con
tinue in office until a successor is appoin
ted agreeably to the mode pointed out by
this constitution, or by law in pursuance
thereof. ' _ - " 1.
5. A person once rejected by the Senate
shall not be reappointed by the Governor
to the same office during the same session
or the recess thereafter.
6.. The Governor shall have the revision
of all bills passed by both Houses, before
thesame shall become laws,but two-thirds
of each House may pass a law notwith
standing his dissent; and if any bill should
not be returned by the Governor within
five days (Sundays excepted) after it has
been presented to him, the same shall be
law, unless the General Assembly, by their
adjournment, shall prevent its return. He
may approve any appropriation and dis
approve any other appropriation in the
same bill, and the latter shall not be ef
fectual unless passed by two-thirds of
each House.
7. Every vote, resolution, or order to
which the concurrence of both houses
may be. necessary, except on a question
of election or adjournment, shall be pre
sented to the Governor; and before it
shall take effect, be approved by him, or
being disapproved, shall be repassed by
two-thirds of each Honse, according to
the rules and limitations prescribed in
case of a bill.
8. .There shall be a Secretary of State,
a Comptroller General, a Treasurer, and
Surveyor General elected by the General
Assembly, and they shall hold their offices
for the like period as the Governor, and
shall have a competent salary, which shall
not be increased or diminished during the
period for which they shall have been
elected. The General Assembly may at
any time consolidate any two of these of
fices, and require all the duties to be dis
charged by one officer.
9. The great seal of the State shall be
deposited in the office of the Secretary of
State, and sliall not be affixed to any in
strument of*writing, but by order of the
Governor or General Assembly, and that
used previously to the year 1861, shall be
the great seal of the State.
ARTICLE IV.
SECTION 1.
1. The judicial powers of this State
shall be vested in a Supreme Court for the
correction of errors, a Superior, Inferior,
Ordinary, and Justice Courts, and in such
other Courts as have been, or may be, es
tablished by law.
2. The Supreme Court shall consist of
three Judges, who shall be elected by the
General Assembly, for such terms of
years—not less than six years—as shall be
prescribed by law, and shall continue in
office until their successors shall be elec-
ted|and qualified; removable by the Gov
ernor on the address of two-thirds of each
branch of the General Assembly, or by
impeachment and conviction thereon.
3. The said court shall have no original
jurisdiction, but shall ba a court alone-tor
the trial and correction of errors in law
and equity from the Superior Courts of
the several circuits, and from the City
Courts of the cities of Savannah and Au
guste, and such other like courts as may
be hereafter established in other cities;
and shall sit “at the seat of Government”
at such time or times in each year as the
General Assembly shall prescribe, for the
trial and determination of writs of error
from the several Superior Courts included
in such judicial districts.
4. The said court shall dispose of and
lally determine every case on the docket
such court, at the first or second term
after sueh writ of error is brought; and
in case the plaintiff in error shfdl not be
prepared at the first term of such jeourt,
after error brought, to prosecute the case,
unless precluded by some providential
cause from such prosecution, it shall be
stricken from the docket and the judg
ment below affirmed. And in any case
that may occur the court may, in ite dia-
emor viva voce; and In aU cases of | ere tion, withhold its judgment until the
election of a Governor by Hie General | term next after the argument tbereon.
Assembly, a majqfity of the votes of the section 2. ~
members present shall be necessary for a I j >jrj ie of the Superior Court
choice, Contested elections shall be de-! ^ be elected on the first Wednesday
termined by both Houses of the General 1 ^ j annar y > tmtil the Legislature shall
Assembly, in such manner as shall be pro- j otherwise direct, immediately before the
scribed by law. . I expiration of the term for which they or
3. No person shall be eligible to the of- j either of them may have been appointed
fice of Governor who shall not have been ! or elected,from the circuits in which they
a citizen of. the United States twelve are to serve, by a majority vote Of the
years, and an inhabitant of this State six people of the Circuit qualified to vote-for
years, and who hath not attained the age me mbers of the General Assembly, for
of thirty years.
ted, and qualified. And in case of the -of eachj>ranch of the General Assemblv
death, resignation, or disability of the ior by impeachment and conviction twl!
President of the Senate, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives shall exer
cise excutive power of the Government
until the removal of the disability, or the
4. In case of the death, resignation or
disability of the Governor, the President
of the Senate shall exercise Hie executive
the term of.four years—vacancies to be
filled as is provided by the laws a! force
>rto January 1st, 1861—and shall oon-
sue in offipftjmtil their successors shall
powers of the Government until raeh dis- be elected and qtuahfied; removable by
ability be removed, ox a suoceeewiaeleo- the Governor on the oddreee df tno^Mrda
^conviction there^
rior Coart shall have
on. -i '
2. The Su*,—. wiM. uKyQ gj.
elusive jurisdiction in all cases of divorce"
both total and partial ;but no total divorce
jshall be granted except on the ponour-
jrent verdicts of two special juries, In
’each divorce case, the Court shall regulate
rights and disabilities of the parties,
3. The Superior Courts shall also have
exclusive jurisdiction in all criminal oases
except as relates to fines for neglect
.duty, contempts of c
road laws, obstruction
and in all other miflor offenses which do
not subject the offender or. offenders to
loss of fife, limb or member, or to con
finement in the penitentiary; jurisdiction-
of all such cases shall be vested in such
county or corporation courts, or such
other courts, judicatures or tribunals as
now exist, or may hereafter be constitu
ted, under such rules and regulations as
the Legislature may have din
hereafter by law direct.
4. All criminal cases shall be tried in
the county where the crime was commit
ted, except in cases where a jury cannot
be obtained.
5. The Superior Court'shall have exclu
rive jurisdiction in all cases respecting ti-
Ups to land, which shall be . tried in the
county where the land lies; and also in
all equity causes, which shall be tried in
the county where one or more of Hie de
fendants reside, against whom substantial
relief is prayed.
6. It shall have appellate jurisdiction
in all such cases as may be provided by
law.
7. It shall have power to correct errors
in inferior judicatories by writ of certior
ari, and to grant new trials in the Supe
rior Court on proper and legal grounds.
8. It shall have power to issue writs of
mandamus, prohibition, scire facias, and
all other writs which may be necessary
for carrying, its powerfully into effect
9. The Superior Court shallhave juris
diction in all other civil cases, and in them
the General Assembly may give concur
rent jurisdiction to the Inferior Court,
or such other county courts as they may
hereafter create, which cases shall be tried
in the county where the defendant re
sides.
10. In cases of joint obligers, or joint
promissors of carpenters, or joint tres
passers residing in different counties, the
suit may be brought in either county.
11. In case of a maker and endorser,
or endorsers of promissory notes residing
in different counties in this State, the
same may be sued in the county where
the maker resides.
12. The Superior Court shall sit in each
county not less than twice in every year,
at such stated times as have been or may
be appointed by the General Assembly,
and the Inferior and County Court at
such times ah the General Assembly may
direct.
section 3. ~ “
1. The Judges shall have salaries ade
quate to their services fixed by law, which
shall not be diminished nor increased
during their continuance in office; but
Bhall not receive any other perquisites or
emoluments whatever, from parties or
others, on account of any duty required
df them.
2. There shall be a State’s Attorney
and Solicitors elected in the same man
ner as the Judges of the Superior Court,
and commissioned by the Governor, who
shall hold their offices for the term of
four years, or until their successors shall
be appointed and qualified, unless re
moved by sentence on impeachment, or
by the Governor, on the addressed two-
thirds of each branch of the General As
sembly. They shall have salaries ade
quate to their services fixed by law,
which shall not be increased or dimin
ished during their continuance in office.
3. The Justice or Justices of the In
ferior Court, and the Judge of such oth
er County Court as may-by law be crea
ted, shall be elected in each county by
the persons entiHed to vote for members
of the General Assembly.
4. The Justices of the Peace shall be
elected in each district by the persons en
tiHed to vote for members of the General
Assembly. .
5. The powers of a Court of Ordinary
and of Probate, shall be vested in an Or
dinary for eaeh county, from whose de
risions there may be an appeal to the Su
perior Court, under regulations pre
scribed by law. The Ordinary shall be
ex-officio clerk of said Conrt, and may
.ppoint a deputy clerk. The Ordinary,
as his derk. or his deputy, may issue ci
tations, and grant temporary letters of
administration, to hold nntil permanent
letters are granted; and said Ordinary,
as clerk, or his deputy, may grant mar
riage licensee. The Ordinaries itt* and
for the respective counties shall be elec
ted, as other county officers are, <m the
first Wednesday in January, 1868, and ev
ery fourth year thereafter, and shall be
commissioned by the Governor for the
term of four years. In case of any va
cancy of'said, office of Ordinary, *
any cajise, the same shall. be .filled by
election, as is provided in relation to oth
er county officers, and until the same is
filled,'the clerk df the Superior Court tor
the time being, shall act as clerk of said
Court of Ordinary'
ARTICLE V.
SECTION 1. >
1. The electors of members of the
General Assembly shall be free white
male citizens of this State, and shall have
attained the age of twenty-one years,
and have paid all taxes which may have
been required of them, and which they
have had an opportunity of paying agree-
ble to law, for the year preceding the
election, shall be citizens of the United
States, and shall have resided six months
either in the district or county, and two
yeatfc within this State, and no person
who is not qualified to.vote for members
of the General Assembly, shall hold any
office in this State.
2. All elections by the General Assem
bly shall be viva voce, and the vote shall
always appear on the journal of the House
of Representatives, and where the Seri
ate and. House ofRepresentotme unite
loir the purpose of dStfl&lltey
3. In all eieotions by the
electors shall vote by ballot until sue
Genoa! Assembly shall otherwise direoi.
4. All civil officers heretofore commis
sioned by the Governor, or wh»have
been duly appointed or elected sinoe the
ifirst day of January last, but who have
jot received their commission, and who
have not resigned, nor been removed
from office, and whose terms of office .
!®hau not have expired, shall continue in
the exercise of the duties of their-re-
p***
shall in auqh.
the person n
and until their successors shall.be ap
pointed under the provisions 6f this Con
stitution; ujfiess removed from office, as
herein provided. .' f
5. Laws of genial operaHon now of
force m Hus State, are, 1st, as the an-
premfe law, the Constitution of Hie Uni
ted States; the laws of the United States
in pursuance thereof, and all treaties
made under the authority ol’ the United
States; 2d, as next in authority thereto,
this ConstitnHori; 3d, in subordination
to the foregoing, all laws declared of
force by an act of the General Assembly
of this State, assented to December the
I9th, A.'D., 1860, entitled “An act to
adopt, and make of force in the
ate of Georgia, a revised code of
Jaws, prepared under the direction and
by authority of the General Assembly
thereof, and for other purposes therewith
connected, ” an aot of the General As
sembly aforesaid, assented to December
16th, A. D., 1861, amendatory of the
foregoing, and an act of the General As
sembly aforesaid, assented to December
13th, A. D., 1862, entitled “An act to
settle the confliqts between the code and
the legislation of this General Assem
bly;” also all acts of the General Assem
bly aforesaid,. passed since the date last
{written, altering, amending, repealing,
or adding to any portion of the law here
inbefore mentioned, (the latter enact
ments having preference incase of con
flict,) and also so muoh of the common
and statute law ol" England, and of, the
statute law of this State of force in Geor
gia, in the year eighteen hundred -and
sixty, as is not expressly superceded by
nor inconsistent with said codes, though
not embodied therein; except so much
of the law aforesaid as may violate the
supreme law, herein recognized, .or may
conflict with this Constitution, and ex
cept so much thereof as refers to persons
held in slavery, which excepted laws
shall henceforth be inoperative and void,
and any future General Assembly of this
State shall be competent to alter, amend
or repeal any portion of the law declared
to be in force in this third specification
of the fifth clause of this fifth article.
If in any statute law herein declared of
force the word “Confederate” occurs be
fore the word States; such law Is hereby
amended by substituting the word
United” for the word “Confederate.’’
6. Local and private statutes hereto
fore passed intended for the benefit of
counties, cities, towns, corporations, and
private'persons not inconsistent with the
supreme law, nor with this Constitution,
and which have neither expired by then-
own limitations nor been repealed, shall
have tho force of statute law subject to
judicial decision, as to their validity when
enacted, and to any limitations imposed
by their own terms.
7. All judgments, decrees, orders, and
other proceedings of the several courts
of this State heretofore made, within the
limits of their several jurisdictions, are
hereby ratified and affirmed, subject only
to past and future reversal, by motion for
new trial, appeal, bill of review, or other
proceedings, in conformity with the law
of force when they were made.
- 8. All rights, privileges and immuni
ties which may have vested in, or accrued
to any person or persons, in his, her, or
their own right, or in any judiciary ca
pacity, under and in virtue of any act of
the General Assembly, or of any judg
ment, decree, or order, or other proceed
ing of any court of competent jurisdic
tion in this State, since the first day of
January, A. D., eighteen hundred" and
sixty-one, shall -be held inviolate by all
courts before which they may be brought
in question, unless attacked for fraud.-
9. The marriagfe [relations between
white persons and persons of African de
scent, is forever prohibited, and such,
marriage shall be null'and void; and it
shall bp the duty of the General Assem
bly to enact laws for the punishment of
any officer who shall knowingly issue a
license for the celebration of such mar
riage, or any officer or minister 6f the
gospel who shall marry such persons to
gether.
10. All militia and county officere Shall
be elected by the people, under such
regtdations as have been or may be pres
scribed by law.
11. This Constitution shall be altered
or amended only by a convention of Hie
people, called for that purpose by act of
the General Assembly. . , ,
WE S.'KATOJF,
COMMISSION MERCHANT,
' . BOSTON, MASS.,
For the Purchase and Saie of AU Kinds of
MEROHABDIZE. ' ;
Refers to Joseph S. Fay, Emu Boston.- Natlrt God
dart, Both, Boston; John A. Blanchard, Esq.. Boston;
National Bank of N. America, Boston, eoddm majrgQ-
TypeFonndry & Printers’ Emporium.
* • [Established 1818.]
H4<iAB Ac CO,
Me 38 Gold Street, New York City.
ample
and
faculties to promptly execute all orders for
Printing Materials ol every description,
Presses of all mamflketurea.
Order* auybeaddreeaed.to
A. J. BURKE, onr Agent
novl—eodBm at ^
COPARTNERSHIP.
XtyBjtbenndwrigned, baye formed a t
It lor the transaction of a General < ,
Business In the DBy of New York, under tie Arm <
H^BgOWYR A OP. and are prepared to aOud