ARTICLE III.

Executive Department.

Section 1. The Supreme Executive power shall be vested in a Chief Magistrate , who shall be styled the Governor of the State of Florida.

Section 2. The Governor shall be elected for four years, by the qualified electors, at the time and place they shall vote for representatives, and shall remain in office until a successor shall be chosen and qualified.

Section 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, shall have been a citizen of the United States ten years, and shall have been a resident of Florida at least five years next preceding his election.

Section 4. There shall be elected at the same time, for the same term and with like qualifications as the Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, who shall be ex-officio President of the Senate, but shall have no vote except in cases of a tie, and during the session of the General Assembly, he shall receive such compensation as shall be allowed to a Senator.

Section 5. The returns of every election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall, during the first week of the session next after their election, open and publish them in the presence of both Houses of the General Assembly; and the persons having the highest number of votes for the respective offices, shall be Governor and Lieutenant Governor; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes for the office of Governor, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of the two Houses and in like manner, if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes for the office of Lieutenant Governor, one of them shall be chosen Lieutenant Governor, by the joint vote of the two Houses. And contested elections for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be determined by both Houses of the General Assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

Section 6. The Governor shall at stated times receive a compensation for his services, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected; but such compensation shall never be less than three thousand dollars per annum.

Section 7. He shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of this State, and of the Militia thereof.

Section 8. He may require information in writing from the officers of the Executive Department, on any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Section 9. He may by proclamation, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly at the Seat of Government, or at a different place, if that shall have become dangerous from an enemy or from disease; and in case of disagreement between the two Houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not beyond the day of the next meeting designated by the Constitution.

Section 10. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of the state of the Government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient.

Section 11. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

Section 12. In all criminal and penal cases, (except of impeachment) after conviction, he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law.

Section 13. The State Seal last heretofore used, (until altered by the General Assembly,) shall continue to be the Great Seal of the State, and shall be kept by the Governor for the time being, and used by him officially.

Section 14. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Florida, be sealed with the State Seal, and signed by the Governor and attested by the Secretary of State.

Section 15. There shall be a Secretary of State elected by the qualified electors of the State at the same time, and who shall continue in office for the same term of years as the Governor of the State; and he shall keep a fair register of the official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and shall when required lay the same, and all papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto, before the General Assembly, and shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by law.

Section 16. Vacancies that happen in offices, the appointment to which is vested in the General Assembly, or given to the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be filled by the Governor during the recess of the General Assembly, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the next session.

Section 17. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journals, and proceed to reconsider it; and if, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the whole number voting shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other House, by which it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of the whole number voting, it shall become a law: but in such cases the votes of both Houses shall be by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each House respectively; and if any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five days (Sundays excepted,) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be law.

Section 18. Every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of both Houses may be necessary, (except on questions of adjournment,) shall be presented to the Governor, and before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or being disapproved, be re-passed by both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.

Section 19. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the Lieutenant Governor shall exercise all the power and authority appertaining to the office of Governor until the Governor absent, or impeached, shall return, or be acquitted, or until the Governor next regularly elected shall be duly qualified, as the case may be; and for the time the Lieutenant Governor shall occupy the office of Governor, he shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed by law to the regularly elected Governor.

Section 20. In case of the impeachment of both the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor, their removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall in like manner administer the Government, unless the General Assembly shall otherwise provide; and for the time he shall occupy the office of Governor, he shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed by law to the Governor.

Section 21. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide for the purchase or erection of a suitable building for the residence of the Governor, and the Governor shall reside at the seat of government; but whenever, by reason of danger from an enemy, or from disease, the Governor may deem the capital unsafe, he may, by proclamation, fix the seat of government at some secure place within the State, until such danger shall cease.

Section 22. No person shall hold the office of Governor and any other office or commission, civil or military, either in this State, or under any State, or the United States, or any other power, at one and the same time, except the Lieutenant Governor or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, when he shall hold the office as aforesaid.

Section 23. A State Treasurer and Comptroller of Public Accounts shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at the same time, and who shall continue in office for the same term of years as the Governor of the State, and until their successors shall have been duly commissioned and qualified. 






 

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