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ARTICLE
III. LEGISLATIVE
DEPARTMENT. Section
1. The Legislative
authority of this State shall be vested in a Senate and a House of Representatives,
which shall be designated, "The Legislature of the State of Florida," and the
sessions thereof shall be held at the seat of government of the State. Section
2. The regular
sessions of the Legislature shall be held biennially, commencing on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in April, A. D. 1887, and on the corresponding
day of every second year thereafter, but the Governor may convene the same in
extra session by his proclamation. Regular sessions of the Legislature may extend
to sixty days, but no special session convened by the Governor shall exceed
twenty days. Section
3. The members
of the House of Representatives shall be chosen biennially, those of the first
Legislature on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, A. D. 1886,
and thereafter on the corresponding day of every second year. Section
4. Senators and
members of the House of Representatives shall be duly qualified electors in
the respective counties and districts for which they were chosen. The pay of
members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall not exceed six dollars
a day for each day of session, and mileage to and from their houses to the seat
of government, not to exceed ten cents a mile each way, by the nearest and most
practicable route. Section
5. No Senator
or member of the House of Representatives shall, during the time for which he
was elected, be appointed or elected to any civil office under the Constitution
of this State, that has been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been
increased during such time. Section
6. Each House
shall judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its own members,
choose its own officers, and determine the rules of its Section
7. No person
holding a lucrative office or appointment under the United States or this State,
shall be eligible to a seat in the Legislature of this State. Section
8. The seat of
a member of either House shall be vacated on his permanent change of residence
from the district or county from which he was elected. Section
9. Either House
during the session may punish by fine or imprisonment any person not a member
who shall have been guilty of disorderly or contemptuous conduct in its presence,
or of a refusal to obey its lawful summons, but such imprisonment shall not
extend beyond the final adjournment of the session. Section
10. Either House
shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses upon any investigations
held by itself, or by any of its committees; the manner of the exercise of such
power shall be provided by law. Section
11. A majority
of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number
may adjourn from day to day, and compel the presence of absent members in such
manner and under such penalties as it may prescribe. Section
12. Each House
shall keep a journal of its own proceedings, which shall be published, and the
yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire
of any five members present, be entered on the Journal. Section
13. The doors
of each House shall be kept open during its session, except the Senate while
sitting in Executive session; and neither shall, without the consent of the
other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any other town than that in which
they may be holding their session. Section
14. Any bill
may originate in either House of the Legislature, and after being passed in
one House may be amended in the other. Section
15. The enacting
clause of every law shall be as follows: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of
the State of Florida." Section
16. Each law
enacted in the Legislature shall embrace but one subject and matter properly
connected therewith, which subject shall be briefly expressed in the title;
and no law shall be amended or revised by reference to its title only; but in
such case the act, as revised, or section, as amended, shall be re-enacted and
published at length. Section
17. Every bill
shall be read by sections on three several days in each House, unless, in case
of emergency, two-thirds of the House where such bill may be pending shall deem
it expedient to dispense with this rule; but the reading of a bill by sections
on its final passage shall in no case be dispensed with, and the vote on the
final passage of every bill or joint resolution shall be taken by yeas and nays,
to be entered on the Journal of each House; Provided, That any general
revision of the entire laws embodied in any bill shall not be required to be
read by sections upon its final passage, and its reading may be wholly dispensed
with by a two-thirds vote; and a majority of the members present in each House
shall be necessary to pass every bill or joint resolution; and all bills or
joint resolutions so passed shall be signed by the presiding officers of the
respective Houses, and by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House
of Representatives. Section
18. No law shall
take effect until sixty days from the final adjournment of the session of the
Legislature at which it may have been enacted, unless otherwise Section
19. Accurate
statements of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be attached
to and published with the laws passed at every regular session of the Legislature.
Section
20. The Legislature
shall not pass special or local laws in any of the following enumerated cases:
that is to say, regulating the jurisdiction and duties of any class of officers,
except municipal officers, or for the punishment of crime or misdemeanor; regulating
the practice of courts of justice, except municipal courts; providing for changing
venue of civil and criminal cases; granting divorces; changing the names of
persons; vacating roads; summoning and empaneling grand and petit juries, and
providing for their compensation; for assessment and collection of taxes for
State and county purposes; for opening and conducting elections for State and
county officers, and for designating the places of voting; for the sale of real
estate belonging to minors, estates of decedents, and of persons laboring under
legal disabilities; regulating the fees of officers of the State and county;
giving effect to informal or invalid deeds or wills; legitimizing children;
providing for the adoption of children; relieving minors from legal disabilities;
and for the establishment of ferries. Section
21. In all cases
enumerated in the preceding section all laws shall be general and of uniform
operation throughout the State, but in all cases not enumerated or excepted
in that section, the Legislature may pass special or local laws; Provided,
That no local or special bill shall be passed, unless notice of the intention
to apply therefor shall have been published in the locality where the matter
or thing to be affected may be situated, which notice shall state the substance
of the contemplated law, and shall be published at least sixty days prior to
the introduction into the Legislature of such bill, and in the manner to be
provided by law. The evidence that such notice has been published shall be established
in the Legislature before such bill shall be passed. Section
22. Provision
may be made by general law for bringing suit against the State Section
23. Lotteries
are hereby prohibited in this State. Section
24. The Legislature
shall establish a uniform system of county and municipal government, which shall
be applicable, except in cases where local or special laws are provided by the
Legislature that may be inconsistent therewith. Section
25. The Legislature
shall provide by general law for incorporating such educational, agricultural,
mechanical, mining and other useful companies or associations as may be deemed
necessary. Section
26. Laws shall
be passed regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all
undue influence thereon from power, bribery, tumult or other improper practice.
Section
27. The Legislature
shall provide for the election by the people or appointment by the Governor
of all State and county officers not otherwise provided for by this Constitution,
and fix by law their duties and compensation. Section
28. Every bill
that may have passed the Legislature shall, before becoming a law, be presented
to the Governor; if he approves it he shall sign it, but if not he shall return
it with his objections to the House in which it originated, which House shall
cause such objections to be entered upon its Journal, and proceed to reconsider
it; if, after such reconsideration, it shall pass both Houses by a two-thirds
vote of members present, which vote shall be entered on the Journal of each
House, it shall become a law. If any bill shall not be returned within five
days after it shall have been presented to the Governor (Sunday excepted) the
same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it. If the Legislature,
by its final adjournment prevent such action, such bill shall be a law, unless
the Governor, within ten days after the adjournment, shall file such bill, with
his objections thereto, in the office of the Secretary of State, who shall lay
the same before the Legislature at its next session, and if the Section
29. The House
of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment; but a vote of two-thirds
of all members present shall be required to impeach any officer; and all impeachments
shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that purpose the Senators shall
be upon oath or affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the Senators present. The Senate may adjourn to a fixed day
for the trial of any impeachment, and may sit for the purpose of such trial
whether the House of Representatives be in session or not, but the time fixed
for such trial shall not be more than six months from the time articles of impeachment
shall be preferred by the House of Representatives. The Chief Justice shall
preside at all trials by impeachment except in the trial of the Chief Justice,
when the Governor shall preside. The Governor, Administrative officers of the
Executive Department, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the Circuit
Court shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment
in such cases shall extend only to removal from office and disqualification
to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under the State; but the party
convicted or acquitted shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial and
punishment according to law. Section
30. Laws making
appropriations for the salaries of public officers and other current expenses
of the State shall contain provisions on no other subject. Section
31. The Legislature
shall elect United States Senators in the manner prescribed by the Congress
of the United States and by this Constitution. Section
32. The repeal
or amendment of any Criminal Statute shall not affect the prosecution or punishment
of any crime committed before such repeal or amendment. Section
33. No statute
shall be passed lessening the time within which
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