Page:The Federal and state constitutions vol1.djvu/441

Rh fair record of the official acts of the Legislative and executive departments of the Government, 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.

. 20. The comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, and surveyor-general shall be chosen by joint vote of the two houses of the legislature, at their first session under this constitution, and thereafter shall be elected at the same time and places and in the same manner as the governor and lieutenant-governor.

. 21. The governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, and surveyor-general shall each at stated times during their continuance in office receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected; but neither of these officers shall receive for his own use any fees for the performance of his official duties.

1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a supreme court, in district courts, in county courts, and in justices of the peace. The legislature may also establish such municipal and other inferior courts as may be deemed necessary.

. 2. The supreme court shall consist of a chief-justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum.

. 3. The justices of the supreme court shall be elected at the general election by the qualified electors of the State, and shall hold their office for the term of six years from the 1st day of January next after their election: Provided, That the legislature shall, at its first meeting, elect a chief-justice and two associate justices of the supreme court, by a joint vote of both houses, and so classify them that one shall go out of office every two years. After the first election the senior justice in commission shall be the chief-justice.

. 4. The supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all cases when the matter in dispute exceeds two hundred dollars, when the legality of any tax, toll, or impost, or municipal fine is in question, and in all criminal cases amounting to felony or questions of law alone. And the said court, and each of the justices thereof, as well as all district and county judges, shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus at the instance of any person held in actual custody. They shall also have power to issue all other writs and process necessary to the exercise of their appellate jurisdiction, and shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

. 5. The State shall be divided by the first legislature into a convenient number of districts, subject to such alteration from time to time as the public good may require, for each of which a district judge shall be appointed by the joint vote of the legislature, at its 1st meeting, who shall hold his office for two years from the 1st day of January next after his election; after which said judges shall be