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KENTUCKY
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF
KENTUCKY
Section 1
Rights of life, liberty, worship, pursuit of safety and
happiness, free speech, acquiring and protecting property, peaceable
assembly, redress of grievances, bearing arms.
All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inherent
and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned:
First: The right of enjoying and defending their lives and
liberties.
Second: The right of worshipping Almighty God according to the
dictates of their consciences.
Third: The right of seeking and pursuing their safety and
happiness.
Fourth: The right of freely communicating their thoughts and
opinions.
Fifth: The right of acquiring and protecting property.
Sixth: The right of assembling together in a peaceable manner for
their common good, and of applying to those invested with the power of
government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by
petition, address or remonstrance.
Seventh: The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and of
the State, subject to the power of the General Assembly to enact laws to
prevent persons from carrying concealed weapons.
Text as Ratified on: August
3, 1891, and revised September 28, 1891.
History: Not
yet amended.
Section 2
Absolute
and arbitrary power denied.
Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of
freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
3
Men are
equal -- No exclusive grant except for public services -- Property not
to be exempted from taxation -- Grants revocable.
All
men, when they form a social compact, are equal; and no grant of
exclusive, separate public emoluments or privileges shall be made to any
man or set of men, except in consideration of public services; but no
property shall be exempt from taxation except as provided in this
Constitution, and every grant of a franchise, privilege or exemption,
shall remain subject to revocation, alteration or amendment.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
4
Power
inherent in the people -- Right to alter, reform, or abolish government.
All
power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on
their authority and instituted for their peace, safety, happiness and
the protection of property. For the advancement of these ends, they have
at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or
abolish their government in such manner as they may deem proper.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
5
Right of
religious freedom.
No
preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, society or
denomination; nor to any particular creed, mode of worship or system of
ecclesiastical polity; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any
place of worship, to contribute to the erection or maintenance of any
such place, or to the salary or support of any minister of religion; nor
shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he
may be conscientiously opposed; and the civil rights, privileges or
capacities of no person shall be taken away, or in anywise diminished or
enlarged, on account of his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet,
dogma or teaching. No human authority shall, in any case whatever,
control or interfere with the rights of conscience.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
6
Elections to be free and equal.
All
elections shall be free and equal.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
7
Right of
trial by jury.
The
ancient mode of trial by jury shall be held sacred, and the right
thereof remain inviolate, subject to such modifications as may be
authorized by this Constitution.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
8
Freedom
of speech and of the press.
Printing presses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine
the proceedings of the General Assembly or any branch of government, and
no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. Every person
may freely and fully speak, write and print on any subject, being
responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
9
Truth
may be given in evidence in prosecution for publishing matters proper
for public information -- Jury to try law and facts in libel
prosecutions.
In
prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official
conduct of officers or men in a public capacity, or where the matter
published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be
given in evidence; and in all indictments for libel the jury shall have
the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the
court, as in other cases.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
10
Security
from search and seizure -- Conditions of issuance of warrant.
The
people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions,
from unreasonable search and seizure; and no warrant shall issue to
search any place, or seize any person or thing, without describing them
as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause supported by oath or
affirmation.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
11
Rights
of accused in criminal prosecution -- Change of venue.
In all
criminal prosecutions the accused has the right to be heard by himself
and counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against
him; to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favor. He cannot be compelled to give
evidence against himself, nor can he be deprived of his life, liberty or
property, unless by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land;
and in prosecutions by indictment or information, he shall have a speedy
public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; but the General
Assembly may provide by a general law for a change of venue in such
prosecutions for both the defendant and the Commonwealth, the change to
be made to the most convenient county in which a fair trial can be
obtained.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
12
Indictable offense not to be prosecuted by information -- Exceptions.
No
person, for an indictable offense, shall be proceeded against criminally
by information, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or
in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger,
or by leave of court for oppression or misdemeanor in office.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
13
Double
jeopardy -- Property not to be taken for public use without
compensation.
No
person shall, for the same offense, be twice put in jeopardy of his life
or limb, nor shall any man's property be taken or applied to public use
without the consent of his representatives, and without just
compensation being previously made to him.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
14
Right of
judicial remedy for injury -- Speedy trial.
All
courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him in his
lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of
law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
15
Laws to
be suspended only by General Assembly.
No
power to suspend laws shall be exercised unless by the General Assembly
or its authority.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
16
Laws to
be suspended only by General Assembly.
No
power to suspend laws shall be exercised unless by the General Assembly
or its authority.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
17
Excessive bail or fine, or cruel punishment, prohibited.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel punishment inflicted.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
18
Imprisonment for debt restricted.
The
person of a debtor, where there is not strong presumption of fraud,
shall not be continued in prison after delivering up his estate for the
benefit of his creditors in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
19
Ex post
facto law or law impairing contract forbidden -- Rules of construction
for mineral deeds relating to coal extraction.
(1) No
ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts,
shall be enacted. (2) In any instrument heretofore or hereafter executed
purporting to sever the surface and mineral estates or to grant a
mineral estate or to grant a right to extract minerals, which fails to
state or describe in express and specific terms the method of coal
extraction to be employed, or where said instrument contains language
subordinating the surface estate to the mineral estate, it shall be
held, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary,
that the intention of the parties to the instrument was that the coal be
extracted only by the method or methods of commercial coal extraction
commonly known to be in use in Kentucky in the area affected at the time
the instrument was executed, and that the mineral estate be dominant to
the surface estate for the purposes of coal extraction by only the
method or methods of commercial coal extraction commonly known to be in
use in Kentucky in the area affected at the time the instrument was
executed.
Text
as Ratified on: November 8, 1988.
History: 1988 amendment was proposed by 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 1;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
Section
20
Attainder, operation of restricted.
No
person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the General Assembly,
and no attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, except during the
life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Commonwealth.
Text
as Ratified on:
August 3, 1891,
and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
21
Descent
in case of suicide or casualty.
The
estate of such persons as shall destroy their own lives shall descend or
vest as in cases of natural death; and if any person shall be killed by
casualty, there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
22
Standing
armies restricted -- Military subordinate to civil -- Quartering
soldiers restricted.
No
standing army shall, in time of peace, be maintained without the consent
of the General Assembly; and the military shall, in all cases and at all
times, be in strict subordination to the civil power; nor shall any
soldier, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent
of the owner, nor in time of war, except in a manner prescribed by law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891
History: Not yet amended.
Section
23
No
office of nobility or hereditary distinction, or for longer than a term
of years.
The
General Assembly shall not grant any title of nobility or hereditary
distinction, nor create any office the appointment of which shall be for
a longer time than a term of years.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
24
Emigration to be free.
Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
25
Slavery
and involuntary servitude forbidden.
Slavery
and involuntary servitude in this State are forbidden, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
Text
as Ratified on:
August 3, 1891,
and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section26
General
powers subordinate to Bill of Rights -- Laws contrary thereto are void.
To
guard against transgression of the high powers which we have delegated,
We Declare that every thing in this Bill of Rights is excepted out of
the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate;
and all laws contrary thereto, or contrary to this Constitution, shall
be void.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
27
Powers
of government divided among legislative, executive, and judicial
departments.
The
powers of the government of the
Commonwealth
of Kentucky shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each
of them be confined to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: Those
which are legislative, to one; those which are executive, to another;
and those which are judicial, to another.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
28
One
department not to exercise power belonging to another.
No
person or collection of persons, being of one of those departments,
shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others,
except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
29
Legislative power vested in General Assembly.
The
legislative power shall be vested in a House of Representatives and a
Senate, which, together, shall be styled the "General Assembly of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky."
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
30
Legislative power vested in General Assembly.
The
legislative power shall be vested in a House of Representatives and a
Senate, which, together, shall be styled the "General Assembly of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky."
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
31
Time of
election and term of office of Senators and Representatives.
At the
general election to be held in November, 1984, and every two years
thereafter, there shall be elected for four years one Senator in each
Senatorial District in which the term of his predecessor in office will
then expire and in every Representative District one Representative for
two years.
Text
as Ratified on: November 6, 1979.
History: 1979 amendment was proposed by 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 440, sec. 1;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
Section
32
Qualifications of Senators and Representatives.
No
person shall be a Representative who, at the time of his election, is
not a citizen of Kentucky, has not attained the age of twenty-four
years, and who has not resided in this State two years next preceding
his election, and the last year thereof in the county, town or city for
which he may be chosen. No person shall be a Senator who, at the time of
his election, is not a citizen of Kentucky, has not attained the age of
thirty years, and has not resided in this State six years next preceding
his election, and the last year thereof in the district for which he may
be chosen.
Text
as Ratified on:
August 3, 1891,
and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
33
Senatorial and Representative districts.
The
first General Assembly after the adoption of this Constitution shall
divide the State into thirty-eight
Senatorial Districts,
and one hundred Representative Districts, as nearly equal in population
as may be without dividing any county, except where a county may include
more than one district, which districts shall constitute the Senatorial
and Representative Districts for ten years. Not more than two counties
shall be joined together to form a Representative District: Provided, In
doing so the principle requiring every district to be as nearly equal in
population as may be shall not be violated. At the expiration of that
time, the General Assembly shall then, and every ten years thereafter,
redistrict the State according to this rule, and for the purposes
expressed in this section. If, in making said districts, inequality of
population should be unavoidable, any advantage resulting there from
shall be given to districts having the largest territory. No part of a
county shall be added to another county to make a district, and the
counties forming a district shall be contiguous.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
34
Officers
of Houses of General Assembly.
The
House of Representatives shall choose its Speaker and other officers,
and the Senate shall have power to choose its officers biennially.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
35
Number
of Senators and Representatives.
The
number of Representatives shall be one hundred, and the number of
Senators thirty-eight.
Text
as Ratified on:
August 3, 1891,
and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
26
Time and
place of meetings of General Assembly.
(1) The General Assembly, in odd-numbered years, shall meet in regular
session for a period not to exceed a total of thirty (30) legislative
days divided as follows: The General Assembly shall convene for the
first part of the session on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
January in odd-numbered years for the purposes of electing legislative
leaders, adopting rules of procedure, organizing committees, and
introducing and considering legislation. The General Assembly shall then
adjourn. The General Assembly shall convene for the second part of the
session on the first Tuesday in February of that year. Any legislation
introduced but not enacted in the first part of the session shall be
carried over into the second part of the session. In any part of the
session in an odd-numbered year, no bill raising revenue or
appropriating funds shall become a law unless it shall be agreed to by
three-fifths of all the members elected to each House.
(2) The General Assembly shall then adjourn until the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in January of the following even-numbered years,
at which time the General Assembly shall convene in regular session.
(3) All sessions shall be held at the seat of government, except in
case of war, insurrection or pestilence, when it may, by proclamation of
the Governor, assemble, for the time being, elsewhere.
Text as Ratified on: November 7, 2000.
History: 2000 amendment was proposed by 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 407,
sec. 1; 1979 amendment was proposed by 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 440, sec. 2,
and ratified November 6, 1979; original version ratified August 3, 1891,
and revised September 28, 1891.
Section
37
Majority
constitutes quorum -- Powers of less than a quorum.
Not
less than a majority of the members of each House of the General
Assembly shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number
may adjourn from day to day, and shall be authorized by law to compel
the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties
as may be prescribed by law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
38
Each
House to judge qualifications, elections, and returns of its members --
Contests.
Each
House of the General Assembly shall judge of the qualifications,
elections and returns of its members, but a contested election shall be
determined in such manner as shall be directed by law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
39
Powers
of each House as to rules and conduct of members -- Contempt -- Bribery.
Each
House of the General Assembly may determine the rules of its
proceedings, punish a member for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the
same cause, and may punish for contempt any person who refuses to attend
as a witness, or to bring any paper proper to be used as evidence before
the General Assembly, or either House thereof, or a Committee of either,
or to testify concerning any matter which may be a proper subject of
inquiry by the General Assembly, or offers or gives a bribe to a member
of the General Assembly, or attempts by other corrupt means or device to
control or influence a member to cast his vote or withhold the same. The
punishment and mode of proceeding for contempt in such cases shall be
prescribed by law, but the term of imprisonment in any such case shall
not extend beyond the session of the General Assembly.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
40
Journals
-- When vote to be entered.
Each
House of the General Assembly shall keep and publish daily a journal of
its proceedings; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question
shall, at the desire of any two of the members elected, be entered on
the journal.
Text
as Ratified on:
August 3, 1891,
and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
41
Adjournment during session.
Neither
House, during the session of the General Assembly, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which it may be sitting.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended
Section
42
Compensation of members -- Length of sessions -- Legislative day.
The members of the General Assembly shall severally receive from the
State Treasury compensation for their services: Provided, No change
shall take effect during the session at which it is made; nor shall a
session occurring in odd-numbered years extend beyond March 30; nor
shall a session of the General Assembly continue beyond sixty
legislative days nor shall it extend beyond April 15; these limitations
as to length of session shall not apply to the Senate when sitting as a
court of impeachment. A legislative day shall be construed to mean a
calendar day, exclusive of Sundays, legal holidays, or any day on which
neither House meets.
Text as Ratified on: November 7, 2000.
History: 2000 amendment was proposed by 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 407, sec.
2; 1979 amendment was proposed by 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 440, sec. 3, and
ratified on November 6, 1979; original version ratified August 3, 1891,
and revised September 28, 1891.
Section
43
Privileges from arrest and from questioning as to speech or debate.
The
members of the General Assembly shall, in all cases except treason,
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during
their attendance on the sessions of their respective Houses, and in
going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in
either House they shall not be questioned in any other place.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
44
Ineligibility of members to civil office created or given increased
compensation during term.
No
Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he was
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be appointed or elected to any
civil office of profit in this Commonwealth, which shall have been
created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during
the said term, except to such offices as may be filled by the election
of the people.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
45
Collector of public money ineligible unless he has quietus.
No
person who may have been a collector of taxes or public moneys for the
Commonwealth, or for any county, city, town or district, or the
assistant or deputy of such collector, shall be eligible to the General
Assembly, unless he shall have obtained a quietus six months before the
election for the amount of such collection, and for all public moneys
for which he may have been responsible.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
46
Bills
must be reported by committee, printed, and read -- How bill called from
committee -- Votes required for passage.
No bill
shall be considered for final passage unless the same has been reported
by a committee and printed for the use of the members. Every bill shall
be read at length on three different days in each House, but the second
and third readings may be dispensed with by a majority of all the
members elected to the House in which the bill is pending. But whenever
a committee refuses or fails to report a bill submitted to it in a
reasonable time, the same may be called up by any member, and be
considered in the same manner it would have been considered if it had
been reported. No bill shall become a law unless, on its final passage,
it receives the votes of at least two-fifths of the members elected to
each House, and a majority of the members voting, the vote to be taken
by yeas and nays and entered in the journal: Provided, Any act or
resolution for the appropriation of money or the creation of debt shall,
on its final passage, receive the votes of a majority of all the members
elected to each House.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
47
Bills to
raise revenue must originate in House of Representatives.
All
bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments thereto:
Provided, No new matter shall be introduced, under color of amendment,
which does not relate to raising revenue.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
48
Resources of Sinking Fund not to be diminished -- Preservation of fund.
The
General Assembly shall have no power to enact laws to diminish the
resources of the Sinking Fund as now established by law until the debt
of the Commonwealth be paid, but may enact laws to increase them; and
the whole resources of said fund, from year to year, shall be sacredly
set apart and applied to the payment of the interest and principal of
the State debt, and to no other use or purpose, until the whole debt of
the State is fully satisfied.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
49
Power to
contract debts -- Limit.
The
General Assembly may contract debts to meet casual deficits or failures
in the revenue; but such debts, direct or contingent, singly or in the
aggregate, shall not at any time exceed five hundred thousand dollars,
and the moneys arising from loans creating such debts shall be applied
only to the purpose or purposes for which they were obtained, or to
repay such debts: Provided, The General Assembly may contract debts to
repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or, if hostilities are
threatened, provide for the public defense.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
50
Purposes
for which debt may be contracted -- Tax to discharge -- Public vote.
No act
of the General Assembly shall authorize any debt to be contracted on
behalf of the Commonwealth except for the purposes mentioned in Section
49, unless provision be made therein to levy and collect an annual tax
sufficient to pay the interest stipulated, and to discharge the debt
within thirty years; nor shall such act take effect until it shall have
been submitted to the people at a general election, and shall have
received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it: Provided,
The General Assembly may contract debts by borrowing money to pay any
part of the debt of the State, without submission to the people, and
without making provision in the act authorizing the same for a tax to
discharge the debt so contracted, or the interest thereon.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
51
Law may
not relate to more than one subject, to be expressed in title --
Amendments must be at length.
No law
enacted by the General Assembly shall relate to more than one subject,
and that shall be expressed in the title, and no law shall be revised,
amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred by reference to
its title only, but so much thereof as is revised, amended, extended or
conferred, shall be reenacted and published at length.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
52
General
Assembly may not release debt to State or to county or city.
The
General Assembly shall have no power to release, extinguish or authorize
the releasing or extinguishing, in whole or in part, the indebtedness or
liability of any corporation or individual to this Commonwealth, or to
any county or municipality thereof.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
53
Investigation of accounts of Treasurer and Auditor -- Report,
publication, submission to Governor and General Assembly.
The
General Assembly shall provide by law for monthly investigations into
the accounts of the Treasurer and Auditor of Public Accounts, and the
result of these investigations shall be reported to the Governor, and
these reports shall be semiannually published in two newspapers of
general circulation in the State. The reports received by the Governor
shall, at the beginning of each session, be transmitted by him to the
General Assembly for scrutiny and appropriate action.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised September 28
Section
54
No
restriction on recovery for injury or death.
The
General Assembly shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered
for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to person or property.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
55
When
laws to take effect -- Emergency legislation.
No act,
except general appropriation bills, shall become a law until ninety days
after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed, except in
cases of emergency, when, by the concurrence of a majority of the
members elected to each House of the General Assembly, by a yea and nay
vote entered upon their journals, an act may become a law when approved
by the Governor; but the reasons for the emergency that justifies this
action must be set out at length in the journal of each House.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
56
Signing
of bills -- Enrollment -- Presentation to Governor.
No bill
shall become a law until the same shall have been signed by the
presiding officer of each of the two Houses in open session; and before
such officer shall have affixed his signature to any bill, he shall
suspend all other business, declare that such bill will now be read, and
that he will sign the same to the end that it may become a law. The bill
shall then be read at length and compared; and, if correctly enrolled,
he shall, in the presence of the House in open session, and before any
other business is entertained, affix his signature, which fact shall be
noted in the journal, and the bill immediately sent to the other House.
When it reaches the other House, the presiding officer thereof shall
immediately suspend all other business, announce the reception of the
bill, and the same proceeding shall thereupon be observed in every
respect as in the House in which it was first signed. And thereupon the
Clerk of the latter House shall immediately present the same to the
Governor for his signature and approval.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
57
Member
having personal interest to make disclosure and not vote.
A
member who has a personal or private interest in any measure or bill
proposed or pending before the General Assembly, shall disclose the fact
to the House of which he is a member, and shall not vote thereon upon
pain of expulsion.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
58
General
Assembly not to audit nor allow private claim -- Exception --
Appropriations.
The General Assembly
shall neither audit nor allow any private claim against the
Commonwealth, except for expenses incurred during the session at which
the same was allowed; but may appropriate money to pay such claim as
shall have been audited and allowed according to law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
59
Local
and special legislation.
The
General Assembly shall not pass local or special acts concerning any of
the following subjects, or for any of the following purposes, namely:
First:
To regulate the jurisdiction, or the practice, or the circuits of the
courts of justice, or the rights, powers, duties or compensation of the
officers thereof; but the practice in circuit courts in continuous
session may, by a general law, be made different from the practice of
circuit courts held in terms.
Second:
To regulate the summoning, impaneling or compensation of grand or petit
jurors.
Third:
To provide for changes of venue in civil or criminal causes.
Fourth:
To regulate the punishment of crimes and misdemeanors, or to remit
fines, penalties or forfeitures.
Fifth:
To regulate the limitation of civil or criminal causes.
Sixth:
To affect the estate of cestuis que trust, decedents, infants or other
persons under disabilities, or to authorize any such persons to sell,
lease, encumber or dispose of their property.
Seventh: To declare any person of age, or to relieve an infant or feme
covert of disability, or to enable him to do acts allowed only to adults
not under disabilities.
Eighth:
To change the law of descent, distribution or succession.
Ninth:
To authorize the adoption or legitimation of children.
Tenth:
To grant divorces.
Eleventh: To change the names of persons.
Twelfth: To give effect to invalid deeds, wills or other instruments.
Thirteenth: To legalize, except as against the Commonwealth, the
unauthorized or invalid act of any officer or public agent of the
Commonwealth, or of any city, county or municipality thereof.
Fourteenth: To refund money legally paid into the State Treasury.
Fifteenth: To authorize or to regulate the levy, the assessment or the
collection of taxes, or to give any indulgence or discharge to any
assessor or collector of taxes, or to his sureties.
Sixteenth: To authorize the opening, altering, maintaining or vacating
of roads, highways, streets, alleys, town plats, cemeteries, graveyards,
or public grounds not owned by the Commonwealth.
Seventeenth: To grant a charter to any corporation, or to amend the
charter of any existing corporation; to license companies or persons to
own or operate ferries, bridges, roads or turnpikes; to declare streams
navigable, or to authorize the construction of booms or dams therein, or
to remove obstructions there from; to affect toll gates or to regulate
tolls; to regulate fencing or the running at large of stock.
Eighteenth: To create, increase or decrease fees, percentages or
allowances to public officers, or to extend the time for the collection
thereof, or to authorize officers to appoint deputies.
Nineteenth: To give any person or corporation the right to lay a
railroad track or tramway, or to amend existing charters for such
purposes.
Twentieth: To provide for conducting elections, or for designating the
places of voting, or changing the boundaries of wards, precincts or
districts, except when new counties may be created.
Twenty-first: To regulate the rate of interest.
Twenty-second: To authorize the creation, extension, enforcement,
impairment or release of liens.
Twenty-third: To provide for the protection of game and fish.
Twenty-fourth: To regulate labor, trade, mining or manufacturing.
Twenty-fifth: To provide for the management of common schools.
Twenty-sixth: To locate or change a county seat.
Twenty-seventh: To provide a means of taking the sense of the people of
any city, town, district, precinct or county, whether they wish to
authorize, regulate or prohibit therein the sale of vinous, spirituous
or malt liquors, or alter the liquor laws.
Twenty-eighth: Restoring to citizenship persons convicted of infamous
crimes.
Twenty-ninth: In all other cases where a general law can be made
applicable, no special law shall be enacted
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
60
General
law not to be made special or local by amendment -- No special powers or
privileges -- Law not to take effect on approval of other authority than
General Assembly -- Exceptions.
The
General Assembly shall not indirectly enact any special or local act by
the repeal in part of a general act, or by exempting from the operation
of a general act any city, town, district or county; but laws repealing
local or special acts may be enacted. No law shall be enacted granting
powers or privileges in any case where the granting of such powers or
privileges shall have been provided for by a general law, nor where the
courts have jurisdiction to grant the same or to give the relief asked
for. No law, except such as relates to the sale, loan or gift of vinous,
spirituous or malt liquors, bridges, turnpikes or other public roads,
public buildings or improvements, fencing, running at large of stock,
matters pertaining to common schools, paupers, and the regulation by
counties, cities, towns or other municipalities of their local affairs,
shall be enacted to take effect upon the approval of any other authority
than the General Assembly, unless otherwise expressly provided in this
Constitution.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
61
Provision to be made for local option on sale of liquor -- Time of
elections.
The
General Assembly shall, by general law, provide a means whereby the
sense of the people of any county, city, town, district or precinct may
be taken, as to whether or not spirituous, vinous or malt liquors shall
be sold, bartered or loaned therein, or the sale thereof regulated. But
nothing herein shall be construed to interfere with or to repeal any law
in force relating to the sale or gift of such liquors. All elections on
this question may be held on a day other than the regular election days.
Text
as Ratified on: November 5, 1935.
History: 1935 reenactment was proposed by 1934 Ky. Acts ch. 58, sec. 1;
repeal (by implication) was proposed by 1918 Ky. Acts ch. 63, sec. 1,
and ratified on November 4, 1919, effective July 1, 1920; original
version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised September 28, 1891
Section
62
Style of
laws.
The
style of the laws of this Commonwealth shall be as follows: "Be it
enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky."
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
63
Area of
counties -- Boundaries -- Creation and abolishment of counties.
No new
county shall be created by the General Assembly which will reduce the
county or counties, or either of them, from which it shall be taken, to
less area than four hundred square miles; nor shall any county be formed
of less area; nor shall any boundary line thereof pass within less than
ten miles of any county seat of the county or counties proposed to be
divided. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the General Assembly
from abolishing any county.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
64
Division
of county or removal of county seat, election required -- Minimum
population of county.
No
county shall be divided, or have any part stricken there from, except in
the formation of new counties, without submitting the question to a vote
of the people of the county, nor unless the majority of all the legal
voters of the county voting on the question shall vote for the same. The
county seat of no county as now located, or as may hereafter be located,
shall be moved, except upon a vote of two-thirds of those voting; nor
shall any new county be established which will reduce any county to less
than twelve thousand inhabitants, nor shall any county be created
containing a less population.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
65
Striking territory from county -- Liability for indebtedness.
There
shall be no territory stricken from any county unless a majority of the
voters living in such territory shall petition for such division. But
the portion so stricken off and added to another county, or formed in
whole or in part into a new county, shall be bound for its proportion of
the indebtedness of the county from which it has been taken.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
66
Power of
impeachment vested in House.
The
House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
67
Trial of
impeachments by Senate.
All
impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that
purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation. No person shall
be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators
present.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
68
Civil
officers liable to impeachment -- Judgment -- Criminal liability.
The
Governor and all civil officers shall be liable to impeachment for any
misdemeanors in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend
further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any
office of honor, trust or profit under this Commonwealth; but the party
convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject and liable to indictment,
trial and punishment by law.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
69
Executive power vested in Governor.
The
supreme executive power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Chief
Magistrate, who shall be styled the "Governor of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky."
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
70
Election
of Governor and Lieutenant Governor -- Term -- Tie vote.
The
Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected for the term of four
years by the qualified voters of the State. They shall be elected
jointly by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both
offices, as shall be provided by law. The slate of candidates having the
highest number of votes cast jointly for them for Governor and
Lieutenant Governor shall be elected; but if two or more slates of
candidates shall be equal and highest in votes, the election shall be
determined by lot in such manner as the General Assembly may direct.
Text
as Ratified on: November 3, 1992.
History: 1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 1;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
Section
71
Gubernatorial succession.
The
Governor shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years after the
expiration of any second consecutive term for which he shall have been
elected.
Text
as Ratified on: November 3, 1992.
History:1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 2;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891
Section
72
Qualifications of Governor and Lieutenant Governor -- Duties of
Lieutenant Governor.
The
Governor and the Lieutenant Governor shall be at least thirty years of
age, and have been citizens and residents of Kentucky for at least six
years next preceding their election. The duties of the Lieutenant
Governor shall be prescribed by law, and he shall have such other duties
as delegated by the Governor.
Text
as Ratified on: November 3, 1992.
History: 1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 3;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891
Section
73
When
terms of Governor and Lieutenant Governor begin.
The
Governor and the Lieutenant Governor shall commence the execution of the
duties of their offices on the fifth Tuesday succeeding their election,
and shall continue in the execution thereof until a successor shall have
qualified.
Text
as Ratified on: November 3, 1992.
History:1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 4;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
Section
74
Compensation of Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
The
Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall at stated times receive for the
performance of the duties of their respective offices compensation to be
fixed by law.
Text
as Ratified on: November 3, 1992.
History: 1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 5;
original version ratified August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
Section
75
Governor
is Commander-in-Chief of army, navy and militia.
He
shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of this Commonwealth,
and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the
service of the United States; but he shall not command personally in the
field, unless advised so to do by a resolution of the General Assembly.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
76
Power of
Governor to fill vacancies.
He
shall have the power, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution,
to fill vacancies by granting commissions, which shall expire when such
vacancies shall have been filled according to the provisions of this
Constitution.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised September 28, 18
History: Not yet amended.
Section
77
Power of
Governor to remit fines and forfeitures, grant reprieves and pardons --
No power to remit fees.
He
shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, commute sentences,
grant reprieves and pardons, except in case of impeachment, and he shall
file with each application therefore a statement of the reasons for his
decision thereon, which application and statement shall always be open
to public inspection. In cases of treason, he shall have power to grant
reprieves until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, in
which the power of pardoning shall be vested; but he shall have no power
to remit the fees of the Clerk, Sheriff or Commonwealth's Attorney in
penal or criminal cases.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
78
Governor
may require information from state officers.
He may
require information in writing from the officers of the Executive
Department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
79
Reports
and recommendations to General Assembly.
He
shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of
the state of the Commonwealth, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he may deem expedient.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
80
Governor
may call extraordinary session of General Assembly, adjourn General
Assembly.
He may,
on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly at the seat of
government, or at a different place, if that should have become
dangerous from an enemy or from contagious diseases. In case of
disagreement between the two Houses with respect to the time of
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper,
not exceeding four months. When he shall convene the General Assembly it
shall be by proclamation, stating the subjects to be considered, and no
other shall be considered.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
Section
81
Governor
to enforce laws.
He
shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
Text
as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised
September 28, 1891.
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