NEW YORK

 

CONSTITUTION OF THE 
STATE OF NEW YORK
 
 
As  Revised, with Amendments Adopted by the Constitutional Convention of
1938 and Approved by vote of the People on November 8, 1938.
 
As Amended and in Force January 1, 2002
 
We  The People of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty
God for our  Freedom,  in  order  to  secure  its  blessings,  DO
ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION.
 

 

                                ARTICLE I

                             Bill of Rights

 

  Section 1. No member of this state shall be disfranchised, or deprived

of  any  of  the  rights  or  privileges secured to any citizen thereof,

unless by the law of the land, or the judgment  of  his  or  her  peers,

except  that  the legislature may provide that there shall be no primary

election held to nominate candidates  for  public  office  or  to  elect

persons  to  party  positions  for any political party or parties in any

unit of representation of  the  state  from  which  such  candidates  or

persons  are  nominated  or  elected  whenever  there  is  no contest or

contests for such nominations or election as may be prescribed by gener-

al law.

 

  S  2. Trial by jury in all cases in which it has heretofore been guar-

anteed by constitutional provision shall remain inviolate forever; but a

jury trial may be waived by the parties in all civil cases in the manner

to be prescribed by law. The legislature may provide, however,  by  law,

that  a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury

in any civil case. A jury trial may be waived by the  defendant  in  all

criminal  cases, except those in which the crime charged may be punisha-

ble by death, by a written instrument signed by the defendant in  person

in  open  court  before and with the approval of a judge or justice of a

court having jurisdiction to try the offense. The legislature may  enact

laws, not inconsistent herewith, governing the form, content, manner and

time of presentation of the instrument effectuating such waiver.

 

  S  3.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment of religious profession and

worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be  allowed

in this state to all humankind; and no person shall be rendered incompe-

tent  to  be  a  witness on account of his or her opinions on matters of

religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not

be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness,  or  justify  prac-

tices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state.

 

  S  4.  The  privilege of a writ or order of habeas corpus shall not be

suspended, unless, in case of rebellion or invasion, the  public  safety

requires it.

 

  S 5. Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed,

nor  shall  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  be  inflicted,  nor  shall

witnesses be unreasonably detained.

 

  S  6.  No  person  shall  be held to answer for a capital or otherwise

infamous crime (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of  militia

when  in  actual  service, and the land, air and naval forces in time of

war, or which this state may keep with the consent of congress  in  time

of  peace,  and  in  cases  of petit larceny under the regulation of the

legislature), unless on indictment of a grand jury, except that a person

held for the action of a grand jury upon a charge for such  an  offense,

other  than  one  punishable  by  death  or  life imprisonment, with the

consent of the district attorney, may waive indictment by a  grand  jury

and  consent  to  be  prosecuted on an information filed by the district

attorney; such waiver shall be evidenced by written instrument signed by

the defendant in open court in the presence of his or  her  counsel.  In

any  trial  in  any court whatever the party accused shall be allowed to

appear and defend in person and with counsel as  in  civil  actions  and

shall  be  informed  of  the  nature  and cause of the accusation and be

confronted with the witnesses against him or her.  No  person  shall  be

subject  to  be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense; nor shall he

or she be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself

or herself, providing, that any public officer who,  upon  being  called

before  a  grand  jury  to  testify concerning the conduct of his or her

present office or of any public office held by him or  her  within  five

years  prior  to  such grand jury call to testify, or the performance of

his or her official duties in any such present or prior offices, refuses

to sign a waiver of immunity against subsequent criminal prosecution, or

to answer any relevant question  concerning  such  matters  before  such

grand  jury, shall by virtue of such refusal, be disqualified from hold-

ing any other public office or public employment for a  period  of  five

years from the date of such refusal to sign a waiver of immunity against

subsequent  prosecution,  or  to answer any relevant question concerning

such matters before such grand jury, and shall be removed  from  his  or

her  present office by the appropriate authority or shall forfeit his or

her present office at the suit of the attorney-general.

  The power of grand juries to inquire into  the  wilful  misconduct  in

office  of  public  officers,  and  to find indictments or to direct the

filing of informations in connection with such inquiries, shall never be

suspended or impaired by law. No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,

liberty or property without due process of law.

 

  S  7.  (a)  Private property shall not be taken for public use without

just compensation.

  (c) Private roads may be opened in the manner to be prescribed by law;

but in every case the necessity of the road and the amount of all damage

to be sustained by the opening thereof shall be first  determined  by  a

jury  of freeholders, and such amount, together with the expenses of the

proceedings, shall be paid by the person to be benefited.

  (d) The use of property for the  drainage  of  swamp  or  agricultural

lands  is  declared  to  be a public use, and general laws may be passed

permitting the owners or occupants of swamp  or  agricultural  lands  to

construct  and  maintain  for  the  drainage  thereof, necessary drains,

ditches and dykes upon the lands of others, under  proper  restrictions,

on  making  just  compensation,  and such compensation together with the

cost of such drainage may be assessed, wholly  or  partly,  against  any

property  benefited  thereby;  but  no special laws shall be enacted for

such purposes.

 

  S  8.  Every  citizen  may  freely speak, write and publish his or her

sentiments on all subjects, being responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that

right;  and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of

speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments  for

libels,  the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall

appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and  was

published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be

acquitted;  and  the  jury shall have the right to determine the law and

the fact.

 

  S  9.  1.  No  law  shall be passed abridging the rights of the people

peaceably to assemble and to petition the government, or any  department

thereof; nor shall any divorce be granted otherwise than by due judicial

proceedings;  except  as hereinafter provided, no lottery or the sale of

lottery tickets, pool-selling, book-making, or any other kind of  gambl-

ing,  except  lotteries  operated  by  the state and the sale of lottery

tickets in connection therewith as may be authorized and  prescribed  by

the  legislature, the net proceeds of which shall be applied exclusively

to or in aid or support of education in this state  as  the  legislature

may  prescribe,  and except pari-mutuel betting on horse races as may be

prescribed by the legislature and from which the state  shall  derive  a

reasonable  revenue  for  the  support of government, shall hereafter be

authorized or allowed within this state; and the legislature shall  pass

appropriate  laws  to  prevent offenses against any of the provisions of

this section.

  2. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, any city,

town or village within the state may by an approving vote of the majori-

ty of the qualified electors in such municipality voting on  a  proposi-

tion  therefor  submitted  at  a  general or special election authorize,

subject to state legislative supervision and control, the conduct of one

or both of the following categories of games of  chance  commonly  known

as:  (a)  bingo  or  lotto,  in which prizes are awarded on the basis of

designated numbers or symbols on a card conforming to numbers or symbols

selected at random; (b) games in which prizes are awarded on  the  basis

of  a  winning  number or numbers, color or colors, or symbol or symbols

determined by chance from among those  previously  selected  or  played,

whether  determined  as the result of the spinning of a wheel, a drawing

or otherwise by chance. If authorized, such games shall  be  subject  to

the  following restrictions, among others which may be prescribed by the

legislature: (1) only bona  fide  religious,  charitable  or  non-profit

organizations  of veterans, volunteer firefighter and similar non-profit

organizations shall be permitted to conduct such games; (2)  the  entire

net  proceeds  of  any  game  shall be exclusively devoted to the lawful

purposes of such organizations; (3) no person except a bona fide  member

of  any  such organization shall participate in the management or opera-

tion of such game; and (4) no person shall receive any remuneration  for

participating  in  the  management or operation of any such game. Unless

otherwise provided by law, no single  prize  shall  exceed  two  hundred

fifty  dollars, nor shall any series of prizes on one occasion aggregate

more than one thousand dollars. The legislature shall  pass  appropriate

laws  to  effectuate  the purposes of this subdivision, ensure that such

games are rigidly regulated to prevent commercialized gambling,  prevent

participation  by criminal and other undesirable elements and the diver-

sion of funds from the purposes authorized  hereunder  and  establish  a

method  by  which  a  municipality  which  has authorized such games may

rescind or revoke such authorization. Unless permitted by  the  legisla-

ture,  no  municipality shall have the power to pass local laws or ordi-

nances relating to such games. Nothing in this section shall prevent the

legislature  from  passing  laws  more  restrictive  than  any  of   the

provisions of this section.

 

  S  11.  No  person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of

this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race,

color, creed or religion, be subjected to any discrimination in  his  or

her  civil  rights  by  any other person or by any firm, corporation, or

institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state.

 

  S  12.  The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,

papers and effects, against unreasonable searches  and  seizures,  shall

not  be  violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,

supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the  place

to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

  The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable interception

of  telephone and telegraph communications shall not be violated, and ex

parte orders or warrants shall issue only upon oath or affirmation  that

there is reasonable ground to believe that evidence of crime may be thus

obtained,  and  identifying  the  particular means of communication, and

particularly describing the person or persons whose  communications  are

to be intercepted and the purpose thereof.

 

  S 14. Such parts of the common law, and of the acts of the legislature

of  the  colony  of  New  York, as together did form the law of the said

colony, on the nineteenth day  of  April,  one  thousand  seven  hundred

seventy-five,  and  the  resolutions of the congress of the said colony,

and of the convention of the State of New York, in force on the  twenti-

eth  day  of April, one thousand seven hundred seventy-seven, which have

not since expired, or been repealed or altered; and  such  acts  of  the

legislature of this state as are now in force, shall be and continue the

law  of this state, subject to such alterations as the legislature shall

make concerning the same. But all such parts of the common law, and such

of the said acts, or parts thereof, as are repugnant to  this  constitu-

tion, are hereby abrogated.

 

  S 16. The right of action now existing to recover damages for injuries

resulting in death, shall never be abrogated; and the amount recoverable

shall not be subject to any statutory limitation.

 

  S  17.  Labor  of  human  beings  is not a commodity nor an article of

commerce and shall never be so considered or construed.

  No laborer, worker or mechanic, in the employ of a contractor or  sub-

contractor  engaged  in  the  performance  of  any public work, shall be

permitted to work more than eight hours in any day  or  more  than  five

days  in any week, except in cases of extraordinary emergency; nor shall

he or she be paid less than the rate of wages  prevailing  in  the  same

trade  or  occupation in the locality within the state where such public

work is to be situated, erected or used.

  Employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively

through representatives of their own choosing.

 

  S  18.  Nothing  contained  in this constitution shall be construed to

limit the power of the legislature to enact laws for the  protection  of

the lives, health, or safety of employees; or for the payment, either by

employers,  or  by employers and employees or otherwise, either directly

or through a state or other system of insurance or otherwise, of compen-

sation for injuries to employees or for  death  of  employees  resulting

from  such  injuries  without regard to fault as a cause thereof, except

where the injury is occasioned by the willful intention of  the  injured

employee  to bring about the injury or death of himself or herself or of

another, or where the injury results solely from the intoxication of the

injured employee while on duty; or for the adjustment, determination and

settlement, with or without trial by jury, of  issues  which  may  arise

under  such  legislation;  or  to provide that the right of such compen-

sation, and the remedy therefor shall be exclusive of all  other  rights

and  remedies for injuries to employees or for death resulting from such

injuries; or to provide that the amount of such compensation  for  death

shall  not  exceed a fixed or determinable sum; provided that all moneys

paid by an employer to his or her employees  or  their  legal  represen-

tatives,  by  reason  of the enactment of any of the laws herein author-

ized, shall be held to be a proper charge in the cost of  operating  the

business of the employer.

 

 

                               ARTICLE II

                                Suffrage

 

  Section  1.  Every citizen shall be entitled to vote at every election

for all officers elected by the people and upon all questions  submitted

to  the  vote of the people provided that such citizen is eighteen years

of age or over and shall have been a resident of this state, and of  the

county, city, or village for thirty days next preceding an election.

 

  S  2.  The legislature may, by general law, provide a manner in which,

and the time and place at which, qualified voters who, on the occurrence

of any election, may be absent from the county of their residence or, if

residents of the city of New York, from the city, and  qualified  voters

who,  on  the  occurrence  of  any  election,  may  be  unable to appear

personally at the polling place because of illness or physical disabili-

ty, may vote and for the return and canvass of their votes.

 

  S 3. No person who shall receive, accept, or offer to receive, or pay,

offer  or  promise to pay, contribute, offer or promise to contribute to

another, to be paid or used, any money or  other  valuable  thing  as  a

compensation  or  reward  for  the  giving  or  withholding a vote at an

election, or who shall make any promise to influence the giving or with-

holding any such vote, or who shall make or become directly or indirect-

ly interested in any bet or wager  depending  upon  the  result  of  any

election,  shall  vote  at  such  election;  and upon challenge for such

cause, the person so challenged, before the officers authorized for that

purpose shall receive his or her vote, shall swear or affirm before such

officers that he or she has not received or offered, does not expect  to

receive,  has not paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, offered

or promised to contribute to another, to be paid or used, any  money  or

other valuable thing as a compensation or reward for the giving or with-

holding  a vote at such election, and has not made any promise to influ-

ence the giving or withholding of any such  vote,  nor  made  or  become

directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the

result of such election. The legislature shall enact laws excluding from

the  right  of suffrage all persons convicted of bribery or of any infa-

mous crime.

 

  S  4.  For  the  purpose  of voting, no person shall be deemed to have

gained or lost a residence, by reason of his or her presence or absence,

while employed in the service of the United States; nor while engaged in

the navigation of the waters of this state, or of the United States,  or

of  the  high seas; nor while a student of any seminary of learning; nor

while kept at any almshouse, or other asylum, or institution  wholly  or

partly  supported at public expense or by charity; nor while confined in

any public prison.

 

  S  5. Laws shall be made for ascertaining, by proper proofs, the citi-

zens who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage hereby  established,

and  for  the  registration  of  voters;  which  registration  shall  be

completed at least ten days  before  each  election.  Such  registration

shall  not  be required for town and village elections except by express

provision of law.

 

  S  6.  The  legislature  may provide by law for a system or systems of

registration whereby upon personal application a voter may be registered

and his or her registration continued so long as he or she shall  remain

qualified  to  vote from an address within the jurisdiction of the board

with which such voter is registered.

 

  S  7.  All elections by the citizens, except for such town officers as

may by law be directed to be otherwise chosen, shall be by ballot, or by

such other method as may be prescribed by law, provided that secrecy  in

voting be preserved. The legislature shall provide for identification of

voters through their signatures in all cases where personal registration

is  required  and  shall also provide for the signatures, at the time of

voting, of all persons voting in person by  ballot  or  voting  machine,

whether  or  not  they  have registered in person, save only in cases of

illiteracy or physical disability.

 

  S  8.  All  laws  creating, regulating or affecting boards or officers

charged with the duty of qualifying voters, or of  distributing  ballots

to  voters,  or  of receiving, recording or counting votes at elections,

shall secure equal representation of the two political parties which, at

the general election next preceding that for which such boards or  offi-

cers  are  to  serve,  cast  the  highest and the next highest number of

votes. All such boards and officers shall be  appointed  or  elected  in

such  manner,  and  upon  the nomination of such representatives of said

parties respectively, as the legislature may direct.  Existing  laws  on

this  subject  shall  continue  until  the  legislature  shall otherwise

provide. This section shall not apply to town, or village elections.

 

  S 9. Notwithstanding the residence requirements imposed by section one

of  this  article,  the legislature may, by general law, provide special

procedures whereby every person who shall have moved from another  state

to  this  state or from one county, city or village within this state to

another county, city or village within this state  and  who  shall  have

been  an  inhabitant  of  this  state  in any event for ninety days next

preceding an election at which electors are to be chosen for the  office

of  president  and vice president of the United States shall be entitled

to vote in this state solely for such electors, provided such person  is

otherwise  qualified to vote in this state and is not able to qualify to

vote for such electors in any other state. The legislature may also,  by

general  law,  prescribe  special procedures whereby every person who is

registered and would be qualified to vote in this state but for  his  or

her  removal  from  this  state  to  another  state within one year next

preceding such election shall be entitled to vote in this  state  solely

for  such  electors, provided such person is not able to qualify to vote

for such electors in any other state.

 

 

                               ARTICLE III
                               Legislature
 
  Section  1. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in the
senate and assembly.
 
  S  2. The senate shall consist of fifty members, except as hereinafter
provided. The senators elected in the year one  thousand  eight  hundred
and  ninety-five  shall  hold  their  offices for three years, and their
successors shall be chosen for two years. The assembly shall consist  of
one  hundred and fifty members. The assembly members elected in the year
one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight, and their successors,  shall
be chosen for two years.
 
  S  3. The senate districts described in section three of article three
of this constitution as adopted by the people on November  sixth,  eigh-
teen hundred ninety-four are hereby continued for all of the purposes of
future  reapportionments of senate districts pursuant to section four of
this article.
 
  S  4. Except as herein otherwise provided, the federal census taken in
the year nineteen hundred thirty and each federal census taken  decenni-
ally  thereafter shall be controlling as to the number of inhabitants in
the state or any part thereof for the purposes of the  apportionment  of
members  of assembly and readjustment or alteration of senate and assem-
bly districts next occurring, in so far as such  census  and  the  tabu-
lation  thereof  purport to give the information necessary therefor. The
legislature, by law, shall provide for  the  making  and  tabulation  by
state  authorities  of  an  enumeration of the inhabitants of the entire
state to be used for such purposes, instead of a federal census, if  the
taking  of  a  federal  census  in any tenth year from the year nineteen
hundred thirty be omitted or if the federal census  fails  to  show  the
number  of  aliens  or  Indians  not  taxed. If a federal census, though
giving the requisite information as to the state at large, fails to give
the information as to  any  civil  or  territorial  divisions  which  is
required  to  be known for such purposes, the legislature, by law, shall
provide for such an enumeration of the inhabitants of such parts of  the
state only as may be necessary, which shall supersede in part the feder-
al  census  and  be used in connection therewith for such purposes.  The
legislature, by law, may provide in its discretion for an enumeration by
state authorities of the inhabitants of the state, to be used  for  such
purposes,  in  place of a federal census, when the return of a decennial
federal census is delayed so that it is not available at  the  beginning
of  the  regular session of the legislature in the second year after the
year nineteen hundred thirty or after any tenth year therefrom, or if an
apportionment of members of assembly and readjustment or  alteration  of
senate districts is not made at or before such a session. At the regular
session  in the year nineteen hundred thirty-two, and at the first regu-
lar session after the year nineteen hundred forty and after  each  tenth
year  therefrom the senate districts shall be readjusted or altered, but
if, in any decade, counting from and including that  which  begins  with
the  year nineteen hundred thirty-one, such a readjustment or alteration
is not made at the time above prescribed, it shall be made at  a  subse-
quent  session  occurring  not later than the sixth year of such decade,
meaning not later than nineteen  hundred  thirty-six,  nineteen  hundred
forty-six,  nineteen  hundred  fifty-six,  and so on; provided, however,
that if such districts shall have been readjusted or altered by  law  in
either  of the years nineteen hundred thirty or nineteen hundred thirty-
one, they shall remain unaltered until the first regular  session  after
the  year  nineteen hundred forty. Such districts shall be so readjusted
or altered that each senate district shall contain as nearly as  may  be
an  equal  number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and be in as compact
form as practicable, and shall remain unaltered until the first year  of
the  next  decade  as  above  defined, and shall at all times consist of
contiguous territory, and no county shall be divided in the formation of
a senate district except to make two or more senate districts wholly  in
such  county.  No  town,  except a town having more than a full ratio of
apportionment, and no block in a city  inclosed  by  streets  or  public
ways,  shall  be divided in the formation of senate districts; nor shall
any district contain a greater excess in population  over  an  adjoining
district  in  the  same  county,  than the population of a town or block
therein adjoining such district. Counties, towns or blocks  which,  from
their  location, may be included in either of two districts, shall be so
placed as to make said districts most nearly equal in number of inhabit-
ants, excluding aliens.
  No county shall have four or more senators unless it shall have a full
ratio for each senator. No county shall have more than one-third of  all
the senators; and no two counties or the territory thereof as now organ-
ized,  which  are  adjoining  counties,  or  which are separated only by
public waters, shall have more than one-half of all the senators.
  The ratio for apportioning senators shall always be obtained by divid-
ing  the  number  of  inhabitants,  excluding  aliens, by fifty, and the
senate shall always be composed of fifty members,  except  that  if  any
county  having  three  or more senators at the time of any apportionment
shall be entitled on such ratio to an additional  senator  or  senators,
such  additional  senator  or  senators shall be given to such county in
addition to the fifty senators, and the whole number of  senators  shall
be increased to that extent.
  The  senate  districts,  including the present ones, as existing imme-
diately before the enactment of a law readjusting or altering the senate
districts, shall continue to be the senate districts of the state  until
the  expirations of the terms of the senators then in office, except for
the purpose of an election of senators for full terms beginning at  such
expirations, and for the formation of assembly districts.
 
  S  5.  The members of the assembly shall be chosen by single districts
and shall be apportioned by the legislature at each regular  session  at
which  the  senate  districts are readjusted or altered, and by the same
law, among the several counties of  the  state,  as  nearly  as  may  be
according  to  the  number  of  their  respective inhabitants, excluding
aliens. Every county heretofore established  and  separately  organized,
except the county of Hamilton, shall always be entitled to one member of
assembly, and no county shall hereafter be erected unless its population
shall  entitle  it  to a member. The county of Hamilton shall elect with
the county of Fulton, until the population of  the  county  of  Hamilton
shall,  according to the ratio, entitle it to a member. But the legisla-
ture may abolish the said county of Hamilton  and  annex  the  territory
thereof to some other county or counties.
  The  quotient  obtained by dividing the whole number of inhabitants of
the state, excluding aliens, by the number of members of assembly, shall
be the ratio for apportionment, which shall  be  made  as  follows:  One
member  of  assembly  shall  be  apportioned  to every county, including
Fulton and Hamilton as one county, containing less than  the  ratio  and
one-half  over.  Two members shall be apportioned to every other county.
The remaining members of assembly shall be apportioned to  the  counties
having  more  than  two  ratios  according to the number of inhabitants,
excluding aliens. Members apportioned on remainders shall be apportioned
to the counties having the  highest  remainders  in  the  order  thereof
respectively. No county shall have more members of assembly than a coun-
ty having a greater number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.
  The  assembly districts, including the present ones, as existing imme-
diately before the enactment of a law making an apportionment of members
of assembly among the  counties,  shall  continue  to  be  the  assembly
districts of the state until the expiration of the terms of members then
in  office, except for the purpose of an election of members of assembly
for full terms beginning at such expirations.
  In any county entitled to more than one member, the board of  supervi-
sors,  and in any city embracing an entire county and having no board of
supervisors, the common council, or if there be none, the body  exercis-
ing  the powers of a common council, shall assemble at such times as the
legislature making an apportionment shall  prescribe,  and  divide  such
counties  into  assembly districts as nearly equal in number of inhabit-
ants, excluding aliens, as may be, of convenient and contiguous territo-
ry in as compact form as practicable, each  of  which  shall  be  wholly
within  a  senate district formed under the same apportionment, equal to
the number of members of assembly to which such county  shall  be  enti-
tled,  and  shall  cause  to  be filed in the office of the secretary of
state and of the clerk of such county, a description of such  districts,
specifying  the  number of each district and of the inhabitants thereof,
excluding aliens, according to the census or  enumeration  used  as  the
population  basis  for  the formation of such districts; and such appor-
tionment and districts shall remain unaltered until after the next reap-
portionment of members of assembly, except that the board of supervisors
of any county containing a town having more than a ratio  of  apportion-
ment  and  one-half  over  may  alter the assembly districts in a senate
district containing such town at any time  on  or  before  March  first,
nineteen  hundred  forty-six.  In  counties  having more than one senate
district, the same number of assembly districts shall  be  put  in  each
senate  district, unless the assembly districts cannot be evenly divided
among the senate districts of any county, in which case one more  assem-
bly  district  shall be put in the senate district in such county having
the largest, or one less assembly district shall be put  in  the  senate
district  in  such  county  having  the  smallest number of inhabitants,
excluding aliens, as the case may require. No town, except a town having
more than a ratio of apportionment and one-half over, and no block in  a
city  inclosed by streets or public ways, shall be divided in the forma-
tion  of  assembly  districts, nor shall any districts contain a greater
excess in population over an  adjoining  district  in  the  same  senate
district,  than the population of a town or block therein adjoining such
assembly district. Towns or blocks which, from  their  location  may  be
included  in either of two districts, shall be so placed as to make said
districts most nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding  aliens.
Nothing  in  this  section  shall  prevent the division, at any time, of
counties and towns and the erection of new towns by the legislature.
  An apportionment by the legislature, or other body, shall  be  subject
to  review  by the supreme court, at the suit of any citizen, under such
reasonable regulations as the legislature may prescribe; and  any  court
before  which  a  cause may be pending involving an apportionment, shall
give precedence thereto over all other causes and  proceedings,  and  if
said  court be not in session it shall convene promptly for the disposi-
tion of the same.
 
  S  5-a.  For the purpose of apportioning senate and assembly districts
pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this article, the term "inhabit-
ants, excluding aliens" shall mean the whole number of persons.
 
  S  6.  Each  member  of  the  legislature shall receive for his or her
services a like annual salary, to be fixed by law. He or she shall  also
be  reimbursed  for his or her actual traveling expenses in going to and
returning from the place in which the legislature meets, not  more  than
once  each  week while the legislature is in session. Senators, when the
senate alone is convened in extraordinary session, or  when  serving  as
members  of the court for the trial of impeachments, and such members of
the assembly, not exceeding nine in number, as shall be appointed manag-
ers of an impeachment, shall receive an additional per  diem  allowance,
to  be  fixed  by law. Any member, while serving as an officer of his or
her house or in any other special capacity therein or directly connected
therewith not hereinbefore in this section specified, may also  be  paid
and  receive,  in  addition, any allowance which may be fixed by law for
the particular and additional services appertaining to  or  entailed  by
such  office  or  special capacity. Neither the salary of any member nor
any other allowance so fixed may be increased or diminished during,  and
with  respect  to, the term for which he or she shall have been elected,
nor shall he or she be paid or receive any other extra compensation. The
provisions of this section and  laws  enacted  in  compliance  therewith
shall  govern  and be exclusively controlling, according to their terms.
Members shall continue to receive such salary and  additional  allowance
as  heretofore  fixed and provided in this section, until changed by law
pursuant to this section.
 
  S 7. No person shall serve as a member of the legislature unless he or
she  is  a  citizen  of the United States and has been a resident of the
state of New York for five years, and, except as  hereinafter  otherwise
prescribed,  of  the  assembly  or senate district for the twelve months
immediately preceding his or her  election;  if  elected  a  senator  or
member  of assembly at the first election next ensuing after a readjust-
ment or alteration of the senate or assembly  districts  becomes  effec-
tive,  a person, to be eligible to serve as such, must have been a resi-
dent of the county in which the senate or assembly district is contained
for the twelve months immediately preceding  his  or  her  election.  No
member of the legislature shall, during the time for which he or she was
elected,  receive  any civil appointment from the governor, the governor
and the senate, the legislature or  from  any  city  government,  to  an
office  which  shall  have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time. If a member of the legislature  be
elected  to  congress,  or  appointed  to any office, civil or military,
under the government of the United States, the state  of  New  York,  or
under  any  city  government except as a member of the national guard or
naval militia of the state, or of  the  reserve  forces  of  the  United
States,  his  or  her acceptance thereof shall vacate his or her seat in
the legislature, providing, however, that a member  of  the  legislature
may  be  appointed commissioner of deeds or to any office in which he or
she shall receive no compensation.
 
  S  8.  The  elections of senators and members of assembly, pursuant to
the provisions of this  constitution,  shall  be  held  on  the  Tuesday
succeeding  the  first  Monday of November, unless otherwise directed by
the legislature.
 
  S  9.  A  majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do busi-
ness.  Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings,  and
be  the  judge  of  the elections, returns and qualifications of its own
members; shall choose its own officers; and the senate  shall  choose  a
temporary president and the assembly shall choose a speaker.
 
  S  10.  Each  house  of  the  legislature  shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and publish the same, except  such  parts  as  may  require
secrecy.  The  doors  of  each house shall be kept open, except when the
public welfare shall require secrecy. Neither house shall,  without  the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days.
 
  S 11. For any speech or debate in either house of the legislature, the
members shall not be questioned in any other place.
 
  S  12.  Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature, and
all bills passed by one house may be amended by the other.
 
  S  13.  The  enacting  clause of all bills shall be "The People of the
State of New York, represented in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as
follows," and no law shall be enacted except by bill.
 
  S  14.  No  bill  shall be passed or become a law unless it shall have
been printed and upon the desks of the members, in its  final  form,  at
least three calendar legislative days prior to its final passage, unless
the governor, or the acting governor, shall have certified, under his or
her  hand and the seal of the state, the facts which in his or her opin-
ion necessitate an immediate vote thereon, in which case it must  never-
theless  be upon the desks of the members in final form, not necessarily
printed, before its final passage; nor  shall  any  bill  be  passed  or
become  a law, except by the assent of a majority of the members elected
to each branch of the legislature; and upon the last reading of a  bill,
no  amendment  thereof shall be allowed, and the question upon its final