the State of Nebraska

“ The returns of every election for the officers of the Executive Department shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers to the Secretary of State, directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall, immediately after the organization of the House and before proceeding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of each House of the Legislature, who shall, for that purpose, assemble in the hall of the House of Representatives. The person having the highest number of votes for either of said offices shall be declared duly elected ”

“ No person elected to the Legislature shall receive any civil appointment within this State, from the Governor and Senate, during the term for which he has been elected. And all such appointments, and all votes given for any such member for any such office or appointment, shall be void. Nor shall any member of the Legislature, or, any State officer, be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract with the State, county or city, authorized by any law passed during the term for which he shall have been elected, or within one year after the expiration thereof. ”

“ When three-fifths of the members elected to each branch of the Legislature deem it necessary to call a convention to revise, amend or change this Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors to vote at the next election of members of the Legislature for or against a convention, and if a majority voting at said election vote for a convention, the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling the same. ”

“ No railroad corporation organized under the laws of any other State or of the United States, and doing business in this State, shall be entitled to exercise the right of eminent domain, or have power to acquire the right of way or real estate for depot or other uses, until it shall have become a body corporate pursuant to and in accordance with the laws of this State. ”

“ No corporation shall be created by special law, nor its charter extended, changed or amended, except those for charitable, educational, penal or reformatory purposes, which are to be and remain under the patronage and control of the State, but the Legislature shall provide by general laws for the organization of all corporations hereafter to be created. ”

“ No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in pursuance of a specific appropriation made by law, and on the presentation of a warrant issued by the Auditor thereon, and no money shall be diverted from any appropriation made for any purpose, or taken from any fund whatever, either by joint or separate resolution. The Auditor shall, within sixty days after the adjournment of each session of the Legislature, prepare and publish a full statement of all moneys expended at such session, specifying the amount of each item, and to whom and for what paid. ”

“ The Legislature shall have no power to release or discharge any county, city, township, town or district whatever, or the inhabitants thereof, or any corporation, or the property therein, from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for State purposes or due any municipal corporation, nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized in any form whatever. ”

“ Every elector in the actual military service of the United States, or of this State, and not in the regular army, may exercise the right of suffrage at such place and under such regulations as may be provided by law. ”

“ No city, county, town, precinct, municipality or other subdivision of the State shall ever make donations to any railroad or other work of internal improvement, unless a proposition so to do shall have been first submitted to the qualified electors thereof at an election by authority of law ”

“ The exercise of the power and the right of eminent domain shall never be so construed or abridged as to prevent the taking, by the Legislature, of the property and franchises of incorporated companies already organized or hereafter to be organized, and subjecting them to the public necessity, the same as of individuals. ”

“ The rights of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, but the Legislature may authorize trial by a jury of less number than twelve men in courts inferior to the District Court. [2]
Sec. 7. 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 warrant shall issue but upon probably cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized. ”

“ Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and going to and returning from the same, and no elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of election, except in time of war and public danger. ”

“ All State, district, county, precinct and township officers, by the constitution or laws made elective by the people, except school district officers, and municipal officers in cities, villages and towns, shall be elected at a general election to be held as aforesaid. ”

“ The Judge of the Supreme Court having the shortest term to serve, not holding his office by appointment or election to fill a vacancy, shall be the Chief Justice, and as such shall preside at all terms of the Supreme Court ”

“ All persons have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty god according to the dictates of their own consciences. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship against his consent, and no preference shall be given by law to any religious society, nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. ”

“ Every male person of the age of twenty-one years or upward, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in the State six months, and in the county, precinct or ward for the term provided by law, shall be an elector. ”

“ The property of the State counties and municipal corporations, both real and personal, shall be exempt from taxation, and such other property as may be used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural societies, for school, religious, cemetery and charitable purposes, may be exempted from taxation ”

“ Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institution shall be individually responsible and liable to its creditors, over and above the amount of stock by him held, for all its liabilities accruing while he remains such stockholder; and all banking corporations shall publish quarterly statements, under oath, of their assets and liabilities. [19]
ARTICLE XII: STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL INDEBTEDNESS Sec. 1. The state may, to meet casual deficits or failures in the revenues, contract debts never to exceed in the aggregate $100,000 ”

“ All laws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform operation, and the organization, jurisdiction, powers, proceedings and practice of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law and the force and effect of the proceedings, judgments and decrees of such courts severally, shall be uniform. ”

“ County authorities shall never assess taxes the aggregate of which shall exceed $1.50 per $100 valuation, except for the payment of indebtedness existing at the adoption of this constitution, unless authorized by a vote of the people of the county.
Sec. 6. The Legislature may vest the corporate authorities of cities, towns and villages with power to make local improvements by special assessments, or by special taxation of property benefited. ”

“ The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of the State at large, and their terms of office, except of those chosen at the first election, as hereinafter provided, shall be six years. ”

“ No person, after being rejected by the Senate, shall be again nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at request of the Senate, or be appointed to the same office during the recess of the Legislature. ”

“ Any bill may originate to either House of the Legislature, except bills appropriating money, which shall originate only in the House of Representatives, and all bills passed by one House may be amended by the other. ”

“ For all other corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect taxes, but such taxes shall be uniform in respect to persons and property within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same. ”

“ All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for treason and murder, where the proof is evident or the presumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments indicted. ”

“ Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense. ”

“ No such general law shall be passed by the Legislature granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any city, town or incorporated village, without first requiring the consent of a majority of the electors thereof. ”

“ All courts shall be open, and every person, for any injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have a remedy by due course of law, and justice administered without denial or delay. ”

“ At said election the qualified electors shall vote at the usual places of voting, and the said election shall be conducted and the returns thereof made according to the laws now in force regulating general elections, except as herein otherwise provided. ”

“ It shall have original jurisdiction in cases relating to the revenue, civil cases in which the State shall be a party, mandamus, quo warranto, habeas corpus, and such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law.
Sec. 3. At least two terms of the Supreme Court shall be held each year at the seat of government. ”