Texas Almanac, 1949-1950 Page: 50

TEXAS ALMANAC - 1949-1950.

Article I.--(Continded ): Articles 1i and III.
Sec. J5 riqht of Trial by Jury -The right
of trial by Jury shall remain inrelate. nhe
Legislature shall nass such laws as may he
needed to regulate ho uamc. and it, main-
tain is purity d efficiency Provided. that
the Lgislature may provide for the tem-
eorary coamttmont, for observation and/or
treatment, if metally il] persons not
charged with R rimlnal offense. for a period
of time not to exceed ninety (90) days. b}
nrder of th Count Court without the neces-
s ity of o'tal by il y.
[Note. -ihe .riinal Se 15 of Art I ne
amended to add the last seatere Submitted by
the Forty-Fourth Legslature (19 ), adopted in an
electir Aug ?4, 1915.1
Sec. 16 Tnere Shaill Be No Bill of Attain
der or Ex Post Facto Laws.-No hill c
attainder o ex post facto law, retroactivr
law. o, any other la impairing the obliga
tlion of contracts, shall be made.
Sec. 17. Privileges and Franchises: Eminent
Domain.-No person s property shall be
taken damaged r destroyed for or applied
to public use without adequate compensation
being made, unless by the consent of sn h
person; ared, when taken, except f the use
of the State such compensation shall be first
made o- secui ed ce a deposit of money, and
no irrevocable or uncontrollable grant of spe-
cial privileges or immunities shall be made,
but all privlkges athd franchises granted by
the Legislature. or created under its author-
ity, shall be subject to the control thereof.
Sec. 18. No imprisonment for Debt.-No
person shall e er be imprisoned for debt.
Sec. 19. ue Course of Law.-No citizen of
this state shall he deprived of life, liberty.
property, privileges or immunities, or in any
manner disfranchised except by the due
course of the la%% of the land.
Sec. 20 No Outlawry or Deportations.-No
citizen shall be outlawed nr shall any per-
-on be transported out of the State for any
offense committed within the same.
Sec. 21. Corruption of Blood, Forfeiture;
Suicide.-No conction shall work corruption
of blood or forfeiture of estate, and the es-
tates of those ho destroy their own lives
shall descend or vest as In the case of nat-
ural death.
Se., 2"2. Treason.-Treason against the State
shall consist only in levying war against it.
nr adhering to its enemies, giving them aid
and comfort, and no person shall be convict-
ed of treason except on the testimony of two
witnesses to the same overt act, or on con-
fession in open court.
Sec 23 Right to Bear Arms.-Every citi-
zen shall have the right to keep and bear
arms in the lawful defense of himself or the
state: but the Legislatuie shall nate power.
by law, to regulate the tearing of arms,
with a view to pre ent crime.
Sec. 24. Military Subordinate to Civil Au.
thority.-ThE military shall at all times be
subordinate to the civil authority.
Sec. 25. Quartering soldiers.-No soldier
shall in time of peace be quartered in the
house of any citizen without the consent of
the owner, nor in time of war but, in a man-
ner prescribed by law.
Sec. 26. Perpetuities; Monopolies; Primo-
geniture; Entailments.-Perpetuities and mo-
nopolies are contrary to the genius of a free
government, and shall nexer he a]1o%%ed. nor

shall the law of primogeniture or entailments
ever be in force in this state.
Sec. 27. Right of Petition Guaranteed.-The
citizens shall have the right. In a peaceable
manner. to assemble together for their com-
mon good and apply to those invested with
the powers of government for redress of
grievances or other purposes, by petition,
address or remonstrance.
Sec. 28. Power to Suspend Laws.-No
power of suspending laws in this State shall
be exercised except by the Legislature.
Sec 29. "Bill of Rights" Inviolate.-To
guard against transgressions of the high
powers herein delegated, we declare that
everything in this 'Bill of Rights" is ex-
cepted out of the general powers of govern-
ment,. and shall forever remain inviolate, and
all laws contrary thereto, or to the following
provisions, shall be void.
ARTICLE II.-THE POWERS OF
GOVERNMENT,
Sec. 1. Departments of Government to Be
Kept Distinct.-The powers of the govern-
ment of the State of Texas shall be divided
into three distinct departments, each of
which shall be confided to a separate body
of magistracy, to wit: Those which are leg-
islative to one, those which are executive to
another, and those which are ludclal to
another; and no person, or collection of per-
sons, being of one of these departments.
shall exercise any power properly attached
to either of the others, except in the in-
stances herein expressly per mitted.
ARTICLE III.-LEGISLATIVE
DEPARTMENT.
Sec. 1 The Legislature: House and Senate.
-The legislative power of this State shall be
vested in a Senate and 'ouse of Representa-
tives. which together snail be styled "The
Legislature of the State of Texas."
See. 2. Number of Members Limited.-The
Senate shall consist of thirty-one members,
and shall never be increased above this num-
ber. The House of Representatives shall con-
sist of ninety-three members until the first
apportionment after the adoption of this
Constitution, when or at any apportionment
thereafter the number of Representatives
may be increased by the Legislature, upon
the ratio of not more thin one Representa-
tive for every 15.000 inhabitants; provided,
the number of Representatives shall never
exceed 150.
Sec. 3. Election of Senators; New Appor.
tionment.-The Senators shall be chosen by
the qualified electors for the term of four
years, but a new Senate shall be chosen
after every apportionment, and the Senators
elected after each apportionment shall be
divided by lot into two classes. The seats of
the Senators of the first class shall be va-
cated at the expiration of the first two years,
and those of the second class at the expira-
tion of four years, so that one half of the
Senators shall be chosen biennially there-
after.
Sec. 4. Election of Representatives: Term
of Office.-The members of the House of
Representatives shall be chosen by the quali-
fied electors, and their term of office shall
be two years from the day of their election.
Sec. 5. Time of Meeting; Method of Pro-
cedure.-The Legislature shall meet every
two years at such time as may be provided
by law and at other times when convened
by the Governor. When convened in regular
session, the first thirty days thereof shall be
devoted to the introduction of bills and res-
olutions, acting upon emergency appropria-