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	CONSTITUTION OF NEBRASKA	55

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA OF 1875

As Amended and in Force, November 1, 1966

     In the following pages, where practicable, the changes made since 1920 are indicated in boldface type.

     PREAMBLE. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, do ordain and establish the following declaration of rights and frame of government, as the Constitution of the State of Nebraska.

     Section 1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, and the protection of property, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

     Sec. 2. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

     Sec. 3. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

     Sec. 4. 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. No religious test shall be required as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious beliefs; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.

     Sec. 5. 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.

     Sec. 6. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, but the Legislature may authorize trial by a jury of a less number than twelve in courts inferior to the District Court, and may by general law authorize a verdict in civil cases in any court by not less than five-sixths of the jury.

     Sec. 7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not

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be violated; and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.

     Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires it, and then only in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

     Sec. 9. 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 punishment inflicted.

     Sec. 10. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense, except in cases in which the punishment is by fine, or imprisonment otherwise than in the penitentiary, in case of impeachment, and in cases arising in the army and navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; Provided, That the Legislature may by law provide for holding persons to answer for criminal offenses on information of a publie prosecutor; and may by law, abolish, limit, change, amend, or otherwise regulate the grand jury system.

     Sec. 11. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to appear and defend in person or by counsel, to demand the nature and cause of accusation, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses against him face to face; to have process to compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf; and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.

     Sec. 12. No person shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to give evidence against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.

     Sec. 13. 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.

     Sec. 14. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against the state, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

     Sec. 15. All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the offense, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate; nor shall any person be transported out of the state for any offense committed within the state.

     Sec. 16. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or making any irrevocable grant of special privileges or immunities shall be passed.

     Sec. 17. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

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     Sec. 18. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war except in the manner prescribed by law.

     Sec. 19. The right of the people peaceably to assemble to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.

     Sec. 20. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action or mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud.

     Sec. 21. The property of no person shall be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation therefor.

     Sec. 22. All elections shall be free; and there shall be no hindrance or impediment to the right of a qualified voter to exercise the elective franchise.

     Sec. 23. The writ of error shall be a writ of right in all cases of felony; and in capital cases shall operate as a supersedeas to stay the execution of the sentence of death, until the further order of the Supreme Court in the premises.

     Sec. 24. The right to be heard in all civil cases in the court of last resort, by appeal, error, or otherwise, shall not be denied.

     Sec. 25. There shall be no discrimination between citizens of the United States in respect to the acquisition, ownership, possession, enjoyment or descent of property. The right of aliens in respect to the acquisition, enjoyment and descent of property may be regulated by law.

     Sec. 26. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others, retained by the people, and all powers not herein delegated, remain with the people.

     Sec. 27. The English language is hereby declared to be the official language of this state, and all official proceedings, records and publications shall be in such language, and the common school branches shall be taught in said language in public, private, denominational and parochial schools.

     Sec. 1. The powers of the government of this state are divided into three distinct departments, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial, and no person or collection of persons being one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except as hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

     Sec. 1. ¹Commencing with the regular session of the Legislature to be held in January, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, the legislative authority of the state shall be vested in a Legislature consisting of one

     ¹ Section was rewritten in the amendment which provided for the Unicameral Legislature, adopted November 6, 1934.

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chamber. The people reserve for themselves, however, the power to propose laws, and amendments to the Constitution, and to enact or reject the same at the polls, independent of the Legislature, and also reserve power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any act passed by the Legislature. All authority vested by the Constitution or laws of the state in the Senate, House of Representatives, or joint session thereof, in so far as applicable, shall be and hereby is vested in said Legislature of one chamber. All provisions in the Constitution and laws of the state relating to the Legislature, the Senate, the House of Representatives, joint sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives, Senator, or member of the House of Representatives, shall, in so far as said provisions are applicable, apply to and mean said Legislature of one chamber hereby created and the members thereof. All references to Clerk of House of Representatives or Secretary of Senate shall mean, when applicable, the Clerk of the Legislature of one chamber. All references to Speaker of the House of Representatives or temporary president of the Senate shall mean Speaker of the Legislature. Wherever any provision of the Constitution requires submission of any matter to, or action by. the House of Representatives, the Senate, or joint session thereof, or the members of either body or both bodies, it shall after January first, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, be construed to mean the Legislature herein provided for.

     Sec. 2. The first power reserved by the people is the initiative whereby laws may be enacted and constitutional amendments adopted by the people independently of the Legislature. This power may be invoked by petition wherein the proposed measure shall be set forth at length. If the petition be for the enactment of a law, it shall be signed by seven per cent of the electors of the state and if the petition be for the amendment of the Constitution, the petition therefor shall be signed by ten per cent of such electors. In all cases the electors signing such petition shall be so distributed as to include five per cent of the electors of each of two-fifths of the counties of the state and when thus signed the petition shall be filed with the Secretary of State, who shall submit the measure thus proposed to the electors of the state at the first general election held not less than four months after such petition shall have been filed. The same measure, either in form or in essential substance, shall not be submitted to the people by initiative petition, either affirmatively or negatively, oftener than once in three years. If conflicting measures submitted to the people at the same election be approved, the one receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall thereby become law as to all conflicting provisions. The constitutional limitations as to the scope and subject matter of statutes enacted by the Legislature shall apply to those enacted by the initiative.

     Sec. 3. The second power reserved is the referendum which may be invoked, by petition, against any act or part of an act of the Legislature, except those making appropriations for the expense of the state government or a state institution existing at the time of the passage of such act.

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Petitions invoking the referendum shall be signed by not less than five per cent of the electors of the state, distributed as required for initiative petitions, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State within ninety days after the Legislature at which the act sought to be referred was passed shall have adjourned sine die or for more than ninety days. Such petition shall set out the title of the act against which the referendum is invoked, and in addition thereto, when only a portion of the act is sought to be referred, the number of the section or sections or portion of sections of the act designating such portion. When the referendum is thus invoked, the Secretary of State shall refer the same to the electors for approval or rejection at the first general election to he held not less than thirty days after the filing of such petition.

     When the referendum is invoked, as to any act or part of act, other than emergency acts or those for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, by petition signed by not less than ten per cent of the electors of the state, distributed as aforesaid, it shall suspend the taking effect of such act or part of act until the same has been approved by the electors of the state.

     Sec. 4. The whole number of votes east for Governor at the general election next preceding the filing of an initiative or referendum petition shall be the basis on which the number of signatures to such petition shall be computed. The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to measures initiated by or referred to the people. A measure initiated shall become a law or part of the Constitution, as the ease may be, when a majority of the votes cast thereon, and not less than thirty-five per cent of the total vote cast at the election at which the same was submitted, are cast in favor thereof, and shall take effect upon proclamation by the Governor which shall be made within ten days after the official canvass of such votes. The vote upon initiative and referendum measures shall be returned and canvassed in the manner prescribed for the canvass of votes for president. The method of submitting and adopting amendments to the Constitution provided by this section shall be supplementary to the method prescribed in the article of this Constitution, entitled, "Amendments" and the latter shall in no case be construed to conflict herewith. The provisions with respect to the initiative and referendum shall be self-executing, but legislation may be enacted to facilitate their operation. All propositions submitted in pursuance hereof shall be submitted in a nonpartisan manner and without any indication or suggestion on the ballot that they have been approved or endorsed by any political party or organization. Only the title or proper descriptive words of measures shall be printed on the ballot and when two or more measures have the same title they shall be numbered consecutively in the order of filing with the Secretary of State and the number shall be followed by the name of the first petitioner on the corresponding petition.

     Sec. 5. ¹At the regular session of the Legislature held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-five the Legislature shall by law determine

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the number of members to be elected and divide the state into legislative districts. In the creation of such districts, any county that contains population sufficient to entitle it to two or more members of the Legislature shall be divided into separate and distinct legislative districts, as nearly equal in population as may be and composed of contiguous and compact territory. After the creation of such districts, beginning in nineteen hundred and thirty-six and every two years thereafter, one member of the Legislature shall be elected from each such district. The basis of apportionment shall be the population excluding aliens, as shown by next preceding federal census. ²The Legislature may redistrict the state from time to time, not more often than once in ten years. In any such redistricting, county lines shall be followed whenever practicable, but other established lines may be followed at the discretion of the Legislature. In such redistricting, primary emphasis shall be placed on population and not less than twenty per cent nor more than thirty per cent weight shall be given to area.

     Sec. 6. ¹The Legislature shall consist of not more than fifty members and not less than thirty members. The sessions of the Legislature shall be biennial except as otherwise provided by this Constitution or as may be otherwise provided by law.

     Sec. 7. ³At the general election to be held in November, 1964, one half the members of the Legislature, or as nearly thereto as may be practicable, shall be elected for a term of four years, and the remainder for a term of two years, and thereafter all members shall be elected for a term of four years, with the manner of such election to be determined by the Legislature. ¹Each member shall be nominated and elected in a nonpartisan manner and without any indication on the ballot that he is affiliated with or endorsed by any political party or organization. ⁴Each member of the Legislature shall receive a salary of not to exceed two hundred dollars per month during the term of his office. In addition to his salary. each member shall receive an amount equal to his actual expenses in traveling by the most usual route once to and returning from each regular or special session of the Legislature. Members of the Legislature shall receive no pay nor perquisites other than said salary and expenses. and employees of the Legislature shall receive no compensation other than their salary or per diem.

     Sec. 8. No person shall be eligible to the office of Senator, or member of the House of Representatives, who shall not be an elector and have resided within the district from which he is elected for the term of one year next before his election, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this state. And no person

     ¹ See footnote 1, page 57.
     ² Amendment adopted November 6. 1962, provided for reapportionment of legislative districts.
     ³ Amendment adopted November 6, 1962, provided for four year term for one half of the members of the Legislature.
     ⁴ Amendment adopted November 6, 1960. provided for an increase in Legislator' salaries.

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elected as aforesaid shall hold his office after he shall have removed from such district.

     Sec. 9. No person holding office under the authority of the United States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this state, shall be eligible to, or have a seat in the Legislature, but this provision shall not extend to precinct or township offices, justices of the peace, notaries public, or officers of the militia, nor shall any person interested in a contract with, or an unadjusted claim, against the state hold a seat in the Legislature.

     Sec. 10. ¹The Legislature shall meet in regular session at 12:00 O'clock (noon) on the first Tuesday in January in the year next ensuing the election of the members thereof. The Lieutenant Governor shall preside, but shall vote only when the Legislature is equally divided. A majority of the members elected to the Legislature shall constitute a quorum: the Legislature shall determine the rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the election, returns, and qualifications of its members, shall choose its own officers, including a Speaker to preside when the Lieutenant Governor shall be absent, incapacitated, or shall act as Governor. No member shall be expelled except by a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to the Legislature, and no member shall be twice expelled for the same offense. The Legislature may punish by imprisonment any person not a member thereof who shall be guilty of disrespect to the Legislature by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence, but no such imprisonment shall extend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless the person shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous behavior.

     Sec. 11. ¹The Legislature shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish them (except such parts as may require secrecy) and the yeas and nays of the members on any question, shall at the desire of any one of them be entered on the journal. All votes shall be viva voce. The doors of the Legislature and of the Committees of the Whole, shall be open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret.

     Sec. 12. ⁵Repealed, November 6, 1934.

     Sec. 13. The style of all bills shall be, "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska," and no law shall be enacted except by bill. No bill shall be passed by the Legislature unless by the assent of a majority of all members elected to each House of the Legislature, and the question upon final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last reading and the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal. No amendment to any bill by one House shall be concurred in by the other nor shall the report of any conference committee as to any bill be adopted by either House except by the assent of the same number of members as is required for the passage of the original bill taken by yeas and nays entered upon the journal.

     ¹ See footnote 1, page 57.
     ⁵ Repealed by the amendment which provided for the Unicameral Legislature, November 6, 1934,

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     Sec. 14. ¹Every bill and resolution shall be read by title when introduced, and a printed copy thereof provided for the use of each member, and the hill and all amendments thereto shall be printed and read at large before the vote is taken upon its final passage. No such vote upon the final passage of any bill shall be taken, however, until five legislative days after its introduction nor until it has been on file for final reading and passage for at least one legislative day. No bill shall contain more than one subject, and the same shall be clearly expressed in the title. And no law shall be amended unless the new act contain the section or sections as amended and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed. The Lieutenant Governor, or the Speaker if acting as presiding officer, shall sign, in the presence of the Legislature while the same is in session and capable of transacting business, all bills and resolutions passed by the Legislature.

     Sec. 15. Members of the Legislature in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination thereof.

     Sec. 16. No person elected or appointed to the Legislature shall receive any civil appointment to a state office during the term for which he has been elected or appointed, and all such appointments 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 or any county or municipality thereof, authorized by any law enacted during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed, or within one year after the expiration of such term.

     Sec. 17. The Senate and House of Representatives in joint convention shall have the sole power of impeachment, but a majority of the members elected must concur therein. Upon the entertainment of a resolution to impeach by either House the other House shall at once be notified thereof and the two Houses shall meet in joint convention for the purpose of acting upon such resolution within three days of such notification. A notice of an impeachment of any officer, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall be forthwith served upon the Chief Justice, by the Secretary of the Senate, who shall thereupon call a session of the Supreme Court to meet at the Capitol within ten days after such notice to try the impeachment. A notice of an impeachment of a Justice of the Supreme Court shall be served by the Secretary of the Senate, upon the Judge of the judicial district within which the Capitol is located, and he thereupon shall notify all the Judges of the District Court in the state to meet with him within thirty days at the Capitol, to sit as a Court to try such impeachment, which Court shall organize by electing one of its number to preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the Court of impeachment, but judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold

     ¹ See footnote 1, page 57,

\

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and enjoy any office of honor, profit, or trust, in this state, but the party impeached, whether convicted or acquitted shall nevertheless be liable to prosecution and punishment according to law. No officer shall exercise his official duties after he shall have been impeached and notified thereof, until he shall have been acquitted.

     Sec. 18. The Legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following cases, that is to say:

     For granting divorces.

     Changing the names of persons or places.

     Laying out, opening, altering and working roads or highways.

     Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public grounds.

     Locating or changing County seats.

     Regulating County and Township offices.

     Regulating the practice of Courts of Justice.

     Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of Justices of the Peace, Police Magistrates and Constables.

     Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases.

     Incorporating Cities, Towns and Villages, or changing or amending the charter of any Town, City, or Village.

     Providing for the election of officers in Townships, incorporated Towns or Cities.

     Summoning or empaneling Grand or Petit Juries.

     Providing for the bonding of cities, towns, precincts, school districts or other municipalities.

     Providing for the management of Public Schools.

     The opening and conducting of any election, or designating the place of voting.

     The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors, or others under disability.

     The protection of game or fish.

     Chartering or licensing ferries, or toll bridges, remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures, creating, increasing and decreasing fees, percentage or allowances of public officers, during the term for which said officers are elected or appointed.

     Changing the law of descent.

     Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, the right to lay down railroad tracks, or amending existing charters for such purpose.

     Granting to any corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive privileges, immunity, or franchise whatever; ⁶Provided, that notwithstanding any other provisions of this Constitution, the Legisla-

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