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Sec. 27. Property rights of aliens.-Aliens, who are or may hereafter become bona fide residents of this state, may acquire, inherit, possess, enjoy and dispose of property, real and personal, as native born citizens.

Sec. 28. Rights reserved not disparaged.-The enumeration in this constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny, impair or disparage others retained by the people.

ARTICLE III.-DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

Three departments-separate powers.-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 charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except as in this constitution expressly directed or permitted.

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Section 1.

Officers-Terms of office-Residence.-The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, state treasurer, attorney-general and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of two years, beginning on the second Tuesday of January next after his election; Provided, That the terms of office of those chosen at the first election held under this constitution shall begin on the day appointed for the first meeting of the general assembly. The officers of the executive department, except the lieutenant-govrnor, shall, during their term of office, reside at the seat of government, where they shall keep the public records, books and papers. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by this constitution or by law.

Sec. 2. Governor supreme executive.-The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in the governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

Sec. 3. State officers-Election-Returns.-The officers named in section one of this article shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the qualified electors of the state. The returns of every election for said officers shall be sealed up and transmitted to the secre tary of state, directed to the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall immediately, upon the organization of the house, and before proceding to other business, open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of the members of both houses of the general assembly, who shall for that purpose assemble in the house of representatives. The person having the highest number of votes for either of said offices shall be declared duly elected, but if two or more have an equal and the highest number of votes for the same office, one of them shall be chosen thereto by the two houses, on joint ballot. Contested elections for the said offices shall be determined by the two houses, on joint ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

Sec. 4. Qualification of state officers.-No person shall be eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant-governor, or superintendent of public instruction unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, nor to the office of auditor of state, secretary of state or state treasurer, unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, nor to the office of attorney-general unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a licensed attorney of the supreme court of the state or of the territory of Colorado in good standing. At the first election under this constitution any person being a qualified elector at the time of the adoption of this constitution, and having the qualifications above herein prescribed for any one of said offices shall be eligible thereto; but thereafter no person shall be eligible to any one of said offices unless, in addition to the qualifications above prescribed therefor, he shall be a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided within the limits of the state two years next preceding his election.

Sec. 5. Governor commander-in-chief of militia.-The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military forces of the state, except when they shall be called into the actual service of the United States. He shall have power to call out the mllitia to execute the laws, suppress insurrection or repel invasion.

Sec. 6. Appointment of officers-Vacancy.—The governor shall nominate, and by and with the consent of the senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this constitution, or which may be created by law, and whose appointment or election is not otherwise provided for, and may remove any such officer for incompetency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. If during the recess of the senate a vacancy occur in

any such office, the governor shall appoint some fit person to discharge the duties thereof until the next meeting of the senate, when he shall nominate some person to fill such office. If the office of auditor of state, state . treasurer, secretary of state, attorney-general or superintendent of public instruction shall be vacated by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the governor to fill the same by appointment, and the appointee shall hold his office until his successor shall be elected and qualified in such manner as may be provided by law. The senate in deliberating upon executive nominations may sit with closed doors, but in acting upon nominations they shall sit with open doors, and the vote shall be taken by ayes and noes, which shall be entered upon the journal.

Sec. 7. Governor may grant reprieves and pardons.-The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason, and except in case of impeachment, subject to such regulations a smay be prescribed by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons, but he shall in every case where he may exercise this power, send to the general assembly at its first session thereafter, a transcript of the petition, all proceedings, and the reasons for his action.

Sec. 8. Governor may require information from officers-Message.The governor may require information in writing from the officers of the executive department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, which information shall be given upon oath whenever so required; he may also require information inwriting at any time, under oath, from all officers and managers of state institutions, upon any subject relating to the condition, management and expense of their respective offices and institutions. The governor shall, at the commencement of each session, and from time to time, by message, give to the general assembly information of the condition of the state, and shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. He shall also send to the general assembly a statement, with vouchers, of the expenditures of all moneys belonging to the state and paid out by him. He shall, also, at the commencement of each session, present estimates of the amount of money required to be raised by taxation for all purposes of the state.

Sec. 9. Governor may convene legislature or senate.—The governor may, on extraordinary occasions convene the general assembly, by proclamation, stating therein the purpose for which it is to assemble; but at such special session no business shall be transacted other than that specially named in the proclamation. He may, by proclamation, convene the senate in extraordinary session for the transaction of executive business.

Sec. 10. Governor may adjourn legislature. The governor, in a case of a disagreement between the two houses as to the time of adjournment, may upon the same being certified to him by the house last moving adjournment, adjourn the general assembly to a day not later than the first day of the next regular session.

Sec. 11. Bills presented to governor-Veto-Return.-Every bill passed by the general assembly shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor. If he approves he shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law, but if he do not approve, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which house shall enter the objections at large upon its journal and proceed to reconsider the bill. If then two-thirds of the members elected agree to pass the same, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members elected to that house, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. In all cases the vote of each house shall be determined by ayes and noes, to be entered upon the journal. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the general assembly shall by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall be filed with his objections, in the office of the secretary of state, within thirty days after such adjournment, or else become a law.

Sec. 12. Governor may veto items in appropriation bills-Reconsideration. The governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or items of any bill making appropriations of money, embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved shall be law, and the item or items disapproved shall be void, unless enacted in manner following: If the general assembly be in session, he shall transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of the item or items thereof disapproved, together with his objections thereto, and the items objected to shall be seperately reconsidered, and each item shall then take the same cours as is prescribed for the passage of bills over the executive veto.

Sec. 13. When lieutenant-governor acts as governor.-In case of the death, impeachment or conviction of felony or infamous misdemeanor, failure to qualify, resignation, absence from the state or other disability of the governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office, for the residue of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall devolve upon the lieutenant-governor.

Sec. 14. Lieutenant-governor president of senate.-President pro tem. -The lieutenant-governor shall be president of the senate, and shall vote only when the senate is equally divided. In case of the absence, impeachment or disqualification from any cause of the lieutenant-governor, or when he shall hold the office of governor, then the president pro tempore of the senate shall perform the duties of the lieutenant-govrnor, until the vacancy is filled or the disability removed.

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Sec. 15. No lieutenant-governor-Who to act as governor.-In case of the failure to qualify in his office, death, resignation, absence from the state, impeachment, conviction of felony or infamous misdemeanor, or dis

qualification from any cause, of both the governor and lieutenant-governor, the duties of the governor shall devolve on the president of the senate, pro tempore, until such disqualification of either the governor or lieutenantgovernor be romoved, or the vacancy be filled, and if the president of the senate, for any of the above named causes, shall become incapable of performing the duties of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house.

Sec. 16. Account and report of moneys.-An account shall be kept by the offices of the executive department and of all public institutions of the state, of all moneys received by them severally from all sources, and for every service performed, and of all moneys disbused by them severally, and a semi-annual report thereof shall be made to the governor, under oath.

Sec. 17. Executive officers make report. The officers of the executive department and of all public institutions of the state, shall, at least twenty days preceding each regular session of the general assembly, make full and complete reports of their actions to the governor, who shall transmit the same to the general assembly.

Sec. 18. State Seal.-There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be kept by the secretary of state, and shall be called the "Great Seal of the State of Colorado." The seal of the territory of Colorado, as now used, shall be the seal of the state, until otherwise provided by law.

Sec. 19. Salaries of officers-Fees paid into treasury. The officers named in section one of this article shall receive for their services a salary to be established by law, which shall not be increased or diminished during their official terms. It shall be the duty of all such officers to collect in advance all fees prescribed by law for services rendered by them severally, and pay the same into the state treasury.

Sec. 20. State librarian.-The superintendent of public instruction shall be ex-officio state librarian.

Sec. 21. Auditor and treasurer ineligible to re-election.-Neither the state treasurer nor state auditor shall be eligible for re-election as his own immediate successor.

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