Amendments, Ninth General Assembly, 1858:

State Officers (Article VI, Section 8)

Banks (Article XIII, Section 7)

Annual Sessions (Article VI, Sections 2, 3, 5, 6)

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AMENDMENTS PROPOSED

to the

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE,

Adopted by Ninth General Assembly.

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AN ACT to amend the 8th section [Section 8] of the 6th article [Article VI] of the Constitution of the State of Florida.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Florida in General Assembly convened, That the 8th section [Section 8] of the 6th article [Article VI] of the Constitution of this State shall not hereafter be so construed as to render any Justice of the Supreme Court, Chancellor or Judge of this State, ineligible to either of the offices of the Justice of the Supreme Court, Chancellor or Judge of this State, upon the ground that the same is another and different office, station or post of honor and emolument.

[Ninth General Assembly. -- Passed the Senate by the constitutional majority January 8, 1859. Passed the House of Representatives by the constitutional majority January 12, 1858*.]

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AN ACT to amend the 7th section [Section 7] of the 13th article [Article XIII] of the Constitution of this State.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Florida in General Assembly convened, That the 7th section [Section 7] of the 13th article [Article XIII] of the Constitution of this State be so amended as to read, all liabilities of such Banks shall be payable in specie, and the aggregate of the liabilities and issues of a Bank (exclusive of deposits) shall at no time exceed double the amount of its capital stock paid in.

[Ninth General Assembly. -- Passed the Senate by the constitutional majority January 4, 1859. Passed the House of Representatives by the constitutional majority January 10, 1858*.]

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AN ACT to amend the amended Constitution of the State of Florida in relation to the sessions of the General Assembly [Article VI, Sections 2, 3, 5, 6].

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Florida in General Assembly convened, That the members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by the qualified voters, and shall serve for the term of two years from and after the day of the first election under the amended Constitution and no longer; and the sessions of the General Assembly shall be annual, and commence on the 3d Monday of November in each year, or at such other times as may be prescribed by law.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, That the Representatives shall be chosen on the first Monday in October in each and every second year from and after the first election under the amended Constitution, or on such other day as may be directed by law.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That the Senators shall be chosen by the qualified electors for the term of four years at the same time, in the same manner, and in the same places where they vote for members of the House of Representatives, and no person shall be a Senator unless he be a white man, a citizen of the United States, and shall have been an inhabitant of this State for two years next preceding his election, and the last year thereof a resident of the district or county for which he shall be chosen, and shall have attained the age of twenty-five years.

Section 4. Be it further enacted, That the classification of Senators made at the first session of the General Assembly , held in the year 1845, shall continue unchanged, one-half of whom, as nearly as possible, shall be chosen forever hereafter biennially for the term of four years: Provided, however, and it is hereby declared, that the term of office of that class of Senators unexpired at the first election under the amended Constitution, shall extend to and expire on the first Monday in October, eighteen hundred and sixty-two.

Section 5. Be it further enacted, That the first election for Assemblymen under this Constitution shall take place on the first Monday in October, eighteen hundred and sixty, and the first session of the General Assembly under this amended Constitution shall commence on the third Monday in November in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one.

Section 6. Be it further enacted, That the sessions of the General Assembly shall not extend over thirty days in duration, unless a constitutional majority of the members shall deem it expedient. No member shall receive pay from the State for his services after the expiration of thirty days continuously from the commencement of the session.

Section 7. Be it further enacted, That the act entitled an act to amend the Constitution of this State so as to make the sessions of the General Assembly biennial instead of annual, be and the same is hereby abrogated and annulled, so far as the same is inconsistent with the provisions of this act.

[Passed the House of Representatives by the Constitutional majority, January 15, 1859. Passed the Senate by the Constitutional majority, January 15, 1859.]