The Arizona Constitution is the governing document and framework for the State of Arizona. The current constitution is the first and only adopted by the state of Arizona. Constitution of the United States, markedly faded as it appears today. ... It has been suggested that Arizona Governors Mansion be merged into this article or section. ...

History

The Arizona Territory was authorized to hold a constitutional convention in 1910 to at which the constitution was drafted and submitted to Congress. The original constitution was approved by Congress, however subsequently vetoed by President William H. Taft on his objections concerning the recalling of judges. The constitution was amended by the constitutional convention removing the recalling of judges and resubmitted upon which President Taft approved Arizona's statehood as the 48th state on February 14, 1912.^[1] Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... ... William Howard Taft I (September 15, 1857–March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913), and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921 - 1930). ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Fairly quickly after becoming a state, the state legislature approved a constitutional amendment which restored the ability to recall judges, which was approved in the 1912 general election.^[1] State legislatures are the lawmaking bodies of the 50 states in the United States of America. ... A constitutional amendment is an alteration to the constitution of a nation or a state. ...

Summary

The Arizona Constitution is divided into 28 articles, numbered 1-6, 6.1, 7-22, and 25-29, with articles 23 and 24 having been repealed.

• Article 1 declares the boundaries of the state in great detail.
• Article 2 titled the Declaration of Rights and is the state's equivalent of the Bill of Rights.
• Article 3 declares the state government shall be divided into three distinct divisions, the legislative, executive and judicial.
• Article 4 establishes the legislature and the people through initiative as legislative authority for the state and outlines the qualifications for state House of Representatives and Senate and the division of districts (30 districts to elect 1 senator and 2 representatives).
• Article 5 outlines the qualifications for Governor and other Executive branch officials and to their duties.
• Article 6 frames the court system including the Supreme Court and superior court and qualifications for judges.
• Article 6.1 creates a Commission on Judicial Conduct to oversee the judicial system.
• Article 7 deals with suffrage and elections.
• Article 8 provides the method of removal from office for all elected officials including judges, legislators and executive officials either through impeachment or recall.
• Article 9 provides taxation powers to the legislature and limits the amount of debt for the state's political divisions.
• Article 10 concerns the usage of state and school lands.
• Article 11 concerns education in the state and that all public schools be free. Establishes Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction.
• Article 12 deals with the counties of the state.
• Article 13 deals with cities, towns and other municipal corporations.
• Article 14 deals with general corporations.
• Article 15 establishes the Corporation Commission to regulate corporations as well as the rates of public utilities.
• Article 16 concerns the militia and national guard.
• Article 17 declares the common law riparian system of water rights void and reconfirms preexisting appropriated water rights.
• Article 18, as well as Article 25, concerns labor, regulating child labor, defining a work day to be 8 hours and declaring Arizona a right to work state.
• Article 19 creates the office of State Mine inspector and the inspection of mines operating in the state.
• Article 20 concern specific topics that while normally outside of Congress' subject jurisdiction, are controlled by Congress. This includes the right to religious freedom, banning of polygamy, public and Indian lands, banning importation of intoxicating liquors onto Indian reserves until 1957, state officials required to speak, read and write English, among other things. These section can only be repealed with the approval of Congress.
• Article 21 outlines the mode of amending the Constitution.
• Article 22 deals with scheduling and miscellaneous topics.
• Article 23 and 24 both concerned prohibition and were repealed in 1932.
• Article 26, 27, and 29 are short articles dealing with real estate agents, the regulation of ambulances, and public retirement systems.
• Article 28 concerns English as the official language.

This article is about the general concept of a bill of rights. ... The Arizona State Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Arizona. ... The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Arizona. ... In political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizens initiative) provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance. ... The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower legislative body for the State of Arizona. ... The debating chamber of the Arizona Senate The Arizona Senate is the upper house for the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. ... Are you kidding?, this is solid truth here, nothing escapes the eyes of Gov!!!, not even. ... The executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law and running the day-to-day affairs of the government or state. ... The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Arizona. ... In law, and more specifically, in the Anglo-American common law legal tradition, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over all, or major, civil and criminal cases. ... Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, in 1868. ... The term recall has a number of meanings: Product recall A recall election Recall to employment after a layoff Recall from memory. ... A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors of a local school district. ... List of the 15 counties in the U.S. state of Arizona: Arizona county map Apache County formed in 1879 from part of Yavapai County. ... Lexington Minuteman representing militia minuteman John Parker A militia is the activity of one or more citizens organized to provide defense or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... National Guard may refer to: A military force: Cypriot National Guard United States National Guard National Guard (France), active during the French Revolution Saudi Arabian National Guard A part of the Military of Kuwait Iraqi National Guard A part of the Military of Venezuela Portuguese Republican National Guard National Guard... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Riparian water rights is a system of allocating water among the property owners who abut its source. ... Water Rights refers to a legal system for allocating water from a water source to water users. ... Prior appropriation water rights, sometimes known as the Colorado Doctrine, is a system of allocating water from a water source that is markedly different from Riparian water rights. ... Child labor (or child labour) is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. ... ... It has been suggested that Religious toleration be merged into this article or section. ... The term polygamy (many marriages in late Greek) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology and sociology. ... The term Prohibition, also known as Dry Law, refers to a law in a certain country by which the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...

Oddities

Two sections in the Constitution are duplicated, having resulted from three constitutional amendments being approved in 1992 (Propositions 100, 101 and 107 all amending term limits with Proposition 107 creating a second version in both sections).

• Article 5, Section 1: [1] and [2]
• Article 19, Section 1: [3] and [4]

Further reading

McClory, T. Understanding the Arizona Constitution, The University of Arizona Press, 2001 ISBN 978-0-8165-2096-1

External links

• Arizona State Legislature - Arizona Constitution

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Record - The Road to Statehood Accessed November 6, 2006