Article 19, Arkansas Constitution

Arkansas Constitution
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Article 19 of the Arkansas Constitution is entitled Miscellaneous Provisions. It is numbered in Sections 1-27, although some of the sections are no longer operative, having been repealed.

Section 1

	Text of Section 1: Atheists Disqualified from Holding Office or Testifying as Witness No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court.

Section 2

	Text of Section 2: Dueling No person who may hereafter fight a duel, assist in the same as second, or send, accept, or knowingly carry a challenge therefore, shall hold any office in the State, for a period of ten years; and may be otherwise punished as the law may prescribe.

Section 3

	Text of Section 3: Elected or Appointed Officers - Qualifications of an Elector Required No persons shall be elected to, or appointed to fill a vacancy in, any office who does not possess the qualifications of an elector.

Section 4

	Text of Section 4: Residence of Officers All civil officers for the State at large shall reside within the State, and all district, county and township officers within their respective districts, counties and townships, and shall keep their offices at such places therein as are now, or may hereafter be required by law.

Section 5

	Text of Section 5: Officers - Holding Over All officers shall continue in office after the expiration of their official terms, until their successors are elected and qualified.

Section 6

	Text of Section 6: Dual Office Holding Prohibited No person shall hold or perform the duties of more than one office in the same department of the government at the same time, except as expressly directed or permitted by this Constitution.

Section 7

	Text of Section 7: Residence - Temporary Absence Not to Forfeit Absence on business of the State, or of the United States, or on a visit, or on necessary private business, shall not cause a forfeiture of residence once obtained.

Section 8

	Text of Section 8: Deduction from Salaries It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to regulate, by law in what cases, and what, deductions from the salaries of public officers shall be made for neglect of duty in their official capacity.

Section 9

	Text of Section 9: Permanent State Offices - Creation Restricted The General Assembly shall have no power to create any permanent State Office, not expressly provided for by this Constitution.

Section 10

	Text of Section 10: Election returns - State Officers Returns for all elections, for officers who are to be commissioned by the Governor, and for members of the General Assembly, except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, shall be made to the Secretary of State.

Section 11

Text of Section 11: Salaries of State Officers - Increase or Decrease During Term Prohibited - Fees The Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney-General, Judges of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Circuit Court, Commissioner of State Lands, and Prosecuting Attorneys, shall each receive a salary to be established by law, which shall not be increased or diminished during their respective terms, nor shall any of them, except the Prosecuting Attorneys, after the adoption of this Constitution, receive to his own use any fees, costs, perquisites of office, or other compensation; and all fees that may hereafter by payable by law, for any service performed by any officer mentioned in this section, except Prosecuting Attorneys, shall be paid in advance into the State Treasury; Provided, That the salaries of the respective officers herein mentioned shall never exceed per annum: For Governor, the sum of $4,000 For Secretary of State, the sum of $2,500 For Treasurer of State, the sum of $3,000 For Auditor of State, the sum of $3,000 For Attorney-General, the sum of $2,500 For Commissioner of State Lands, the sum of $2,500 For the Judges of the Supreme Court, each, the sum of $4,000 For Judges of the Circuit Courts, and Chancellors, each, the sum of $3,000 For Prosecuting Attorneys, the sum of $400 And provided further, That the General Assembly shall provide for no increase of salaries of its members which shall take effect before the meeting of the next General Assembly.

Section 12

	Text of Section 12: Receipts and Expenditures to Be Published An accurate and detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money, the several amounts paid, to whom and on what account, shall, from time to time, be published as may be prescribed by law.

Section 13

[As amended by Const. Amend. 60.]

Text of Section 13: Maximum Lawful Rates of Interest (a) General Loans: (i) The maximum lawful rate of interest on any contract entered into after the effective date hereof shall not exceed five percent (5%) per annum above the Federal Reserve Discount Rate at the time of the contract. (ii) All such contracts having a rate of interest in excess of the maximum lawful rate shall be void as to the unpaid interest. A person who has paid interest in excess of the maximum lawful rate may recover, within the time provided by law, twice the amount of interest paid. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly charge a rate of interest in excess of the maximum lawful rate in effect at the time of the contract, and any person who does so shall be subject to such punishment as may be provided by law. (b) Consumer Loans and Credit Sales: All contracts for consumer loans and credit sales having a greater rate of interest than seventeen percent (17%) per annum shall be void as to principal and interest and the General Assembly shall prohibit the same by law. (c) Definitions: As used herein, the term: (i) "consumer loans and credit sales" means credit extended to a natural person in which the money, property, or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes. (ii) "Federal Reserve Discount Rate" means the Federal Reserve discount Rate on ninety-day commercial paper in effect in the Federal Reserve Bank in the Federal Reserve District in which Arkansas is located. (d) Miscellaneous: (i) The rate of interest for contracts in which no rate of interest is agreed upon shall be six percent (6%) per annum. (ii) The provisions hereof are not intended and shall not be deemed to supersede or otherwise invalidate any provisions of federal law applicable to loans or interest rates including loans secured by residential real property. (iii) The provisions hereof revoke all provisions of State law which establish the maximum rate of interest chargeable in the State or which are otherwise inconsistent herewith.

Amendments

• Constitutional Amendment 60, which was approved in November 1982, Arkansas Issue 2 (2010)

Section 14

	Text of Section 14: Lotteries Prohibited No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed.

Section 15

	Text of Section 15: [Repealed.]

Section 16

	Text of Section 16: Contracts for Public Buildings or Bridges All contracts for erecting or repairing public buildings or bridges in any county, or for materials therefore; or for providing for the care and keeping of paupers, where there are no alms-houses, shall be given to the lowest responsible bidder, under such regulations as may be provided by law.

Section 17

	Text of Section 17: Digest of Laws - Publication The laws of this State, civil and criminal, shall be revised, digested, arranged, published and promulgated at such times and in such manner as the General Assembly may direct.

Section 18

Text of Section 18: Safety of Miners and Travelers The General Assembly, by suitable enactments, shall require such appliances and means to be provided and used as may be necessary to secure, as far as possible, the lives, health and safety of persons employed in mining, and of persons traveling upon railroads, and by other public conveyances, and shall provide for enforcing such enactments by adequate pains and penalties.

Section 19

	Text of Section 19: Deaf and Dumb and Blind and Insane Persons It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the support of institutions for the education of the deaf and dumb, and of the blind; and also for the treatment of the insane.

Section 20

Text of Section 20: Oath of Office Senators and Representatives, and all judicial and executive, State and county officers, and all other officers, both civil and military, before entering on the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath of affirmation: "I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of ________, upon which I am now about to enter."

Section 21

[As amended by Const. Amend. 4.]

Text of Section 21: Sureties on Official Bonds - Qualifications - Bonding Companies The sureties upon the official bonds of all State Officers shall be residents of, and have sufficient property within the State, not exempt from sale under execution, attachment or other process of any court, to make good their bonds and the sureties upon the official bonds of all county officers shall reside within the counties where such officers reside, and shall have sufficient property therein, not exempt from such sale, to make good their bonds; provided, however, that any surety, bonding or guaranty company, organized for the purpose of doing a surety, or bonding business, and authorized to do business, in this State, may become surety on the bonds of all State, County and Municipal Officers under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.

Amendments

• Constitutional Amendment 4, which was approved in November 1900.

Section 22

Text of Section 22: Constitutional Amendments Either branch of the General Assembly, at a regular session thereof, may propose amendments to this Constitution; and if the same be agreed to by a majority of all members elected to each house, such proposed amendments shall be entered on the journals with the yeas and nays, and published in at least one newspaper in each county, where a newspaper is published, for six months immediately preceding the next general election for Senators and Representatives, at which time the same shall be submitted to the electors of the State, for approval or rejection; and if a majority of the electors voting at such election adopt such amendments, the same shall become a part of this Constitution. But no more than three amendments shall be proposed or submitted at the same time. They shall be so submitted as to enable the electors to vote on each amendment separately.

Section 23

	Text of Section 23: [Repealed.]

Section 24

	Text of Section 24: Election contests The General Assembly shall provide by law the mode of contesting elections in cases not specifically provided for in this Constitution.

Section 25

	Text of Section 25: Seal of state The present seal of the State shall be and remain the seal of the State of Arkansas until otherwise provided by law, and shall be kept and used as provided in this Constitution.

Section 26

	Text of Section 26: Officers Eligible to Executive or Judicial Office Militia officers, and officers of the public schools, and Notaries may be elected to fill any executive or judicial office.

Section 27

Text of Section 26: Local Improvements - Municipal Assessments Nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prohibit the General Assembly from authorizing assessments on real property for local improvements, in towns and cities, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; to be based upon the consent of a majority in value of the property-holders owning property adjoining the locality to be affected; but such assessments shall be ad valorem and uniform.

External links

• Full text of Arkansas Constitution(see page 74)
• Link by section to full text of Article XIX