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Oregon Impeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment (2018)

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Oregon Impeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment
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Election date
November 6, 2018
Topic
State executive official measures
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
State legislature

The Oregon Impeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment was not on the ballot in Oregon as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

The measure would have allowed the Oregon State Legislature to impeach elected state executive officials, including the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Officials could have been impeached for malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crimes or misdemeanors.[1]

The impeachment process would have worked as follows:[1]

(1) The Oregon House of Representatives would have initiated impeachment. To approve the impeachment in the House, three-fifths of all representatives would have needed to vote in favor.
(2) The Oregon Senate would have voted after the House. To approve the impeachment in the Senate, two-thirds of all senators would have needed to vote in favor.
(3) Upon passage of the impeachment resolution in both chambers, the state executive official would have been removed from office.

As of 2017, Oregon was the only state in the country that did not have a procedure for impeaching an executive official.[2]

Text of measure

Constitutional changes

See also: Article IV, Oregon Constitution

The measure would have added a Section 34 to Article IV of the Oregon Constitution. The following text would have been added:[1]

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

SECTION 34.

(1) The House of Representatives shall have the power of impeachment of statewide elected officials of the Executive Branch for malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty or other high crime or misdemeanor. The House of Representatives may deliver a resolution of impeachment to the Senate only upon the concurrence of at least three-fifths of all Representatives.

(2) The Senate shall have the power to try any impeachment received from the House of Representatives. When sitting for the purpose of trying an impeachment, Senators shall swear or affirm to do justice according to law and evidence. A person may not be convicted under this section without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all Senators.

(3) Judgment shall extend only to removal from office and disqualification from holding any other public office in this state. Any person convicted or acquitted under this section remains subject to any criminal prosecution or civil liability according to law.[3]

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Oregon Constitution

In Oregon, a constitutional amendment must be passed by a simple majority vote in each house of the state legislature during one legislative session.

Rep. Jodi Hack (R-19), Rep. Mike McLane (R-55), and Rep. Jennifer Williamson (D-36) introduced the amendment into the legislature as House Joint Resolution 10 (HJR 10) during the 2017 legislative session. The Oregon House of Representatives approved the amendment 51 to 6 with three members excused on May 24, 2017.[4] The measure did not receive a vote in the state Senate before the legislature adjourned o July 7, 2017.[5]

House vote

May 24, 2017[5]

Oregon HJR 10 House Vote
ResultVotesPercentage
Approveda Yes 51 89.47%
No610.53%
Partisan breakdown of House votes
Party Affiliation Yes No Excused Total
Democrat 28 6 1 35
Republican 23 0 2 25
Total 51 6 3 0

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oregon Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 10," accessed May 25, 2017
  2. ↑ The Oregonian, "Oregon is the only state where a governor can't be impeached. This lawmaker wants to change that," February 20, 2017
  3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
  4. ↑ Oregon Legislature, "HJR 10 Overview," accessed May 25, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 KGW, "Oregon Legislature adjourns contentious 2017 session," July 7, 2017
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