Salary. Land commissioner. Certain offices to be kept at capital. Eligibility to state office. Certain offices may be abolished. Supreme court shall perform such specific duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall receive an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars, which may be increased by law, but shall never exceed four thousand dollars per annum. Sec. 23. The Commissioner of Public Lands shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as the Legislature may direct. Sec. 24. The Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Public Lands, and Attorney General shall severally keep the public records, books and papers relating to their respective offices, at the seat of government, at which place also the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Auditor shall reside. Sec. 25. No person, except a citizen of the United States and a qualified elector of this state, shall be eligible to hold any state office, and the State Treasurer shall be ineligible for the term succeeding that for which he was elected. The compensation of state officers shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected. The Legislature may, in its discretion, abolish the offices of Lieutenant Governor, Auditor, and Commissioner of Public Lands. ARTICLE IV. THE JUDICIARY. Section 1. The judicial power of the state shall be vested in a Inferior courts Supreme Court, Superior Courts, justices of the peace, and such inferior courts as the Legislature may provide. Supreme court consists of Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of five judges, a majority of whom shall be necessary to form a quorum and pronounce a decision. The said court shall always be open for the transaction of business except on non-judicial days. In the determination of causes, all decisions of the court shall be given in writing, and the grounds of the decision shall be stated. The Legislature may increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court from time to time, and may provide for separate departments of said court. Sec. 3. The judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state at large, at the general state election, at the times and places at which state officers are elected, unless some other time be provided by the Legislature. The first election of judges of the Supreme Court shall be at the election which shall be held upon the adoption of this constitution, and the judges elected thereat shall be classified, by lot, so that two shall hold their office for the term of three years, two for a term of five years, and one for the term of seven years. The lot shall be drawn by the judges, who shall for that purpose assemble at the seat of government, and they shall cause the result thereof to be certified to the Secretary of State, and filed in his office. The judge having the shortest term to serve, not holding his office by appointment or election to fill a vacancy, shall be the chief jus filled. tice, and shall preside at all sessions of the Supreme Court, and in case there shall be two judges having in like manner the same short term, the other judges of the Supreme Court shall determine which of them shall be chief justice. In case of the absence of the chief justice, the judge having in like manner the shortest or next shortest term to serve shall preside. After the first election the terms of judges elected shall be six years from and after the second Monday in January next succeeding their election. If Vacancy, how a vacancy occur in the office of a judge of the Supreme Court, the Governor shall appoint a person to hold the office until the election and qualification of a judge to fill the vacancy, which election shall take place at the next succeeding general election, and the judge so elected shall hold the office for the remainder of the unexpired term. The term of office of the judges of the Supreme Court, first elected, shall commence as soon as the state shall have been admitted into the Union, and continue for the term herein provided, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The sessions of the Supreme Court shall be held at the seat of government until otherwise provided by law. Jurisdiction of supreme court. Sec. 4. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in habeas corpus and quo warranto and mandamus as to all state officers, and appellate jurisdiction in all actions and proceedings, excepting that its appellate jurisdiction shall not extend to civil actions at law for the recovery of money or personal property when the original amount in controversy, or the value of the property, does not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars ($200). unless the action involves the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, municipal fine, or the validity of a statute. The Supreme Court shall also have power to issue writs of mandamus, review, prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, and all other writs necessary and proper to the complete exercise of its appellate and revisory jurisdiction. Each of the judges shall have power to Powers of issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the state upon peti- judges. tion by or on behalf of any person held in actual custody, and may make such writs returnable before himself, or before the Supreme Court, or before any Superior Court of the state, or any judge thereof. courts. Sec. 5. There shall be in each of the organized counties of Superior this state a Superior Court for which at least one judge shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county at the general state election: Provided, That until otherwise directed by the Legislature one judge only shall be elected for the counties of Spokane and Stevens, one judge for the county of Whitman; one judge for the counties of Lincoln, Okanogan, Douglas, and Adams; one judge for the counties of Walla Walla and Franklin; one judge for the counties of Columbia, Garfield, and Asotin; one judge for the counties of Kittitas, Yakima, and Klickitat; one judge for the counties of Clarke, Skamania, Pacific, Cowlitz, and Wahkiakum; Sessions of court. one judge for the counties of Thurston, Chehalis, Mason, and Lewis; one judge for the county of Pierce; one judge for the county of King; one judge for the counties of Jefferson, Island, Kitsap, San Juan, and Clallam; and one judge for the counties of Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish. In any county where there shall be more than one superior judge, there may be as many sessions of the Superior Court at the same time as there are judges thereof, and whenever the Governor shall direct a superior judge to hold court in any county other than that for which he has been elected, there may be as many sessions of the Superior Court in said county at the same time as there are judges therein, or assigned to duty therein by the Governor, and the business of the court shall be so distributed and assigned by law, or in the absence of legislation therefor, by such rules and orders of court, as shall best promote and secure the convenient and expeditious transaction thereof. The judgments, decrees, orders, and proceedings of any session of the Superior Court held by any one or more of the judges of such court shall be equally effectual as if all the judges of said court presided at such session. The first superior judges elected under this constitution shall hold their office of supe- offices for the period of three years, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified, and thereafter the term of office of all superior judges in this state shall be for four years from the second Monday in January next succeeding their election, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The first election of judges of the Superior Court shall be at the election held for the adoption of this constitution. If a vacancy occurs in the office of judges of the Superior Court, the Governor shall appoint a person to hold the office until the election and qualification of a judge to fill the vacancy, which election shall be at the next succeeding general election, and the judge so elected shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term. Tenure of rior judges. Jurisdiction of superior courts. Sec. 6. The Superior Court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases in equity, and in all cases of law which involve the title or possession of real property, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, toll, or municipal fine, and in all others cases in which the demand, or the value of the property in controversy amounts to one hundred dollars, and in all criminal cases amounting to a felony, and in all cases of misdemeanor not otherwise provided for by law; of actions of forcible entry and detainer; of proceedings in insolvency; of actions to prevent or abate a nuisance; of all matters of probate, of divorce, and for annulment of marriage; and for such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for. The Superior Court shall also have orginal jurisdiction in all cases and of all proceedings in which jurisdiction shall not have been by law vested exclusively in some other court; and said court shall have the power of naturalization, and to issue papers therefor. They shall have such appellate jurisdic courts. tion in cases arising in justice's and other inferior courts in their respective counties as may be prescribed by law. They shall be always open except on non-judicial days, and their process shall Powers of judges and extend to all parts of the state. Said courts and their judges shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, quo warranto, review, certiorari, prohibition, and writs of habeas corpus, on petition by or on behalf of any person in actual custody in their respective counties. Injunctions and writs of prohibition and of habeas corpus may be issued and served on legal holidays and nonjudicial days. hold court in any county by Sec. 7. The judge of any Superior Court may hold a Superior Judges may Court in any county at the request of the judge of the Superior Court thereof, and upon the request of the Governor it shall be request. his duty to do so. A case in the Superior Court may be tried бy a judge pro tempore, who must be a member of the bar, agreed Pro tempore upon in writing by the parties litigant, or their attorneys of judges. record, approved by the court, and sworn to try the case. sence of Sec. 8. Any judicial officer who shall absent himself from the Leave of abstate for more than sixty consecutive days shall be deemed to judges. have forfeited his office: Provided, That in cases of extreme necessity the Governor may extend the leave of absence such time as the necessity therefor shall exist. Sec. 9. Any judge of any court of record, the Attorney Gen- Removal of judicial officer by eral, or any prosecuting attorney may be removed from office by legislature. joint resolution of the Legislature, in which three-fourths of the members elected to each house shall concur, for incompetency, corruption, malfeasance, or delinquency in office, or other sufficient cause stated in such resolution. But no removal shall be Proceedings. made unless the officer complained of shall have been served with a copy of the charges against him as the ground of removal, and shall have an opportunity of being heard in his defense. Such resolution shall be entered at length on the journal of both houses, and on the question of removal the ayes and nays shall also be entered on the juornal. peace. Sec. 10. The Legislature shall determine the number of jus- Justices of the tices of the peace to be elected in incorporated cities or towns and in precincts, and shall prescribe by law the powers, duties and jurisdiction of justices of the peace: Provided, That such jurisdiction granted by the Legislature shall not trench upon the jurisdiction of superior or other courts of record, except that justices of the peace may be made police justices of incorporated cities and towns. In incorporated cities or towns having more than five thousand inhabitants the justices of the peace shall receive such salary as may be provided by law, and shall receive no fees for their own use. Sec. 11. The Supreme Court and the Superior Courts shall be Courts of courts of record, and the Legislature shall have power to provide record. Inferior courts officers. Salary of supe- that any of the courts of this state, excepting justices of the peace, shall be courts of record. Sec. 12. The Legislature shall prescribe by law the jurisdiction and powers of any of the inferior courts which may be established in pursuance of this constitution. Sec. 13. No judicial officer, except court commissioners and unsalaried justices of the peace, shall receive to his own use any Compensation fees or perquisites of office. The judges of the Supreme Court of judicial and judges of the Superior Courts shall, severally, at stated times during their continuance in office, receive for their services the salaries prescribed by law therefor, which shall not be increased after their election, nor during the term for which they shall have been elected. The salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court shall be paid by the state. One-half of the salary of each of the Superior Court judges shall be paid by the state, and the other one-half by the county or counties for which he is elected. In cases where a judge is provided for more than one county, that portion of his salary which is to be paid by the counties shall be apportioned between or among them according to the assessed value of their taxable property, to be determined by the assessment next preceding the time for which such salary is to be paid. Salaries of udges, amount per annum. Judges ineligible to any other office. Charge to jury. Eligibility to judgeship. Reporter for supreme court. Judges shall not practice law. Decision of cases by superior judge, limit of time. Sec. 14. Each of the judges of the Supreme Court shall receive an annual salary of four thousand dollars ($4,000); each of the Superior Court judges shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars ($3,000), which said salary shall be payable quarterly. The Legislature may increase the salaries of the judges herein provided. Sec. 15. The judges of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Superior Court shall be ineligible to any other office or public employment than a judicial office or employment during the term for which they shall have been elected. Sec. 16. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, nor comment thereon, but shall declare the law. Sec. 17. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of the Supreme Court or judge of a Superior Court unless he shall have been admitted to practice in the courts of record of this State or of Territory of Washington. Sec. 18. The judges of the Supreme Court shall appoint a reporter for the decisions of that court, who shall be removable at their pleasure. He shall receive such annual salary as shall be prescribed by law. Sec. 19. No judge of a court of record shall practice law in any court of this state during his continuance in office. Sec. 20. Every cause submitted to a judge of a Superior Court for his decision shall be decided by him within ninety days from the submission thereof: Provided, That if, within said period of ninety days, a rehearing shall have been ordered, then |