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AN AMENDED CONSTITUTION,

OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT FOR VIRGINIA.
JANUARY 14TH, 1830.

ADOPTED

ARTICLE 1.

The Declaration of Rights made on the 12th June, 1776, by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention, which pertained to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government; requiring in the opinion of this Convention no amendment, shall be prefixed to this Constitution, and have the same relation thereto as it had to the former Constitution of this commonwealth.

ARTICLE 2.

The legislative, executive, and judiciary departments shall be separate aud distinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to either of the others; nor shall any person exercise the powers of more than one of them at the same time, except that the justices of the county courts shall be eligible to either House of Assembly.

ARTICLE 3.

1. The legislature shall be formed of two distinct branches, which together shall be a complete legislature, and shall be called the general Assembly of Virginia.

2. One of these shall be called the House of Delegates, and shall consist of one hundred and thirty-four members, to be chosen, annually, for and by the several counties, cities, towns, and boroughs, of the commonwealth; whereof thirty-one delegates shall be chosen for and by the twenty-six counties lying west of the Alleghany mountains: twenty-five, for and by the fourteen counties lying between the Alleghany and Blue Ridge of mountains; forty-two, for and by the twenty-nine counties lying east of the Blue Ridge of mountains and above tidewater, and thirty-six, for and by the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs lying upon tide-water, that is to say: Of the twenty-six counties lying west of the Alleghany,

the counties of Harrison, Montgomery, Monongalia, Ohio, and Washington, shall each elect two delegates; and the counties of Brooke, Cabell, Grayson, Greenbrier, Giles, Kanawha, Lee, Lewis, Logan, Mason, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Tyler, Wood, and Wythe, shall each elect one delegate. Of the fourteen counties lying between the Alleghany and Blue Ridge, the counties of Frederick and Shenandoah, shall each elect three delegates; the counties of Augusta, Berkely, Botetourt, Hampshire, Jefferson, Rockingham, and Rockbridge, shall each elect two delegates; and the counties of Alleghany, Bath, Hardy, Morgan, and Pendleton, shall each elect one delegate. Of the twenty-nine counties lying east of the Blue Ridge and above tide-water, the county of Loudoun shall elect three delegates; the counties of Albemarle, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Culpepper, Fauquier, Franklin, Halifax, Mecklenburg, and Pittsylvania, shall each electtwc delegates; and the counties of Amelia, Amherst, Charlotte, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Henry, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Patrick, Powhatan, and Prince Edward, shall each elect one delegate. And of the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs lying on tide-water, the counties of Accomack and Norfolk, shall each elect two delegates; the counties of Caroline, Chesterfield, Essex, Fairfax, Greenesville, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, King and Queen, King William, King George, Nansemond, Northumberland, Northampton, Princess Anne, Prince George, Prince William, Southampton, Spottsylvania, Stafford, Sussex, Surry, and Westmoreland, and the city of Richmond, the borough of Norfolk, and the town of Petersburg, shall each elect one delegate; the counties of Lancaster and Richmond shall together elect one delegate; the counties of Matthews and Middlesex shall together elect one delegate; the counties of Elizabeth City and Warwick shall together elect one delegate; the coun ties of James City and York, and the city of Williams burg, shall together elect one delegate; and the counties of New Kent and Charles City shall together elect one delegate.

3. The other house of the general Assembly shall be alled the Senate, and shall consist of thirty-two mem bers, of whom thirteen shall be chosen for and by the counties lying west of the Blue Ridge of mountains, and nineteen for and by the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs lying east thereof; and for the election of whom, the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs shall be divided into thirty-two districts, as hereinafter provided. Each county of the respective districts, at the time of the first election of its delegate or delegates under this Constitution, shall vote for one senator; and the sheriffs or other officers holding the election for each county, city, town, or borough, within five days at farthest after the last county, city, town, or borough election in the district, shall meet at some convenient place, and from the polls so taken in their respective counties, cities, towns, or boroughs, return as a senator the person who shall have the greatest number of votes in the whole district. To keep up this assembly by rotation, the districts shall be equally divided into four classes, and numbered by lot. At the end of one year after the first general election, the eight members elected by the first division shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occasioned, supplied from such class or division by new election in the manner aforesaid. This rotation shall be applied to each division according to its number, and continued in due order annually. And for the election of senators, the counties of Brooke, Ohio, and Tyler, shall form one district: the counties of Monongalia, Preston, and Randolph, shall form another district; the counties of Harrison, Lewis, and Wood, shall form another district: the counties of Kanawha, Mason, Cabell, Logan, and Nicholas shall form another district: the counties of Greenbrier, Monroe, Giles, and Montgomery, shall form another district: the counties of Tazewell, Wythe, and Grayson, shall form another district: the counties of Washington, Russell, Scott, and Lee, shall form another district; the counties of Berkeley, Morgan, and Hampshire, shal. form another district: the counties of Frederick and Jefferson shall form another district; the counties of She

nandoah and Hardy shall form another district: the coun ties of Rockingham and Pendleton shall form another district: the counties of Augusta and Rockbridge shall form another district: the counties of Alleghany, Bath, Pocahontas, and Botetourt, shall form another district: the counties of Loudoun and Fairfax shall form another district the counties of Fauquier and Prince William shall form another district: the counties of Stafford, King George, Westmoreland, Richmond, Lancaster, and Northumberland, shall form another district: the counties of Culpeper, Madison, and Orange, shall form another district: the counties of Albemarle, Nelson, and Amherst, shall form another district: the counties of Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, and Hanover, shall form another district: the counties of Spottsylvania, Caroline, and Essex, shall form another district: the counties of King and Queen, King William, Gloucester, Matthews, and Middlesex, shall form another district: the counties of Accomack, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, and Warwick, and the city of Williamsburg, shall form another district: the counties of Charles City, James City, New Kent, and Henrico, and the city of Richmond, shall form another district: the counties of Bedford and Franklin shall form another district: the counties of Buckingham, Campbell, and Cumberland, shall form another district: the counties of Patrick, Henry, and Pittsylvania, shall form another district: the counties of Halifax, and Mecklenburg shall form another district: the counties of Charlotte, Lunenburg, Nottoway, and Prince Edward, shall form another district: the counties of Amelia, Powhattan, and Chesterfield, and the town of Petersburg, shall form another district: the counties of Brunswick, Dinwiddie, and Greenesville, shall form another district: the counties of the Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, and Sussex, shall form another district: and the counties of Norfolk, Nansemond, and Princess Anne, and the borough of Norfolk, shall form another district.

4. It shall be the duty of the legislature, to re-apportion, once in ten years, to wit: in the year 1841, and every ten years thereafter, the representation of the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs, of this commonwealth, in

both of the legislative bodies: Provided, however, that the number of delegates from the aforesaid great districts, and the number of senators from the aforesaid two great divisions, respectively, shall neither be increased nor diminished by such re-apportionment. And when a new county shall hereafter be created, or any city, town, or horough, not now entitled to separate representation in the House of Delegates, shall have so increased in population as to be entitled, in the opinion of the general Assembly, to such representation, it shall be the duty of the general Assembly to make provision by law for securing to the people of such new county, or such city, town, or borough, an adequate representation. And if the object cannot otherwise be effected, it shall be competent to the general Assembly to re-apportion the whole representation of the great district containing such new county, or such city, town, or borough, within its limits; which reapportionment shall continue in force till the next regular decennial re-apportionment.

5. The general Assembly, after the year 1841, and at intervals thereafter of not less than ten years, shall have authority, two-thirds of each House concurring, to make re-apportionments of delegates and senators, throughout the commonwealth, so that the number of delegates shall not at any time exceed 150, nor of senators 36.

6. The whole number of members to which the State may at any time be entitled in the House of Representatives of the United States, shall be apportioned as nearly as may be, amongst the several counties, cities, boroughs, and towns of the State, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of persons, including those bound to servize for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.

7. Any person may be elected a senator who shall have attained to the age of thirty years, and shall be actually a resident and freeholder within the district, qualified by virtue of his freehold to vote for members of the general Assembly according to this Constitution. And any person may be elected a member of the House of Delegates, who shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, and

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