CONSTITUTION OF 1868

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ARTICLE V.

Section 1. The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney General, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State, at the time and places at which they shall vote for Representatives.

Section 2. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Attorney General shall hold their offices for the term of two years, and the Auditor for the term of four years.

Section 3. The returns of every election for the officers named in the preceding section, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of Government, by the returning officers, directed to the presiding officer of the Senate, who, during the first week of the session, shall open and publish the same in the presence of a majority of the members of the General Assembly; the person having the highest number of votes shall be declared duly elected, but if two or more shall be highest and equal in votes for the same office, one of them shall be chosen by the joint vote of both houses. Contested elections for executive officers shall be determined by both houses of the General Assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

Section 4. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in the Governor.

Section 5. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

Section 6. He may require information in writing, from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Section 7. He shall communicate at every session, by message to the General Assembly, the condition of the State, and recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient.

Section 8. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly by proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled, the purposes for which they have been convened.

Section 9. In case of disagreement between the two houses, in respect to the time of adjournment, he shall have power to adjourn the General Assembly to such time as he may think proper, but not beyond the regular meeting thereof.

Section 10. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.

Section 11. He shall have power after conviction, to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons for all offences, (except treason and cases of impeachment,) upon such conditions as he may think proper, subject, however, to such regulations as to the manner of applying for pardons as may be prescribed by law; but such pardons shall not relieve from civil or political disability. Upon conviction of treason, he may suspend the execution of the sentence, and report the same to the General Assembly at the next meeting, when the General Assembly shall either pardon, commute the sentence, direct its execution, or grant further reprieve. He shall communicate to the General Assembly at every regular session, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, stating the name and crime of the convict, the sentence, its date; and the date of the commutation, pardon or reprieve, with his reasons therefor.

Section 12. There shall be a great seal of the State which shall be kept and used by the Governor officially, and the seal heretofore in use, shall continue to be the great seal of the State until another shall have been adopted by the General Assembly.

Section 13. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of Alabama, sealed with the Great Seal, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of State.

Section 14. No member of Congress, or other person, holding office under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall execute the office of Governor, except as herein provided.

Section 15. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or other disability of the Governor, the powers and duties of the office, for the residue of the term, or until he shall be acquitted, or the disability removed, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor.

Section 16. The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall vote only when the Senate is equally divided, and in case of his absence or impeachment, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor, the Senate shall choose a president pro tempore.

Section 17. If the Lieutenant Governor, while executing the office of Governor, shall be impeached, displaced, resign or die, or otherwise become incapable of performing the duties of the office, the President of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled or the disability removed; and if the President of the Senate for any of the above causes shall be rendered incapable of performing the duties pertaining to the office of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Section 18. Should the office of Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, or Attorney General become vacant from any of the causes specified in the fifteenth section of this article, the governor shall fill the vacancy until the disability is removed or a successor elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after it shall have occurred, and the person chosen shall hold the office for the full term fixed in the second section of this article.

Section 19. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation to be established by law, which shall neither be increased or diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected.

Section 20. The officers of the Executive Department and of the public institutions of the State, shall, at least five days preceding each regular session of the General Assembly, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such reports with his message to the General Assembly.

Section 21. A Sheriff shall be elected in each county by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, unless sooner removed, and shall not be eligible to serve either as principal or deputy for any two successive terms. Vacancies in the office of Sheriff shall be filled by the Governor as in other cases; and the person appointed shall continue in office until the next general election in the county for Sheriff, as by law provided.