Constitution of Nevada

Page 1 of the first Nevada State Constitution, as transmitted to Congress by telegraph, October 1864.

The Constitution of the State of Nevada is the organic law of the state of Nevada, and the basis for Nevada's statehood as one of the United States.

History

The Nevada Constitution was created in 1864 at a convention on July 4 in Carson City. The convention adjourned on July 28, was approved by public vote on the 1st Wednesday in September, and became effective on October 31, when on that date President Abraham Lincoln declared Nevada to be a state.

Signature page for the telegraph transmission of the first Nevada State Constitution, October 1864. The handwritten annotation shows the word count (16,543) and cost ($4303.27).

Nevada's entry into full statehood in the United States was expedited. Union sympathizers were so eager to gain statehood for Nevada that they rushed to send the entire state constitution by telegraph to the United States Congress before the presidential election and they did not believe that sending it by train would guarantee that it would arrive on time. The constitution was sent October 26-27, 1864,^[1] just two weeks before the election on November 7, 1864. The transmission took two days; it consisted of 16,543 words and cost $4303.27 to send.^[1][2] It was, at the time, the longest telegraph transmission ever made, a record it held for seventeen years, until a copy of the 118,000-word English Standard Version of the New Testament was sent by telegraph on May 22, 1881.^[3]

General provisions

The current document as shown on the Website of the Secretary of the State of Nevada, shows the document to have two prefix provisions; a preamble; 19 articles (one having been repealed); and a suffix provision

• The first prefix provision, Preliminary Action, which defines the requirement that the state have a constitutional convention;
• The second prefix provision, ordinance declares certain mandates applicable to the state, including a prohibition on slavery, religious freedom, and declaring the public lands to be property of the United States. Later amendments changed this provision.
• The suffix provision specified how the election for the constitution was to be established.

The articles of the Nevada Constitution are as follows:

1. Declaration of Rights
2. Right of Suffrage
3. Distribution of Powers
4. Legislative Department
5. Executive Department
6. Judicial Department
7. Impeachment and Removal From Office
8. Municipal and Other Corporations
9. Finance and State Debt
10. Taxation
11. Education
12. Militia
13. Public Institutions
14. Boundary
15. Miscellaneous Provisions
16. Amendments
17. Schedule
18. [Right of Suffrage] Repealed in 1992
19. Initiative and Referendum

The preamble reads

“

We the people of the State of Nevada Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom in order to secure its blessings, insure domestic tranquility, and form a more perfect Government, do establish this Constitution.

”

Miscellaneous provisions

• Article 1, Section 21 provides "Only a marriage between a male and female person shall be recognized and given effect in this state."
• A proposed Article 1, section 23, which if approved by the voters would be effective in 2008, would limit the power of the state to use eminent domain, which may be in response to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London.
• Article 2, Section 10, requires the legislature to set a limit on initiative, referendum, primary or general election contributions to $5,000 each, and to provide for felony penalties for contributions above this limit.
• Article 4, Section 38, permits the use of medical marijuana.
• Article 5, Section 3, limits the Governor to two terms, or one if (s)he has served more than two years of someone else's term.
• Article 15, Section 16, sets a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour if the employer provides health insurance, or $6.15 if not.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Archives Celebrates the 145th Anniversary of Nevada Statehood". National Archives of the United States. September 23, 2009. http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-127.html. Retrieved November 4, 2011. 
2. ^ The National Archives press release states that the cost was $4313.27, but the amount $4303.27 is actually written on the document.
3. ^ Kintop, Jeffrey M. (January 13, 2009). "The making of the Nevada State Constitution". Nevada State Library and Archives. http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1698&Itemid=418. Retrieved November 4, 2011. 

External links

• Text of the Constitution of Nevada