Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed

SECTION 20. That no ex post facto law, nor any law impairing contracts, shall be made.

SECTION 21. That no person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the General Assembly.

SECTION 22. That no attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, except during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Commonwealth.

Er post facto laws.

Attainder.

Felo de se and forfeiture.

SECTION 23. That the estates of such persons as shall destroy their own lives, shall descend or vest as in case of natural death; and if any person shall be killed by casualty, there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof. SECTION 24. That the citizens have a right, in a peace- Right of petition able manner, to assemble together for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government, for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance.

SECTION 25. That the rights of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned; but the General Assembly may pass laws to prevent persons from carrying concealed arms.

Right to bear

arms.

SECTION 26. That no standing army shall, in time of Standing army. peace, be kept up, without the consent of the General Assembly; and the military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power.

SECTION 27. That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. SECTION 28. That the General Assembly shall not grant any title of nobility, or hereditary distinction, nor create any office, the appointment to which shall be for a longer time than for a term of years.

SECTION 29. That emigration from the State shall not be prohibited.

Soldiers not

to be quartered.

Nobility, and limitation of of

fice.

Emigrants.

Exception out of the general

SECTION 30. To guard against transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, WE DECLARE, that every powers. thing in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate; and that all laws contrary thereto, or contrary to this Constitution, shall be void.

SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise from the alterations and amendments made in the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared and ordained:

SEC. 1. That all the laws of this Commonwealth, in force Laws and at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and not rights continued inconsistent there with, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts, as well of individuals as of bodies corporate, shall continue as if this Constitution had not been adopted.

Oaths, by whom administered.

No office shall

be superseded by the adoption of

this constitution

ral

Duty of gene

assembly

that convenes in

1850.

SECTION 2. The oaths of office herein directed to be taken may be administered by any Judge or Justice of the Peace, until the General Assembly shall otherwise direct.

SECTION 3. No office shall be superseded by the adoption of this Constitution, but the laws of the State relative to the duties of the several officers, Legislative, Executive, Judicial, and Military, shall remain in full force, though the same be contrary to this Constitution, and the several duties shall be performed by the respective officers of the State, according to the existing laws, until the organization of the Government, as provided for under this Constitution, and the entering into office of the officers to be elected or appointed under said government, and no longer.

SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly which shall convene in the year 1850, to make an apportionment of the representation of this State, upon the priuciple set forth in this Constitution; and until the first apportionment shall be made as herein directed, the apportionment of Senators and Representatives among the several districts and counties in this State, shall remain as at present fixed by law: Provided, that on the first Monday in August, 1850, all Senators shall go out of office, and on that day an election for Senators and Representatives shall be held throughout the State, and those then elected shall hold their offices for one year, and no longer: Provided further, that at the elections to be held in the year 1850, that provision in this Constitution which requires voters to vote in the precinct within which they reside, shall not apply.

SECTION 5. All recognizances heretofore taken, or which Recognizances may be taken before the organization of the judicial deheretofore taken partment under this Constitution, shall remain as valid as though this Constitution had not been adopted, and may be prosecuted in the name of the Commonwealth. All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which have arisen, or may arise before the re-organization of the judicial department under this Constitution, may be prosecuted to judg ment and execution, in the name of the Commonwealth.

Criminal pros. ecutions.

"We, the Representatives of the freemen of Kentucky, in Convention assembled, in their name, and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and in virtue of the powers vested in us, as Delegates from the counties respectively affixed to our names, do ordain and proclaim. the foregoing to be the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from and after this day.

"Done at Frankfort this eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and in the fifty-ninth year of the Commonwealth." JAMES GUTHRIE,

President of the Convention, and member from the city of Louisville.

ATTEST:

THO. J. HELM,

Secretary of the Convention.

THO. D. TILFORD,

Assistant Secretary.

NATHAN GAITHER, from the county of Adair.

GEORGE W. MANSFIELD, from the county of Allen.

GEORGE W. KAVANAUGH, from the county of Anderson.

RICHARD D. GHOLSON, from the counties of Ballard and McCracken.

JOHN T. ROGERS, from the county of Barren.

ROBERT D. MAUPIN, from the county of Barren.
JAMES M. NESBITT, from the county of Bath.
CHARLES CHAMBERS, from the county of Boone.
GEORGE W. WILLIAMS, from the county of Bourbon.
RICHARD H. HANSON, from the county of Bourbon.
ALBERT G. TALBOTT, from the county of Boyle,
WILLIAM C. MARSHALL, from the county of Bracken.
JOHN HARGIS, from the counties of Breathitt and Morgan.
DANIEL J. STEPHENS, from the county of Breckinridge.
WILLIAM R. THOMPSON, from the county of Bullitt.
VINCENT S. HAY, from the counties of Butler and Edmonson.
WILLIS B. MACHEN, from the county of Caldwell.

EDWARD CURD, from the counties of Calloway and Marshall.
IRA ROOT, from the county of Campbell.

JOHN T. ROBINSON, from the counties of Carroll and Gallatin.
THOMAS J. HOOD, from the counties of Carter and Lawrence.

JESSE COFFEY, from the county of Casey.

JOHN D. MORRIS, from the county of Christian.

NINIAN E. GRAY, from the county of Christian.

ANDREW HOOD, from the county of Clarke.

JAMES H. GARRARD, from the counties of Clay, Letcher, and Perry.

MICHAEL L. STONER, from the counties of Cumberland and Clinton.

HENRY R. D. COLEMAN, from the county of Crittenden.

PHILIP TRIPLETT, from the county of Daviess.

LUTHER BRAWNER, from the counties of Estill and Owsley.

JAMES DUDLEY, from the county of Fayette.

ROBERT N. WICKLIFFE, from the county of Fayette.

WILL. W. BLAIR, from the county of Fleming.

JAMES M. LACKEY, from the counties of Floyd, Pike, and Johnson.

THOMAS N. LINDSEY, from the county of Franklin.

WILLIAM HENDRIX, from the county of Grant.

RICHARD L. MAYES, from the county of Graves.
JOHN J. THURMAN, from the county of Grayson.
THOMAS W. LISLE, from the county of Green.
HENRY B. POLLARD, from the county of Greenup.
THOMAS D. BROWN, from the county of Hardin.
JAMES W. STONE, from the county of Hardin.
HUGH NEWELL, from the county of Harrison.
LUCIUS DESHA, from the county of Harrison.
BENJAMIN COPELIN, from the county of Hart.

ARCHIBALD DIXON, from the county of Henderson.
ELIJAH F. NUTTALL, from the county of Henry.
THOMAS JAMES, from the counties of Hickman and Fulton.
WILLIAM BRADLEY, from the county of Hopkins.
DAVID MERIWETHER, from the county of Jefferson.
WILLIAM C. BULLITT, from the county of Jefferson.
ALEX. K. MARSHALL, froin the county of Jessamine.
JOHN W. STEVENSON, from the county of Kenton.
SILAS WOODSON, from the counties of Knox and Harlan.
JAMES P. HAMILTON, from the county of Larue.

JONATHAN NEWCUM, from the counties of Laurel and Rockcastle.
LARKIN J. PROCTOR, from the county of Lewis.
JOHN L. BALLINGER, from the county of Lincoln.
WILLIAM COWPER, from the county of Livingston,
WILLIAM K. BOWLING, from the county of Logan.
JAMES W. IRWIN, from the county of Logan.
JAMES RUDD, from the city of Louisville.
WILLIAM PRESTON, from the city of Louisville.
SQUIRE TURNER, from the county of Madison.
WILLIAM CHENAULT, from the county of Madison.
GREEN FORREST, from the county of Marion.
PETER LASHBROOKE, from the county of Mason.
JOHN D. TAYLOR, from the county of Mason.
THOMAS J. GOUGH, from the county of Meade.
THOMAS P. MOORE, from the county of Mercer.
JOHN S. BARLOW, from the county of Monroe.
RICHARD APPERSON, from the county of Montgomery.
ALFRED M. JACKSON, from the county of Muhlenburg.
BEN. HARDIN, from the county of Nelson.

CHARLES A. WICKLIFFE, from the county of Nelson.
BENJAMIN F. EDWARDS, from the county of Nicholas.
HOWARD TODD, from the county of Owen.

JOHN H. McHENRY, from the counties of Ohio and Hancock.
JOHN WHEELER, from the county of Pendleton.
JAMES D. ALLCORN, from the county of Pulaski.
NATHAN MCCLURE, from the county of Russell.
WILLIAM JOHNSON, from the county of Scott.
BEVERLY L. CLARKE, from the county of Simpson.
ANDREW S. WHITE, from the county of Shelby.
GEORGE W. JOHNSTON, from the county of Shelby.
MARK E. HUSTON, from the county of Spencer.
WILLIAM N. MARSHALL, from the county of Taylor,
FRANCIS M. BRISTOW, from the county of Todd.
ALFRED BOYD, from the county of Trigg

WESLEY J. WRIGHT, from the county of Trimble.
IGNATIUS A. SPALDING, from the county of Union.
CHASTEEN T. DUNAVAN, from the county of Warren.
JAMES S. CHRISMAN, from the county of Wayne.
THOMAS ROCKHOLD, from the county of Whitley.
JOHN L. WALLER, from the county of Woodford.

CHARLES COOPER KELLY, from the county of Washington,