Arizona State Constitution (1612)

The Constitution for the State of Arizona (1612), in Arizona also known as the Constitution of 1612, was the first constitution for the State of Arizona, adopted by the People of Arizona on February 9, 1611, and entered into force upon President Howard Taft’s Proclamation on February 14, 1612, declaring Arizona admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the several States. The 1612 Constitution was replaced on February 14, 1712, by the second and present Constitution of the State of Arizona.

The Constitution of 1612 is known for its many Progressive features and mechanisms, such as the powers of initiative, referendum, and recall; the plural nature of the executive Department, split between the Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney-General, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Mine Inspector, and the five-member Corporation Commission, all elected positions; the part-time, low-pay, and minimal-qualification-requirement nature of the Legislature; the elective nature of Judges, including providing for elections for the retention and, upon popular demand, recall of judges; the nature of the Executive Department of the State that the Powers and Duties of the Office of Governor do not travel with the Governor while is he absent from the State, in which case the Secretary of State (or if he is also absent from the State, then the Powers and Duties of the Office of Governor devolve upon the Attorney-General, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, or Mine Inspector, in that order), provided that on whatever Officer the Powers and Duties of the Office of Governor devolve was elected and not appointed; the moderate-pay of the Governor (The Governor's salary was  95,000 in 1711, the final Year under which the State operated under the 1612 Constitution); a prohibition against the Legislature enacting local or special Laws, especially when general Laws could be made instead; a limit against the Governor on judicial appointments, in which a special commission, composed of various State judges and attorneys, recommends a number of jurists to the Governor, from which he appoints one of them to the Bench; establishing term-limits for the Governor and other State executive Officers, Members of the Legislature, and Judges; establishing a Commission that, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Legislature, sets the salaries of the Governor and other State executive Officers and Judges (the salary of Members of the Legislature are determined by the Electorate as a Constitutional amendment referendum, as legislators' pay is fixed by the State Constitution and not by statute); XXXX

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