The Constitution of Virginia June 29, 1776
Bill of Rights; June 12, 1776
A declaration of rights made by the
representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and
free convention; which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as
the basis and foundation of government.
SECTION 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and
have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of
society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity,
namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring
and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and
safety.
SEC. 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the
people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all
times amenable to them.
SEC. 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common
benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community;
of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is
capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is
most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and
that, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these
purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable,
and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner
as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.
SEC. 4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or
separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in
consideration of public services; which, not being descendible, neither
ought the offices of magistrate, legislator, or judge to be hereditary
SEC. 3. That the legislative and executive powers of the State should be
separate and distinct from the judiciary; and that the members of the
two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and
participating the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods,
be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they
were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent,
certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former
members, to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct.
SEC. 6. That elections of members to serve as representatives of the
people, in assembly, ought to be free; and that all men, having
sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment
to, the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be taxed or
deprived of their property for public uses, without their own consent,
or that of their representatives so elected, nor bound by any law to
which they have not, in like manner, assembled, for the public good.
SEC. 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by
any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is
injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
SEC. 8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man bath a right
to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with
the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a
speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without
whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty; nor can he be
compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of
his liberty, except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers.
SEC. 9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
SEC. 10. That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be
commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact
committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence
is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous
and oppressive, and ought not to be granted.
SEC. 11. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between
man and man, the ancient trial by jury is preferable to any other, and
ought to be held sacred.
SEC. 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of
liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.
SEC. 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the
people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a
free State; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided,
as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be
under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
SEC. 14. That the people have a right to uniform government; and,
therefore, that no government separate from, or independent of the
government of Virginia, ought to be erected or established within the
limits thereof.
SEC. 15. That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be
preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation,
temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to
fundamental principles.
SEC. 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the
manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction,
not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to
the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience;
and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance,
love, and charity towards each other.
THE CONSTITUTION OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT, AGREED
TO AND RESOLVED UPON BY THE DELEGATES AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEVERAL
COUNTIES AND CORPORATIONS OF VIRGINIA
Whereas George the third, King of Great Britain
and Ireland, and elector of Hanover, heretofore entrusted with the
exercise of the kingly office in this government, hath endeavored to
prevent, the same into a detestable and insupportable tyranny, by
putting his negative on laws the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good:
By denying his Governors permission to pass laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation for his assent,
and, when so suspended neglecting to attend to them for many years:
By refusing to pass certain other laws, unless the persons to be
benefited by them would relinquish the inestimable right of
representation in the legislature:
By dissolving legislative Assemblies repeatedly and continually, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions of the rights of the people:
When dissolved, by refusing to call others for a long space of time,
thereby leaving the political system without any legislative head:
By endeavoring to prevent the population of our country, and, for that
purpose, obstructing, the laws for the naturalization of foreigners:
By keeping among us, in times of peace, standing armies and ships of
war:
By effecting to render the military independent of, and superior to, the
civil power:
By combining with others to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction, giving
his assent to their pretended acts of legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever:
By plundering our seas, ravaging our coasts, burning our towns, and
destroying the lives of our people:
By inciting insurrections of our fellow subjects, with the allurements
of forfeiture and confiscation:
By prompting our negroes to rise in arms against us, those very negroes
whom, by an inhuman use of his negative, he hath refused us permission
to exclude by law:
By endeavoring to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions of
existence:
By transporting, at this time, a large army of foreign mercenaries, to
complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy unworthy the head of a civilized
nation:
By answering our repeated petitions for redress with a repetition of
injuries: And finally, by abandoning the helm of government and
declaring us out of his allegiance and protection.
By which several acts of misrule, the government of this country, as
formerly exercised under the crown of Great Britain, is TOTALLY
DISSOLVED.
We therefore, the delegates and representatives of the good people of
Virginia, having maturely considered the premises, and viewing with
great concern the deplorable conditions to which this once happy country
must be reduced, unless some regular, adequate mode of civil polity is
speedily adopted, and in compliance with a recommendation of the
(general Congress, do ordain and declare the future form of government
of Virginia to be as follows:
The legislative, executive, and judiciary department, shall be separate
and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to
the other: 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
The legislative shall be formed of two distinct branches, who, together,
shall be a complete Legislature. They shall meet once, or oftener, every
year, and shall be called, The General Assembly of Virginia. One of
these shall be called, The House of Delegates, and consist of two
Representatives, to be chosen for each county, and for the district of
West-Augusta, annually, of such men as actually reside in, and are
freeholders of the same, or duly qualified according to law, and also of
one Delegate or Representative, to be chosen annually for the city of
Williamsburgh, and one for the borough of Norfolk, and a Representative
for each of such other cities and boroughs, as may hereafter be allowed
particular representation by the legislature; but when any city or
borough shall so decrease, as that the number of persons, having right
of suffrage therein, shall have been, for the space of seven Years
successively, less than half the number of voters in some one county in
Virginia, such city or borough thenceforward shall cease to send a
Delegate or Representative to the Assembly.
The other shall be called The Senate, and consist of twenty-four
members, of whom thirteen shall constitute a House to proceed on
business; for whose election, the different counties shall be divided
into twenty-four districts; and each county of the respective district,
at the time of the election of its Delegates, shall vote for one
Senator, who is actually a resident and freeholder within the district,
or duly qualified according to law, and is upwards of twenty-five years
of age; and the Sheriffs of each county, within five days at farthest,
after the last county election in the district, shall meet at some
convenient place, and from the poll, so taken in their respective
counties, return, as a Senator, the man 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 general election, the
six 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.
The right of suffrage in the election of members for both Houses shall
remain as exercised at present; and each House shall choose its own
Speaker, appoint its own officers, settle its own rules of proceeding,
and direct writs of election, for the supplying intermediate vacancies.
All laws shall originate in the House of Delegates, to be approved of or
rejected by the Senate, or to be- amended, with consent of the House of
Delegates; except money-bills, which in no instance shall be altered by
the Senate, but wholly approved or rejected
A Governor, or chief magistrate, shall be chosen annually by joint
ballot of both Houses (to be taken in each House respectively) deposited
in the conference room; the boxes examined jointly by a committee of
each House, and the numbers severally reported to them, that the
appointments may be entered (which shall be the mode of taking the joint
ballot of both Houses, in all cases) who shall not continue in that
office longer than three years successively. nor be eligible, until the
expiration of four years after he shall have been out of that office. An
adequate, but moderate salary shall be settled on him, during his
continuance in office; and he shall, with the advice of a Council of
State, exercise the executive powers of government, according to the
laws of this Commonwealth; and shall not, under any presence, exercise
any power or prerogative, by virtue of any law, statute or custom of
England. But he shall, with the advice of the Council of State, have the
power of granting reprieves or pardons, except where the prosecution
shall have been carried on by the House of Delegates, or the law shall
otherwise particularly direct: in which cases, no reprieve or pardon
shall be granted, but by resolve of the House of Delegates.
Either House of the General Assembly may adjourn themselves
respectively. The Governor shall not prorogue or adjourn the Assembly,
during their sitting, nor dissolve them at any time; but he shall, if
necessary, either by advice of the Council of State, or on application
of a majority of the House of Delegates, call them before the time to
which they shall stand prorogued or adjourned.
A Privy Council, or Council of State, consisting of eight members, shall
be chosen, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, either from their
own members or the people at large, to assist in the administration of
government. They shall annually choose, out of their own members, a
President, who, in case of death, inability, or absence of the Governor
from the government, shall act as Lieutenant-Governor. Four members
shall be sufficient to act, and their advice and proceedings shall be
entered on record, and signed by the members present, (to any part
whereof, any member may enter his dissent) to be laid before the General
Assembly, when called for by them. This Council may appoint their own
Clerk, who shall have a salary settled by law, and take an oath of
secrecy, in such matters as he shall be directed by the board to
conceal. A sum of money, appropriated to that purpose, shall be divided
annually among the members' in proportion to their attendance; and they
shall be incapable, during their continuance in office, of sitting in
either House of Assembly. Two members shall be removed, by Joint ballot
of both Houses of Assembly, at the end of every three years, and be
ineligible for the three next years. These vacancies, as well as those
occasioned by death or incapacity, shall be supplied by new elections,
in the same manner.
The Delegates for Virginia to the Continental Congress shall be chosen
annually, or superseded in the mean time, by joint ballot of both Houses
of Assembly.
The present militia officers shall be continued, and vacancies supplied
by appointment of the Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, on
recommendations from the respective County Courts; but the Governor and
Council shall have a power of suspending any officer, and ordering a
Court Martial, on complaint of misbehavior or inability, or to supply
vacancies of officers, happening when in actual service.
The Governor may embody the militia, with the advice of the Privy
Council; and when embodied, shall alone have the direction of the
militia, under the laws of the country.
The two Houses of Assembly shall, by joint ballot, appoint Judges of the
Supreme Court of Appeals, and General Court, Judges in Chancery, Judges
of Admiralty, Secretary, and the Attorney-General, to be commissioned by
the Governor, and continue in office during good behavior. In case of
death, incapacity, or resignation, the Governor, with the advice of the
Privy Council, shall appoint persons to succeed in office, to be
approved or displaced by both Houses. These officers shall have fixed
and adequate salaries, and, together with all others, holding lucrative
offices, and all ministers of the gospel, of every denomination, be
incapable of being elected members of either House of Assembly or the
Privy Council.
The Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, shall appoint
Justices of the Peace for the counties; and in case of vacancies, or a
necessity of increasing the number hereafter, such appointments to be
made upon the recommendation of the respective County Courts. The
present acting Secretary in Virginia, and Clerks of all the County
Courts, shall continue in office. In case of vacancies, either by death,
incapacity, or resignation, a Secretary shall be appointed, as before
directed; and the Clerks, by the respective Courts. The present and
future Clerks shall hold their offices during good behavior, to be
judged of, and determined in the General Court. The Sheriffs and
Coroners shall be nominated by the respective Courts, approved by the
Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council, and commissioned by the
Governor. The Justices shall appoint Constables; and all fees of the
aforesaid officers be regulated by law.
The Governor, when he is out of office, and others, offending against
the State, either by mar-administration, corruption, or other means, by
which the safety of the State may be endangered, shall be impeachable by
the House of Delegates. Such impeachment to be prosecuted by the
Attorney-General, or such other person or persons, as the House may
appoint in the General Court, according to the laws of the land. If
found guilty, he or they shall be either forever disabled to hold any
office under government, or be removed from such office pro tempore, or
subjected to such pains or penalties as the laws shall direct.
If all or any of the Judges of the General Court should on good grounds
(to be judged of by the House of Delegates) be accused of any of the
crimes or offences above mentioned, such House of Delegates may, in like
manner, impeach the Judge or Judges so accused, to be prosecuted in the
Court of Appeals; and he or they, if found guilty, shall be punished in
the same manner as is prescribed in the preceding clause.
Commissions and grants shall run, "In the name of the Commonwealth of
Virginia," and bear test by the Governor, with the seal of the
Commonwealth annexed. Writs shall run in the same manner, and bear test
by the Clerks of the several Courts. Indictments shall conclude,
"Against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth."
A Treasurer shall be appointed annually, by joint ballot of both Houses.
All escheats, penalties, and forfeitures, heretofore going to the King,
shall go to the Commonwealth, save only such as the Legislature may
abolish, or otherwise provide for.
The territories, contained within the Charters, erecting the Colonies of
Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, are hereby ceded,
released, and forever confirmed, to the people of these Colonies
respectively, with all the rights of property, jurisdiction and
government, and all other rights whatsoever, which might, at any time
heretofore, have been claimed by Virginia, except the free navigation
and use of the rivers Patomaque and Pokomoke, with the property of the
Virginia shores and strands, bordering on either of the said rivers, and
all improvements, which have been, or shall be made thereon. The western
and northern extent of Virginia shall, in all other respects, stand as
fixed by the Charter of King James I. in the year one thousand six
hundred and nine, and by the public treaty of peace between the Courts
of Britain and France, in the Year one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-three; unless by act of this Legislature, one or more governments
be established westward of the Alleghany mountains. And no purchases of
lands shall be made of the Indian natives, but on behalf of the public,
by authority of the General Assembly.
In order to introduce this government, the Representatives of the people
met in the convention shall choose a Governor and Privy Council, also
such other officers directed to be chosen by both Houses as may be
judged necessary to be immediately appointed. The Senate to be first
chosen by the people to continue until the last day of March next, and
the other officers until the end of the succeeding session of Assembly.
In case of vacancies, the Speaker of either House shall shall issue
writs for new elections.
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