ARTICLE V.-Executive Department. GOVERNOR. 1. The Chief Executive power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in a Governor. He shall hold the office for the term of four years, to commence on the day of next succeeding his election, and be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for which he was elected, and to any other office during his term of service. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the voters, at the times and places of choosing members of the General Assembly. Returns of the election shall be transmitted, under seal, by the proper officers to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, on the first day of the next session of the General Assembly. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall within one week thereafter, in the presence of a majority of the Senate and House of Delegates, open the said returns, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the highest number of votes shall be declared elected; but if two or more shall have the highest and an equal number of votes, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. Contested elections for Governor shall be decided by a like vote, and the mode of proceeding in such cases shall be prescribed by law. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor unless he has attained the age of thirty years, is a native citizen of the United States, and has been a citizen of Virginia for five years next preceding his election. 4. The Governor shall reside at the seat of Government; shall receive five thousand dollars for each year of his service, and, while in office, shall receive no other emolument from this or any other government. 5. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; communicate to the General Assembly at every session the condition of the Commonwealth; recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient; and convene the General Assembly on application of a majority of the members of both houses thereof, or when in his opinion the interest of the Commonwealth may require it. He shall be commander in chief of the land and naval forces of the State; have power to embody the militia to repel invasion, suppress insurrection and enforce the execution of the laws; conduct, either in person or in such other manner as shall be prescribed by law, all intercourse with other and foreign States; and, during the recess of the General Assembly, fill pro tempore all vacancies in those offices for which the Constitution and laws make no provision: but his appointments to such vacancies shall be by commissions to expire at the end of thirty days after the commencement of the next session of the General Assembly. He shall have power to remit fines and penalties, in such cases and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law; and, except when the prosecution has been carried on by the House of Delegates, or the law shall otherwise particularly direct, to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, and to commute capital punishment. But he shall communicate to the General Assembly at each session, the particulars of every case of fine or penalty remitted, of reprieve or pardon granted and of punishment commuted, with his reasons for remitting, granting or commuting the same. 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; and may also require the opinion in writing of the Attorney General upon any question of law connected with his official duties. 7. Commissions and grants shall run in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and be attested by the Governor with the seal of the Commonwealth annexed. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. 8. A Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the same time, and for the same term, as the Governor: and his qualification and the manner of his election in all respects shall be the same. 9. In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of his death, failure to qualify, resignation, removal from the State, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the said office, with its compensation, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor; and the General Assembly shall provide by law for the discharge of the Executive functions in other necessary cases. 10. The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote; and while acting as such, shall receive a compensation equal to that allowed to the Speaker of the House of Delegates. SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH, TREASURER AND AUDITOR. 11. A Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer and an Auditor of Public Accounts shall be elected by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, and continue in office for the term of two years, unless sooner removed. 12. The Secretary shall keep a record of the official acts of the Governor, which shall be signed by the Governor and attested by the Secretary; and when required, he shall lay the same, and any papers, minutes and vouchers pertaining to his office, before either house of the General Assembly; and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. 13. The powers and duties of the Treasurer and Auditor shall be such as now are, or may be hereafter prescribed by law. BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS. 14. There shall be a Board of Public Works, to consist of three Commissioners. The State shall be divided into three districts, containing as nearly as may be equal numbers of voters, and the voters of each district shall elect one Commissioner, whose term of office shall be six years; but of those first elected, one, to be designated by lot, shall remain in office for two years only, and one other, to be designated in like manner, shall remain in office for four years only. 15. The General Assembly, at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall provide for the election and compensation of the Commissioners, and the organization of the Board. The Commissioners first elected shall assemble on a day to be appointed by law, and decide by lot the order in which their terms of service shall expire. 16. The Board of Public Works shall appoint all officers employed on the public works, and all persons representing the interest of the Commonwealth in works of internal improvement, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. 17. The members of the Board of Public Works may be removed by the concurrent vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house of the General Assembly; but the cause of removal shall be entered on the journal of each house. 18. The General Assembly shall have power, by a vote of threefifths of the members elected to each house, to abolish said board whenever in their opinion a board of public works shall no longer be necessary. MILITIA. 19. The manner of appointing militia officers shall be prescribed by law. ARTICLE VI.-Judiciary Department. 1. There shall be a Supreme Court of Appeals, District Courts and Circuit Courts. The jurisdiction of these tribunals, and of the Judges thereof, except so far as the same is conferred by this Constitution, shall be regulated by law. JUDICIAL DIVISIONS. 2. The State shall be divided into twenty-one judicial circuits, ten districts and five sections. 1. The counties of Princess Anne, Norfolk, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Greenesville, Surry and Sussex and the city of Norfolk shall constitute the first circuit. II. The counties of Prince George, Dinwiddie, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Amelia, Chesterfield and Powhatan and the City of Petersburg shall constitute the second circuit. III. The counties of Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox, Campbell, Prince Edward, Charlotte and Halifax and the town of Lynchburg shall constitute the third circuit. IV. The counties of Pittsylvania, Bedford, Franklin, Patrick and Henry shall constitute the fourth circuit. v. The counties of Accomac and Northampton shall constitute the fifth circuit. VI. The counties of Elizabeth City, Warwick, York, Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, Henrico, New Kent, Charles City and James City, and the City of Williamsburg shall constitute the sixth circuit. VII. The City of Richmond shall be the seventh circuit. VIII. The counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, King George, Spottsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, King William, King and Queen and Essex shall constitute the eighth circuit. IX. The counties of Stafford, Prince William, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock shall constitute the ninth circuit. x. The counties of Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange, Albemarle, Louisa, Fluvanna and Goochland shall constitute the tenth circuit. XI. The counties of Nelson, Amherst, Rockbridge, Augusta and Bath shall constitute the eleventh circuit: XII. The counties of Pendleton, Highland, Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Warren and Hardy shall constitute the twelfth circuit: XIII. The counties of Clarke, Frederick, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson shall constitute the thirteenth circuit: XIV. The counties of Monroe, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Alleghany, Botetourt, Roanoke and Craig shall constitute the fourteenth circuit: xv. The counties of Giles, Mercer, Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan, Boone, Fayette and Nicholas shall constitute the fifteenth circuit: XVI. The counties of Grayson, Carroll, Wythe, Floyd, Pulaski and Montgomery shall constitute the sixteenth circuit: XVII. The counties of Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Russell, Scott and Lee shall constitute the seventeenth circuit: XVIII. The counties of Wayne, Cabell, Mason, Jackson, Putnam and Kanawha shall constitute the eighteenth circuit. XIX. The counties of Wood, Wirt, Gilmer, Braxton, Lewis, Ritchie, Doddridge and Pleasants shall constitute the nineteenth circuit: xx. The counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler and Monongalia shall constitute the twentieth circuit: XXI. And the counties of Harrison, Marion, Taylor, Preston, Barbour, Randolph and Upshur shall constitute the twenty-first circuit. 1. The first and second circuits shall constitute the first district; the third and fourth circuits, the second district; the fifth, sixth and seventh circuits, the third district; the eighth and ninth circuits, the fourth district; the tenth and eleventh circuits, the fifth district; the twelfth and thirteenth circuits, the sixth district; the fourteenth and fifteenth circuits, the seventh district; the sixteenth and seventeenth circuits, the eighth district; the eighteenth and nineteenth circuits, the ninth district; and the twentieth and twenty-first circuits, the tenth district. 2. The first and second districts shall constitute the first section; the third and fourth districts, the second section; the fifth and sixth districts, the third section; the seventh and eighth districts, the fourth section; and the nine and tenth districts, the fifth section. 3. The General Assembly may, at the end of eight years after the adoption of this Constitution, and thereafter at intervals of eight years, re-arrange the said circuits, districts and sections, and place any number of circuits in a district, and of districts, in a section; but each circuit shall be altogether in one district, and each district in one section; and there shall not be less than two districts and four circuits in a section, and the number of sections shall not be increased or diminished. CIRCUIT COURTS. 6. For each circuit, a Judge shall be elected by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of eight years, unless sooner removed in the manner prescribed by this Constitution. He shall at the time of his election be at least thirty years of age, and during his continuance in office, shall reside in the circuit of which he is judge. 7. A Circuit Court shall be held at least twice a year by the Judge of each circuit, in every county and corporation thereof, wherein a Circuit Court is now or may hereafter be established. But the Judges in the same district may be required or authorized to hold the courts of their respective circuits alternately, and a Judge of one circuit to hold a court in any other circuit. DISTRICT COURTS. 8. A District Court shall be held, at least once a year, in every district, by the Judges of the circuits constituting the section and the Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals for the section of which the district forms a part, any three of whom may hold a court; but no Judge shall sit or decide upon any appeal taken from his own decision. The Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of one section, may sit in the District Courts of another section, when required or authorized by law to do so. 9. The district courts shall not have original jurisdiction, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition. COURTS OF APPEALS. 10. For each section, a Judge shall be elected by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of twelve years, unless |