the duties of the Lieutenant Governor as provided by this subsection.
(b) The House of Representatives shall, when it first assembles, organize temporarily, and thereupon proceed to the election of a Speaker from its own members.
(c) Each House shall choose its other officers.
(Amended Nov. 6, 1984; Subsec. (a) amended Nov. 2, 1999.)
Sec. 10. QUORUM; ADJOURNMENTS FROM DAY TO DAY; COMPELLING ATTENDANCE.
Two-thirds of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide.
Sec. 11. RULES OF PROCEDURE; EXPULSION OF MEMBER.
Each House may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish members for disorderly conduct, and, with the consent of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same offense.
Sec. 12. JOURNALS OF PROCEEDINGS; ENTERING YEAS AND NAYS.
(a) Each house of the legislature shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same.
(b) A vote taken by either house must be by record vote with the vote of each member entered in the journal of that house if the vote is on final passage of a bill, a resolution proposing or ratifying a constitutional amendment, or another resolution other than a resolution of a purely ceremonial or honorary nature. Either house by rule may provide for exceptions to this requirement for a bill that applies only to one district or political subdivision of this state. For purposes of this subsection, a vote on final passage includes a vote on third reading in a house, or on second reading if the house suspends the requirement for three readings, on whether to concur in the other house's amendments, and on whether to adopt a conference committee report.
(c) The yeas and nays of the members of either house on any other question shall, at the desire of any three members present, be entered on the journals.
(d) Each house shall make each record vote required under Subsection (b) of this section, including the vote of each individual member as recorded in the journal of that house, available to the public for a reasonable period of not less than two years through the Internet or a successor electronic communications system accessible by the public. For a record vote on a bill or on a resolution proposing or ratifying a constitutional amendment, the record vote must be accessible to the public by reference to the designated number of the bill or resolution and by reference to its subject.
(Subsecs. (a) and (c) amended, and (b) and (d) added Nov. 6, 2007.)
Sec. 13. VACANCIES; WRITS OF ELECTION.
(a) When vacancies occur in either House, the Governor, or the person exercising the power of the Governor, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; and should the Governor fail to issue a writ of election to fill any such vacancy within twenty days after it occurs, the returning officer of the district in which such vacancy may have happened, shall be authorized to order an election for that purpose.
(b) The legislature may provide by general law for the filling of a vacancy in the legislature without an election if only one person qualifies and declares a candidacy in an election to fill the vacancy.
(Amended Nov. 6, 2001.)
Sec. 14. PRIVILEGED FROM ARREST.
Senators and Representatives shall, except in cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from the same.
(Amended Nov. 2, 1999.) (TEMPORARY TRANSITION PROVISIONS for Sec. 14: See Appendix, Note 1.)
Sec. 15. DISRESPECTFUL OR DISORDERLY CONDUCT; OBSTRUCTION OF PROCEEDINGS.
Each House may punish, by imprisonment, during its sessions, any person not a member, for disrespectful or disorderly conduct in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings; provided, such imprisonment shall not, at any one time, exceed forty-eight hours.
Sec. 16. OPEN SESSIONS.
The sessions of each House shall be open, except the Senate when in Executive session.
Sec. 17. ADJOURNMENTS.
Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that where the Legislature may be sitting.
Sec. 18. INELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER OFFICES; INTEREST IN CONTRACTS.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he was elected, be eligible to (1) any civil office of profit under this State which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which may have been increased, during such term, or (2) any office or place, the appointment to which may be made, in whole or in part, by either branch of the Legislature; provided, however, the fact that the term of office of Senators and Representatives does not end precisely on the last day of December but extends a few days into January of the succeeding year shall be considered as de minimis, and the ineligibility herein created shall terminate on the last day in December of the last full calendar year of the term for which he was elected. No member of either House shall vote for any other member for any office whatever, which may be filled by a vote of the Legislature, except in such cases as are in this Constitution provided, nor shall any member of the Legislature be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract with the State, or any county thereof, authorized by any law passed during the term for which he was elected.
(Amended Nov. 5, 1968.)
Sec. 19. INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HOLDING OTHER OFFICES.
No judge of any court, Secretary of State, Attorney General, clerk of any court of record, or any person holding a lucrative office under the United States, or this State, or any foreign government shall during the term for which he is elected or appointed, be eligible to the Legislature.
Sec. 20. COLLECTORS OF TAXES; PERSONS ENTRUSTED WITH PUBLIC MONEY; INELIGIBILITY.
No person who at any time may have been a collector of taxes, or who may have been otherwise entrusted with public money, shall be eligible to the Legislature, or to any office of profit or trust under the State government, until he shall have obtained a discharge for the amount of such collections, or for all public moneys with which he may have been entrusted.
Sec. 21. WORDS SPOKEN IN DEBATE.
No member shall be questioned in any other place for words spoken in debate in either House.
Sec. 22. DISCLOSURE OF PRIVATE INTEREST IN MEASURE OR BILL; NOT TO VOTE.
A member who has a personal or private interest in any measure or bill, proposed, or pending before the Legislature, shall disclose the fact to the House, of which he is a member, and shall not vote thereon.
Sec. 23. REMOVAL FROM DISTRICT OR COUNTY FROM WHICH ELECTED.
If any Senator or Representative remove his residence from the district or county for which he was elected, his office shall thereby become vacant, and the vacancy shall be filled as provided in section 13 of this article.
Sec. 23a. (Repealed Nov. 4, 1997.)
