ESTABLISHED OCTOBER 31, 1783 TO TAKE EFFECT JUNE 2, 1784 AS
SUBSEQUENTLY AMENDED AND IN FORCE JANUARY 2007
PART FIRST- BILL OF
RIGHTS Article 1. Equality of men; origin
and object of government. 2. Natural rights. 2-a. The bearing of
arms. 3. Society, its organization and purposes. 4. Rights of conscience
unalienable. 5. Religious freedom recognized. 6. Morality and piety. 7.
State sovereignty. 8. Accountability of magistrates and officers; public’s
right to know. 9. No hereditary office or place. 10. Right of
revolution. 11. Elections and elective franchises. 12. Protection and
taxation reciprocal. 12-a. Power t take property limited. 13.
Conscientious objectors not compelled to bear arms. 14. Legal remedies to be
free, complete, and prompt. 15. Right of accused. 16. Former jeopardy;
jury trial in capital cases. 17. Venue of criminal prosecution. 18.
Penalties to be proportioned to offenses; true design of punishment. 19.
Searches and seizures regulated. 20. Jury trial in civil causes. 21.
Jurors; compensation. 22. Free speech; liberty of the press. 23.
Retrospective laws prohibited. 24. Militia. 25. Standing armies. 26.
Military, subject to civil power. 27. Quartering of soldiers. 28. Taxes,
by whom levied. 28-a. Mandated programs. 29. Suspension of laws by
legislature only. 30. Freedom of speech. 31. Meetings of legislature, for
what purposes. 32. Rights of assembly, instruction, and petition. 33.
Excessive bail, fines, and punishments prohibited. 34. Martial law
limited. 35. The judiciary; tenure of office, etc. 36. Pensions. 36-a.
Use of retirement funds. 37. Separation of powers. 38. Social virtues
inculcated. 39. Changes in town and city charters; referendum
required.
PART SECOND --- FORM OF
GOVERNMENT 1. Name of body politic. 2. Legislature, how
constituted. 3. General court, when to meet and dissolve. 4. Power of
general court to establish courts. 5. Power to make laws, elect officers,
define their powers and duties, impose fines, and assess taxes; prohibited from
authorizing towns to aid certain corporations. 5-a. Continuity of government
in case of enemy attack. 5-b. Power to provide for tax valuations based on
use. 6. Valuation and taxation. 6-a. Use of certain revenues restricted to
highways. 6-b. Use of Lottery Revenues Restricted to Educational
Purposes. 7. Members of legislature not to take fees or act as counsel. 8.
Open sessions of legislature.
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES 9. Representatives elected every second year;
apportionment of representatives. 9-a. Legislative adjustments of census with
reference to non-residents. 10. [Repealed, 1889.] 11. Small towns,
representation by districts and floterial districts. 11-a. Division of town,
ward, or place; representative districts. 12. Biennial election of
representatives in November. 13. [Repealed, 1976.] 14. Representatives,
how elected, qualifications of. 15. Compensation of the legislature. 16.
Vacancies in house, how filled. 17. House to impeach before the
senate. 18. Money bills to originate in house. 18-a. Budget bills. 19.
Adjournment. 20. Quorum, what constitutes. 21. Privileges of members of
the legislature. 22. House to elect speaker and officers, settle rules of
proceedings, and punish misconduct. 23. Senate and executive have like
powers; imprisonment limited. 24. Journals and laws to be pub lished; yeas
and nays, and protests.
SENATE 25. Senate; how constituted. 26.
Senatorial districts, how constituted. 26-a. Division of town, ward, or lace;
senatorial districts. 27. Election of senators. 28. [Repealed,
1976.] 29. Qualifications of senators. 30. Inhabitant defined. 31.
Inhabitants of unincorporated places; their rights, etc. 32. Biennial
meetings, how warned, governed, and conducted; return of votes, etc. 33.
Secretary of state to count votes for senators and notify persons
elected. 34. Vacancies in senate, how filled. 35. Senate, judges of their
own elections. 36. Adjournment. 37. Senate to elect their own officers;
quorum. 38. Senate to try impeachments; mode of proceeding. 39. Judgment
on impeachment limited. 40. Chief justice to preside on impeachment of
governor.
EXECUTIVE POWER -
GOVERNOR 41. Governor, supreme executive magistrate. 42.
Election of governor, return of votes; electors; if no choice, legislature to
elect one of two highest candidates; qualifications for governor. 43. In
cases of disagreement, governor to adjourn or prorogue legislature; if causes
exist, may convene them elsewhere. 44. Veto to bills. 45. Resolves to be
treated like bills. 46. Nomination and appointment of officers. 47.
Governor and council have negative on each other. 48. [Repealed,
1976.] 49. President of senate, etc. to act as governor when office vacant;
speaker of house to act when office of president of senate also vacant. 49-a.
Prolonged failure to qualify; vacancy in office of governor due to physical or
mental incapacity, etc. 50. Governor to prorogue or adjourn legislature, and
call extra sessions. 51. Powers and duties of governor as
commander-in-chief. 52. Pardoning power. 53. [Repealed, 1976.] 54.
[Repealed, 1976.] 55. [Repealed, 1976.] 56. Disbursements from
treasury. 57. [Repealed, 1950.] 58. Compensation of governor and
council. 59. Salaries of judges.
COUNCIL 60. Councilors; mode of election,
etc. 61. Vacancies, how filled, if no choice. 62. Subsequent vacancies;
governor to convene; duties. 63. Impeachment of councilors. 64. Secretary
to record proceedings of council. 65. Councilor districts provided
for. 66. Elections by legislature may be adjourned from day to day; order
thereof.
SECRETARY, TREASURER,
ETC. 67. Election of secretary and treasurer. 68. State
records, where kept; duty of secretary. 69. Deputy secretary. 70.
Secretary to give bond.
COUNTY
TREASURER, ETC. 71. County treasurers, registers of probate,
county attorneys, sheriffs, and registers of deeds elected. 72. Counties may
be divided into districts for registering deeds.
JUDICIARY POWER 72-a. Supreme and superior
courts. 73. Tenure of office to be expressed in commissions; judges to hold
office during good behavior, etc.; removal. 73-a. Supreme court,
administration 74. Judges to give opinions, when. 75. Justices of peace
commissioned for five years. 76. Divorce and probate appeals, where
tried. 77. Jurisdiction of justices in civil causes. 78. Judges and
sheriffs, when disqualified by age. 79. Judges and justices not to act as
counsel. 80. Jurisdiction and term of probate courts. 81. Judges and
registers of probate not to act as counsel.
OATHS AND
SUBSCRIPTIONS EXCLUSION FROM OFFICES, ETC. 84. Oath of civil
officers. 85. Before whom taken. 86. Form of commissions. 87. Form of
writs. 88. Form of indictments, etc. 89. Suicides and deodands. 90.
Existing laws continued if not repugnant. 91. Habeas corpus. 92. Enacting
style of statutes. 93. Governor and judges prohibited from holding other
offices. 94. Incompatibility of offices; only two offices of profit to be
holden at same time. 95. Incompatibility of certain offices. 96. Bribery
and corruption disqualify for office. 97. [Repealed, 1950.] 98.
Constitution, when to take effect. 99. [Repealed, 1980.] 100. Alternate
methods of Proposing amendments. 101. Enrollment of constitution.
