Constitution of Maryland

Declaration of Rights

We, the People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare:

Article 1. That all Government of right originates from the People, is founded in compact only, and instituted solely for the good of the whole; and they have, at all times, the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their Form of Government in such manner as they may deem expedient.

Art. 2. The Constitution of the United States, and the Laws made, or which shall be made, in pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, are, and shall be the Supreme Law of the State; and the Judges of this State, and all the People of this State, are, and shall be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or Law of this State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Art. 3. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution thereof, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people thereof.

Art. 4. That the People of this State have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, as a free, sovereign and independent State.

Art. 5. (a)

(1) That the Inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the Common Law of England, and the trial by Jury, according to the course of that Law, and to the benefit of such of the English statutes as existed on the Fourth day of July, seventeen hundred and seventy-six; and which, by experience, have been found applicable to their local and other circumstances, and have been introduced, used and practiced by the Courts of Law or Equity; and also of all Acts of Assembly in force on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; except such as may have since expired, or may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution; subject, nevertheless, to the revision of, and amendment or repeal by, the Legislature of this State. And the Inhabitants of Maryland are also entitled to all property derived to them from, or under the Charter granted by His Majesty Charles the First to Caecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore.

(2) Legislation may be enacted that limits the right to trial by jury in civil proceedings to those proceedings in which the amount in controversy exceeds $25,000 (added by Chapter 422, Acts of 2006, ratified Nov. 7, 2006; amended by Chapter 480, Acts of 2010, ratified Nov. 2, 2010; Chapter 809, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(b) The parties to any civil proceeding in which the right to a jury trial is preserved are entitled to a trial by jury of at least 6 jurors.

(c) That notwithstanding the Common Law of England, nothing in this Constitution prohibits trial by jury of less than 12 jurors in any civil proceeding in which the right to a jury trial is preserved (amended by Chapters 203, 204, Acts of 1992, ratified Nov. 3, 1992).

Art. 6. That all persons invested with the Legislative or Executive powers of Government are the Trustees of the Public, and, as such, accountable for their conduct: Wherefore, whenever the ends of Government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the People may, and of right ought, to reform the old, or establish a new Government; the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

Art. 7. That the right of the People to participate in the Legislature is the best security of liberty and the foundation of all free Government; for this purpose, elections ought to be free and frequent; and every citizen having the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution, ought to have the right of suffrage (amended by Chapter 357, Acts of 1971, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

Art. 8. That the Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other; and no person exercising the functions of one of said Departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other.

Art. 9. That no power of suspending Laws or the execution of Laws, unless by, or derived from the Legislature, ought to be exercised, or allowed.

Art. 10. That freedom of speech and debate, or proceedings in the Legislature, ought not to be impeached in any Court of Judicature.

Art. 11. That Annapolis be the place of meeting of the Legislature; and the Legislature ought not to be convened, or held at any other place but from evident necessity.

Art. 12. That for redress of grievances, and for amending, strengthening and preserving the Laws, the Legislature ought to be frequently convened.

Art. 13. That every man hath a right to petition the Legislature for the redress of grievances in a peaceable and orderly manner.

Art. 14. That no aid, charge, tax, burthen or fees ought to be rated or levied, under any pretense, without the consent of the Legislature.

Art. 15. That the levying of taxes by the poll is grievous and oppressive, and ought to be prohibited; that paupers ought not to be assessed for the support of the government; that the General Assembly shall, by uniform rules, provide for the separate assessment, classification and sub-classification of land, improvements on land and personal property, as it may deem proper; and all taxes thereafter provided to be levied by the State for the support of the general State Government, and by the Counties and by the City of Baltimore for their respective purposes, shall be uniform within each class or sub-class of land, improvements on land and personal property which the respective taxing powers may have directed to be subjected to the tax levy; yet fines, duties or taxes may properly and justly be imposed, or laid with a political view for the good government and benefit of the community (amended by Chapter 390, Acts of 1914, ratified Nov. 2, 1915; Chapter 64, Acts of 1960, ratified Nov. 8, 1960).

Art. 16. That sanguinary Laws ought to be avoided as far as it is consistent with the safety of the State; and no Law to inflict cruel and unusual pains and penalties ought to be made in any case, or at any time, hereafter.

Art. 17. That retrospective Laws, punishing acts committed before the existence of such Laws, and by them only declared criminal are oppressive, unjust and incompatible with liberty; wherefore, no ex post facto Law ought to be made; nor any retrospective oath or restriction be imposed, or required.

Art. 18. That no Law to attaint particular persons of treason or felony, ought to be made in any case, or at any time, hereafter.

Art. 19. That every man, for any injury done to him in his person or property, ought to have remedy by the course of the Law of the Land, and ought to have justice and right, freely without sale, fully without any denial, and speedily without delay, according to the Law of the Land.

Art. 20. That the trial of facts, where they arise, is one of the greatest securities of the lives, liberties and estate of the People.

Art. 21. That in all criminal prosecutions, every man hath a right to be informed of the accusation against him; to have a copy of the Indictment, or charge, in due time (if required) to prepare for his defence; to be allowed counsel; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have process for his witnesses; to examine the witnesses for and against him on oath; and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury, without whose unanimous consent he ought not to be found guilty.

Art. 22. That no man ought to be compelled to give evidence against himself in a criminal case.

Art. 23. In the trial of all criminal cases, the Jury shall be the Judges of Law, as well as of fact, except that the Court may pass upon the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction.

The right of trial by Jury of all issues of fact in civil proceedings in the several Courts of Law in this State, where the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of $15,000, shall be inviolably preserved (amended by Chapter 407, Acts of 1949, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 789, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970. Transferred from Article XV, secs. 5 and 6, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978. Amended by Chapters 205, 206, Acts of 1992, ratified Nov. 3, 1992; Chapter 322, Acts of 1998, ratified Nov. 3, 1998; Chapter 480, Acts of 2010, ratified Nov. 2, 2010).

Art. 24. That no man ought to be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or, in any manner, destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the Law of the land (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Art. 25. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishment inflicted, by the Courts of Law.

Art. 26. That all warrants, without oath or affirmation, to search suspected places, or to seize any person or property, are grievous and oppressive; and all general warrants to search suspected places, or to apprehend suspected persons, without naming or describing the place, or the person in special, are illegal, and ought not to be granted.

Art. 27. That no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.

Art. 28. That a well regulated Militia is the proper and natural defence of a free Government.

Art. 29. That Standing Armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised, or kept up, without the consent of the Legislature.

Art. 30. That in all cases, and at all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and control of, the civil power.

Art. 31. That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, except in the manner prescribed by Law.

Art. 32. That no person except regular soldiers, marines, and mariners in the service of this State, or militia, when in actual service, ought, in any case, to be subject to, or punishable by Martial Law.

Art. 33. That the independency and uprightness of Judges are essential to the impartial administration of Justice, and a great security to the rights and liberties of the People: Wherefore, the Judges shall not be removed, except in the manner, and for the causes provided in this Constitution. No Judge shall hold any other office, civil, or military or political trust, or employment of any kind, whatsoever, under the Constitution or Laws of this State, or of the United States, or any of them; except that a judge may be a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States or a member of the militia of the United States or this State; or receive fees, or perquisites of any kind, for the discharge of his official duties (amended by Chapter 61, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990).

Art. 34. That a long continuance in the Executive Departments of power or trust is dangerous to liberty; a rotation, therefore, in those departments is one of the best securities of permanent freedom (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Art. 35. That no person shall hold, at the same time, more than one office of profit, created by the Constitution or Laws of this State; nor shall any person in public trust receive any present from any foreign Prince or State, or from the United States, or any of them, without the approbation of this State. The position of Notary Public shall not be considered an office of profit within the meaning of this Article. Nonelected membership in the militia of this State, a law enforcement agency, a fire department or agency, or a rescue squad shall not be considered an office of profit within the meaning of this Article; nor shall any remuneration received as a consequence of membership in a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States or of membership in the militia of the United States or of this State be considered a present within the meaning of this Article (amended by Chapter 129, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 61, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990; Chapter 80, Acts of 1996, ratified Nov. 5, 1996).

Art. 36. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor either in this world or in the world to come.

Nothing shall prohibit or require the making reference to belief in, reliance upon, or invoking the aid of God or a Supreme Being in any governmental or public document, proceeding, activity, ceremony, school, institution, or place.

Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion (amended by Chapter 558, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

Art. 37. That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution.

Art. 38. Vacant (amended by Chapter 623, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948. Repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Art. 39. That the manner of administering an oath or affirmation to any person, ought to be such as those of the religious persuasion, profession, or denomination, of which he is a member, generally esteem the most effectual confirmation by the attestation of the Divine Being.

Art. 40. That the liberty of the press ought to be inviolably preserved; that every citizen of the State ought to be allowed to speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege.

Art. 41. That monopolies are odious, contrary to the spirit of a free government and the principles of commerce, and ought not to be suffered.

Art. 42. That no title of nobility or hereditary honors ought to be granted in this State.

Art. 43. That the Legislature ought to encourage the diffusion of knowledge and virtue, the extension of a judicious system of general education, the promotion of literature, the arts, sciences, agriculture, commerce and manufactures, and the general melioration of the condition of the People. The Legislature may provide that land actively devoted to farm or agricultural use shall be assessed on the basis of such use and shall not be assessed as if sub-divided (amended by Chapter 65, Acts of 1960, ratified Nov. 8, 1960).

Art. 44. That the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, apply, as well in time of war, as in time of peace; and any departure therefrom, or violation thereof, under the plea of necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good Government, and tends to anarchy and despotism.

Art. 45. This enumeration of Rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the People.

Art. 46. Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied because of sex (added by Chapter 366, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972. Amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Art. 47. (a) A victim of crime shall be treated by agents of the State with dignity, respect, and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process.

(b) In a case originating by indictment or information filed in a circuit court, a victim of crime shall have the right to be informed of the rights established in this Article and, upon request and if practicable, to be notified of, to attend, and to be heard at a criminal justice proceeding, as these rights are implemented and the terms "crime", "criminal justice proceeding", and "victim" are specified by law.

(c) Nothing in this Article permits any civil cause of action for monetary damages for violation of any of its provisions or authorizes a victim of crime to take any action to stay a criminal justice proceeding (added by Chapter 102, Acts of 1994, ratified Nov. 8, 1994).

Article I: Elective Franchise

SECTION 1. All elections shall be by ballot. Except as provided in Section 2A or Section 3 of this article, every citizen of the United States, of the age of 18 years or upwards, who is a resident of the State as of the time for the closing of registration next preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote in the ward or election district in which the citizen resides at all elections to be held in this State. A person once entitled to vote in any election district, shall be entitled to vote there until the person shall have acquired a residence in another election district or ward in this State (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 784, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 513, Acts of 2007, ratified Nov. 4, 2008; Chapter 855, Acts of 2018, ratified Nov. 6, 2018).

SEC. 1A. Vacant (added by Chapter 20, Acts of 1918, ratified Nov. 5, 1918. Amended by Chapter 480, Acts of 1953, ratified Nov. 2, 1954; Chapter 100, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 881, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974. Renumbered as Art. I, sec. 3, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 2. Except as provided in Section 2A of this Article, the General Assembly shall provide by law for a uniform Registration of the names of all voters in this State, who possess the qualifications prescribed in this Article, which Registration shall be conclusive evidence to the Judges of Election of the right of every person, thus registered, to vote at any election thereafter held in this State; but no person shall vote, at any election, Federal or State, hereafter to be held in this State, or at any municipal election in the City of Baltimore, unless the person's name appears in the list of registered voters; the names of all persons shall be added to the list of qualified voters by the officers of Registration, who have the qualifications prescribed in the first section of this Article, and who are not disqualified under the provisions of the second and third sections thereof (originally Article I, sec. 5; as sec. 5, it was amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; thereafter, it was renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 855, Acts of 2018, ratified Nov. 6, 2018).

SEC. 2A. The General Assembly shall have the power to allow a qualified individual to register and vote at a precinct polling place on Election Day (added by Chapter 855, Acts of 2018, ratified Nov. 6, 2018).

SEC. 3. (a) The General Assembly shall have the power to provide by suitable enactment for voting by qualified voters of the State of Maryland who are absent at the time of any election in which they are entitled to vote, for voting by other qualified voters who are unable to vote personally, or for voting by qualified voters who might otherwise choose to vote by absentee ballot, and for the manner in which and the time and place at which such absent voters may vote, and for the canvass and return of their votes (originally Article I, sec. 1A, thus renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

(b) The General Assembly shall have the power to provide by suitable enactment a process to allow qualified voters to vote at polling places in or outside their election districts or wards or, during the two weeks immediately preceding an election, on no more than 10 other days prior to the dates specified in this Constitution (Chapter 513, Acts of 2007, ratified Nov. 4, 2008).

SEC. 4. The General Assembly by law may regulate or prohibit the right to vote of a person convicted of infamous or other serious crime or under care or guardianship for mental disability (originally Article I, sec. 2, thus renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978. As sec. 2, it was amended by Chapter 368, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass Laws to punish, with fine and imprisonment, any person, who shall remove into any election district, or precinct of any ward of the City of Baltimore, not for the purpose of acquiring a bona fide residence therein, but for the purpose of voting at an approaching election, or, who shall vote in any election district, or ward, in which he does not reside, (except in the case provided for in this Article,) or shall, at the same election, vote in more than one election district, or precinct, or shall vote, or offer to vote, in any name not his own, or in place of any other person of the same name, or shall vote in any county in which he does not reside (originally Article I, sec. 4, thus renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 6. If any person shall give, or offer to give, directly or indirectly, any bribe, present or reward, or any promise, or any security, for the payment or delivery of money, or any other thing, to induce any voter to refrain from casting his vote, or to prevent him in any way from voting, or to procure a vote for any candidate or person proposed, or voted for as the elector of President, and Vice President of the United States, or Representative in Congress or for any office of profit or trust, created by the Constitution or Laws of this State, or by the Ordinances, or Authority of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the person giving, or offering to give and the person receiving the same, and any person who gives or causes to be given, an illegal vote, knowing it to be such, at any election to be hereafter held in this State, shall, on conviction in a Court of Law, in addition to the penalties now or hereafter to be imposed by law, be forever disqualified to hold any office of profit or trust, or to vote at any election thereafter. But the General Assembly may in its discretion remove the above penalty and all other penalties upon the vote seller so as to place the penalties for the purchase of votes on the vote buyer alone (originally Article I, sec. 3, thus renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978. As sec. 3, it was amended by Chapter 602, Acts of 1912, ratified Nov. 4, 1913).

SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall pass Laws necessary for the preservation of the purity of Elections (transferred from Article III, sec. 42, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978. Previous sec. 7 renumbered as Art. I, sec. 11, by same act and ratification).

SEC. 8. The General Assembly, shall make provisions for all cases of contested elections of any of the officers, not herein provided for (transferred from Article III, sec. 47, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 9. Every person elected, or appointed, to any office of profit or trust, under this Constitution, or under the Laws, made pursuant thereto, shall, before he enters upon the duties of such office, take and subscribe the following oath, or affirmation: I, _______________, do swear, (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will support the Constitution of the United States; and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland, and support the Constitution and Laws thereof; and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment, diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the office of________________, according to the Constitution and Laws of this State, (and, if a Governor, Senator, Member of the House of Delegates, or Judge,) that I will not directly or indirectly, receive the profits or any part of the profits of any other office during the term of my acting as___________ (originally Article I, sec. 6, renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 10. Any officer elected or appointed in pursuance of the provisions of this Constitution, may qualify, either according to the existing provisions of law, in relation to officers under the present Constitution, or before the Governor of the State, or before any Clerk of any Court of Record in any part of the State; but in case an officer shall qualify out of the County in which he resides, an official copy of his oath shall be filed and recorded in the Clerk's office of the Circuit Court of the County in which he may reside, or in the Clerk's office of the Superior Court of the City of Baltimore, if he shall reside therein. All words or phrases, used in creating public offices and positions under the Constitution and laws of this State, which denote the masculine gender shall be construed to include the feminine gender, unless the contrary intention is specifically expressed (transferred from Article XV, sec. 10, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978. As Art. XV, sec. 10, it was amended by Chapter 275, Acts of 1922, ratified Nov. 7, 1922).

SEC. 11. Every person, hereafter elected, or appointed, to office, in this State, who shall refuse, or neglect, to take the oath, or affirmation of office, provided for in the ninth section of this Article, shall be considered as having refused to accept the said office; and a new election, or appointment, shall be made, as in case of refusal to accept, or resignation of an office; and any person violating said oath, shall, on conviction thereof, in a Court of Law, in addition to the penalties now, or hereafter, to be imposed by Law, be thereafter incapable of holding any office of profit or trust in this State (originally Article I, sec. 7. Thus renumbered and amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 12. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, a person is ineligible to enter upon the duties of, or to continue to serve in, an elective office created by or pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution if the person was not a registered voter in this State on the date of the person's election or appointment to that term or if, at any time thereafter and prior to completion of the term, the person ceases to be a registered voter (added by Chapter 788, Acts of 1984, ratified Nov. 6, 1984).

Article II: Executive Department

SECTION 1. The executive power of the State shall be vested in a Governor, whose term of office shall commence on the third Wednesday of January next ensuing his election, and continue for four years, and until his successor shall have qualified; and a person who has served two consecutive popular elective terms of office as Governor shall be ineligible to succeed himself as Governor for the term immediately following the second of said two consecutive popular elective terms (amended by Chapter 109, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 1A. There shall be a Lieutenant Governor, who shall have only the duties delegated to him by the Governor and shall have such compensation as the General Assembly shall provide by law, except that beginning in the year 1978 the salary of the Lieutenant Governor shall be as provided under Section 21A of this Article. No person who is ineligible under this Constitution to be elected Governor shall be eligible to hold the office of Lieutenant Governor (amended by Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 543, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976).

SEC. 1B. Each candidate who shall seek a nomination for Governor, under any method provided by law for such nomination, including primary elections, shall at the time of filing for said office designate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and the names of the said candidate for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be listed on the primary election ballot, or otherwise considered for nomination jointly with each other. No candidate for Governor may designate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor to contest for the said offices jointly with him without the consent of the said candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and no candidate for Lieutenant Governor may designate a candidate for Governor, to contest jointly for said offices with him without the consent of the said candidate for Governor, said consent to be in writing on a form provided for such purpose and filed at the time the said candidates shall file their certificates of candidacy, or other documents by which they seek nomination. In any election, including a primary election, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be listed jointly on the ballot, and a vote cast for the candidate for Governor shall also be cast for Lieutenant Governor jointly listed on the ballot with him, and the election of Governor, or the nomination of a candidate for Governor, also shall constitute the election for the same term, or the nomination, of the Lieutenant Governor who was listed on the ballot or was being considered jointly with him (added by Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 2. An election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, under this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, in the year nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and on the same day and month in every fourth year thereafter, at the places of voting for Delegates to the General Assembly; and every person qualified to vote for Delegate, shall be qualified and entitled to vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor; the election to be held in the same manner as the election of Delegates, and the returns thereof, under seal, to be addressed to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and enclosed and transmitted to the Secretary of State, and delivered to said Speaker, at the commencement of the session of the General Assembly, next ensuing said election (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 3. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall then open the said Returns, in the presence of both Houses; and the persons having the highest number of votes for these offices, and being Constitutionally eligible, shall be the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and shall qualify, in the manner herein prescribed, on the third Wednesday of January next ensuing his election, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable (amended by Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapters 532 and 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 4. If two or more sets of persons shall have the highest and an equal number of votes for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, one set of them shall be chosen Governor and Lieutenant Governor, by the Senate and House of Delegates; and all questions in relation to the eligibility of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and to the Returns of said election, and to the number and legality of votes therein given, shall be determined by the House of Delegates; and if the person having the highest number of votes for Governor or for Lieutenant Governor or both of them, be ineligible, a person or persons shall be chosen by the Senate and House of Delegates in place of the ineligible person or persons. Every election of Governor or of Lieutenant Governor, or both, by the General Assembly shall be determined by a joint majority of the Senate and House of Delegates; and the vote shall be taken viva voce. But if two or more sets of persons shall have the highest and an equal number of votes, then, a second vote shall be taken, which shall be confined to the sets of persons having an equal number; and if the vote should again be equal, then the election of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be determined by lot between those sets, who shall have the highest and an equal number on the first vote (amended by Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 5. A person to be eligible for the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor must have attained the age of thirty years, and must have been a resident and registered voter of the State for five years next immediately preceding his election (amended by Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 6. (a) If the Governor-elect is disqualified, resigns, or dies, the Lieutenant Governor-elect shall become Governor for the full term. If the Governor-elect fails to assume office for any other reason, the newly elected Lieutenant Governor shall become Lieutenant Governor and shall serve as acting Governor until the Governor-elect assumes office or until the office becomes vacant.

(b) The Lieutenant Governor shall serve as acting Governor when notified in writing by the Governor that the Governor will be temporarily unable to perform the duties of the Governor's office. The Lieutenant Governor also shall serve as acting Governor when the Governor is disabled but is unable to communicate to the Lieutenant Governor the fact of the Governor's inability to perform the duties of his office. In either event the Lieutenant Governor shall serve as acting Governor until notified in writing by the Governor that the Governor is able to resume the duties of the Governor's office or until the office becomes vacant (amended by Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(c) The General Assembly, by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of all its members in joint session, may adopt a resolution declaring that the Governor or Lieutenant Governor is unable by reason of physical or mental disability to perform the duties of the office. When action is undertaken pursuant to this subsection of the Constitution, the officer who concludes that the other officer is unable, by reason of disability to perform the duties of the office shall have the power to call the General Assembly into Joint Session. The resolution, if adopted, shall be delivered to the Supreme Court of Maryland, which then shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether that officer is unable by reason of the disability to perform the duties of the office. If the Supreme Court of Maryland determines that such officer is unable to discharge the duties of the office by reason of a permanent disability, the office shall be vacant. If the Supreme Court of Maryland determines that such officer is unable to discharge the duties of the office by reason of a temporary disability, it shall declare the office to be vacant during the time of the disability and the Court shall have continuing jurisdiction to determine when the disability has terminated. If the General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Maryland, acting in the same manner as described above, determine that the Governor-elect or Lieutenant Governor-elect is unable by reason of physical or mental disability to perform the duties of the elected office, the elected officer shall be disqualified to assume office (amended by Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(d) When a vacancy occurs in the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall succeed to that office for the remainder of the term. When a vacancy occurs in the office of Lieutenant Governor, the Governor shall nominate a person who shall succeed to that office upon confirmation by the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the General Assembly in joint session.

(e) If vacancies in the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor exist at the same time, the General Assembly shall convene forthwith, and the office of Governor shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the General Assembly in joint session. The person so chosen as Governor by the General Assembly shall then nominate a person to succeed to the office of Lieutenant Governor, upon confirmation by the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the General Assembly in the same joint session. The President of the Senate shall serve as acting Governor until the newly elected Governor has qualified. If a vacancy exists in the office of Lieutenant Governor, at a time when the Lieutenant Governor is authorized to serve as acting Governor, the President of the Senate shall serve as acting Governor. If there is a vacancy in the office of the President of the Senate at a time when the President is authorized to serve as acting Governor, the Senate shall forthwith convene and fill the vacancy (amended by Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(f) When the Lieutenant Governor or a person elected by the General Assembly succeeds to the office of Governor, the person who succeeds to the office shall have the title, powers, duties, and emoluments of that office; but when the Lieutenant Governor or the President of the Senate serves as acting Governor, the acting Governor shall have only the powers and duties of that office. When the President of the Senate serves as acting Governor, the President shall continue to be President of the Senate, but the President's duties duties as president shall be performed by such other person as the Senate shall select (amended by Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(g) The Supreme Court of Maryland shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes or questions arising from the failure of the Governor-elect to take office, or the service of the Lieutenant Governor or President of the Senate as acting Governor, or the creation of a vacancy in the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor by reason of disability, or the succession to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, or the exercise of the powers and duties of a successor to the office of Governor (amended by Chapter 743, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

SEC. 7. The Legislature may provide by law, not inconsistent with Section 26 of Article III of this Constitution, for the impeachment of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor (amended by Chapter 743, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 7A. Vacant (added by Chapter 532, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970. Repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 8. The Governor shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the State; and may call out the Militia to repel invasions, suppress insurrections, and enforce the execution of the Laws; but shall not take the command in person, without the consent of the Legislature.

SEC. 9. He shall take care that the Laws are faithfully executed.

SEC. 10. He shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint all civil and military officers of the State, whose appointment, or election, is not otherwise herein provided for, unless a different mode of appointment be prescribed by the Law creating the office.

SEC. 10A. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a Governor may not appoint a person to an office in the Executive Branch of State Government during:

(1) The period between a primary election in which the Governor is not renominated or is ineligible to succeed himself and the inauguration of the next succeeding Governor; or

(2) If the Governor is nominated in the primary election but defeated in the general election, the period between the general election and the inauguration of the next succeeding Governor.

(b) In an emergency during the periods described in subsection (a) of this section, a Governor may appoint a person to an office in the Executive Branch that the Governor has the power to fill on a temporary basis upon filing a statement of emergency with the Secretary of State. Appointments made under this subsection are subject to the approval of the next succeeding Governor, who may remove the temporary officeholder and appoint a replacement (added by Chapter 114, Acts of 1995, ratified Nov. 5, 1996).

SEC. 11. In case of any vacancy, during the recess of the Senate, in any office which the Governor has power to fill, he shall appoint some suitable person to said office, whose commission shall continue in force until the end of the next session of the Legislature, or until some other person is appointed to the same office, whichever shall first occur; and the nomination of the person thus appointed, during the recess, or, of some other person in his place, shall be made to the Senate on the first day of the next regular meeting of the Senate (amended by Chapter 626, Acts of 1955, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).

SEC. 12. No person, after being rejected by the Senate, shall be again nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at the request of the Senate; or, be appointed to the same office during the recess of the Legislature.

SEC. 13. All civil officers nominated by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, shall be nominated to the Senate within forty days from the commencement of each regular session of the Legislature; and their term of office, except in cases otherwise provided for in this Constitution, shall commence on the first Monday of May next ensuing their appointment, and continue for two years (unless removed from office), and until their successors, respectively, qualify according to law (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

SEC. 14. If a vacancy shall occur, during the session of the Senate, in any office which the Governor and the Senate have the power to fill, the Governor shall nominate to the Senate before its final adjournment, a proper person to fill said vacancy, unless such vacancy occurs within ten days before said final adjournment.

SEC. 15. The Governor may suspend or arrest any military officer of the State for disobedience of orders, or other military offense; and may remove him in pursuance of the sentence of a Court-Martial; and may remove for incompetency, or misconduct, all civil officers who received appointment from the Executive for a term of years.

SEC. 16. The Governor shall convene the Legislature, or the Senate alone, on extraordinary occasions; and whenever from the presence of an enemy, or from any other cause, the Seat of Government shall become an unsafe place for the meeting of the Legislature, he may direct their sessions to be held at some other convenient place.

SEC. 17. (a) To guard against hasty or partial legislation and encroachment of the Legislative Department upon the co-ordinate Executive and Judicial Departments, every Bill passed by the House of Delegates and the Senate, before it becomes a law, shall be presented to the Governor of the State. If the Governor approves the Bill, the Governor shall sign the Bill. Except for the Budget Bill, if the Governor disapproves the Bill, the Governor shall return it with objections to the House in which it originated, which House shall enter the objections at large on its Journal and proceed to reconsider the Bill. Each House may adopt by rule a veto calendar procedure that permits Bills that are to be reconsidered to be read and voted upon as a single group. The members of each House shall be afforded reasonable notice of the Bills to be placed on each veto calendar. Upon the objection of a member, any Bill shall be removed from the veto calendar. If, after such reconsideration, three-fifths of the members elected to that House pass the Bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it passes by three-fifths of the members elected to that House it shall become a law. The votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.

(b) If any Bill presented to the Governor while the General Assembly is in session is not returned by the Governor with objections within six days (Sundays excepted), the Bill shall be a law in like manner as if the Governor signed it, unless the General Assembly, by adjournment, prevents its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

(c) Any Bill presented to the Governor within six days (Sundays excepted), prior to adjournment of any session of the General Assembly, or after such adjournment, shall become law without the Governor's signature unless it is vetoed by the Governor within 30 days after its presentment.

(d) Any Bill, except the Budget Bill, vetoed by the Governor shall be returned to the House in which it originated immediately after the House has organized at the next regular or special session of the General Assembly, other than in extraordinary session convened under subsection (g) of this section. The Bill may then be reconsidered according to the procedure specified in this section. Any Bill enacted over the veto of the Governor, or any Bill which shall become law as the result of the failure of the Governor to act within the time specified, shall take effect 30 days after the Governor's veto is over-ridden, or on the date specified in the Bill, whichever is later. If the Bill is an emergency measure, it shall take effect when enacted. No such vetoed Bill shall be returned to the Legislature when a new General Assembly of Maryland has been elected and sworn since the passage of the vetoed Bill.

(e) Except for the Budget Bill, the Governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or items of any Bills making appropriations of money embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the Bill approved shall be the law, and the item or items of appropriations disapproved shall be void unless repassed according to the rules or limitations prescribed for the passage of other Bills over the Executive veto (amended by Chapter 194, Acts of 1890, ratified Nov. 3, 1891; Chapter 714, Acts of 1949, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 664, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974; Chapter 793, Acts of 1988, ratified Nov. 8, 1988; Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

(f) (1) The Governor may approve or disapprove items in the Budget Bill as provided in this subsection.

(2) The Governor may veto only items relating to the Executive Department that have been increased or added by the General Assembly. The Governor may not veto any other items in the Budget Bill.

(3) If the Governor vetoes an item that had been increased by the General Assembly and the General Assembly does not override the veto under subsection (g) of this section, that item shall revert to the proposed appropriation submitted by the Governor. the proposed appropriation shall then be law immediately without further action by the Governor.

(4) If the Governor vetoes an item that had been added by the General Assembly and the General Assembly does not override the veto under subsection (g) of this section, that item shall be void.

(5) Items not disapproved by the Governor shall be law immediately without further action by the Governor (added by Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

(g) (1) if the Governor vetoes an item in the Budget Bill, the General Assembly may convene in extraordinary session within 30 days after the date of the veto to consider whether to override the veto. If the General Assembly wishes to consider whether to override the Governor’s veto of an item in the Budget Bill, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates jointly shall issue a proclamation specifying the date on which to convene in extraordinary session.

(2) (i) The Budget Bill shall be returned by the Governor to the House in which it originated, and each vetoed item shall be considered individually.

(ii) If three–fifths of the members elected to that house vote to override the veto of an item, it shall be sent to the other house for consideration.

(iii) If three–fifths of the members of that house vote to override the veto of the item, that item shall revert to the appropriation originally passed by the General Assembly. the appropriation as originally passed shall then become law immediately, without further action by the Governor or the General Assembly (added by Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

SEC. 18. It shall be the duty of the Governor, semi-annually (and oftener, if he deem it expedient) to examine under oath the Treasurer and Comptroller of the State on all matters pertaining to their respective offices; and inspect and review their Bank and other Account Books.

SEC. 19. He shall, from time to time, inform the Legislature of the condition of the State and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may judge necessary and expedient.

SEC. 20. He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, except in cases of impeachment, and in cases, in which he is prohibited by other Articles of this Constitution; and to remit fines and forfeitures for offences against the State; but shall not remit the principal or interest of any debt due the State, except in cases of fines and forfeitures; and before granting a nolle prosequi, or pardon, he shall give notice, in one or more newspapers, of the application made for it, and of the day on, or after which, his decision will be given; and in every case, in which he exercises this power, he shall report to either Branch of the Legislature, whenever required, the petitions, recommendations and reasons, which influenced his decision.

SEC. 21. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government, and, from and after the fourth Wednesday in January 1967, shall receive for his services an annual salary of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars, except that beginning in the year 1978 the salary of the Governor shall be as provided in Section 21A of this Article (amended by Chapter 315, Acts of 1953, ratified Nov. 2, 1954; Chapter 641, Acts of 1965, ratified Nov. 8, 1966; Chapter 543, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976).

SEC. 21A. (a) The salaries of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be as provided in this section.

(b) The Governor's Salary Commission is created. It consists of seven members: The State Treasurer; three appointed by the President of the Senate; and three appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Members of the General Assembly and officers and employees of the State or a political subdivision of the State are not eligible for appointment to the Commission. The members of the Commission shall elect a member to be chairman, and the concurrence of at least five members is required for any formal Commission action. The terms of members shall be for 4 years, except that the persons first appointed to the Commission shall serve from June 1, 1977 until May 31, 1980. The members of the Commission are eligible for reappointment. Members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in carrying out responsibilities under this section.

(c) Within ten days after the commencement of the regular session of the General Assembly in 1978, and within ten days after the commencement of the regular session of the General Assembly each fourth year thereafter, the Commission shall make a written recommendation to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and other members of the General Assembly as to the salary of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

(d) The recommendation shall be introduced as a joint resolution in each house of the General Assembly not later than the fifteenth day of the session. The General Assembly may amend the joint resolution to decrease the recommended salaries, but may not amend the joint resolution to increase the recommended salaries. If the General Assembly fails to adopt a joint resolution in accordance with this section within 50 days after its introduction, the salaries recommended by the Commission shall apply. If the General Assembly amends the joint resolution in accordance with this section, the salaries specified in the joint resolution, as amended, shall apply. If the Commission recommends no salary change, a joint resolution shall not be introduced.

(e) The Commission may not recommend salaries lower than that received by the incumbent Governor at the time the recommendation is made; and the General Assembly may not amend the joint resolution to provide for salaries lower than that received by the incumbent Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

(f) A change in salary resulting from either Commission recommendation or amended joint resolution under this section shall take effect at the beginning of the next ensuing term of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

(g) Commission inaction or failure of the Commission to meet the requirements of this section with respect to proposing a change in salary for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall result in no change in salary (added by Chapter 543, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976).

SEC. 22. A Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall continue in office, unless sooner removed by the Governor, till the end of the official term of the Governor from whom he received his appointment, and receive such annual salary as the General Assembly may from time to time by law prescribe (amended by Chapter 42, Acts of 1954, ratified Nov. 2, 1954).

SEC. 23. The Secretary of State shall carefully keep and preserve a Record of all official acts and proceedings, which may at all times be inspected by a committee of either Branch of the Legislature; and he shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by Law, or as may properly belong to his office, together with all clerical duty belonging to the Executive Department.

SEC. 24. The Governor may make changes in the organization of the Executive Branch of the State Government, including the establishment or abolition of departments, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities, and the reallocation or reassignment of functions, powers, and duties among the departments, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Executive Branch. Where these changes are inconsistent with existing law, or create new governmental programs they shall be set forth in executive orders in statutory form which shall be submitted to the General Assembly within the first ten days of a regular session. An executive order that has been submitted shall become effective and have the force of law on the date designated in the Order unless specifically disapproved, within fifty days after submission, by a resolution of disapproval concurred in by a majority vote of all members of either House of the General Assembly. No executive order reorganizing the Executive Branch shall abolish any office established by this Constitution or shall change the powers and duties delegated to particular officers or departments by this Constitution (added by Chapter 790, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).

Article III: Legislative Department

SECTION 1. The Legislature shall consist of two distinct branches; a Senate, and a House of Delegates, and shall be styled the General Assembly of Maryland.

SEC. 2. The membership of the Senate shall consist of forty-seven (47) Senators. The membership of the House of Delegates shall consist of one hundred forty-one (141) Delegates (amended by Chapter 469, Acts of 1900, ratified Nov. 5, 1901; Chapter 7, Acts of 1922, ratified Nov. 7, 1922; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 3. The State shall be divided by law into legislative districts for the election of members of the Senate and the House of Delegates. Each legislative district shall contain one (1) Senator and three (3) Delegates. Nothing herein shall prohibit the subdivision of any one or more of the legislative districts for the purpose of electing members of the House of Delegates into three (3) single-member delegate districts or one (1) single-member delegate district and one (1) multi-member delegate district (repealed by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; added by Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 4. Each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions (amended by Chapter 432, Acts of 1900, ratified Nov. 5, 1901; Chapter 20, Acts of 1922, ratified Nov. 7, 1922; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 5. Following each decennial census of the United States and after public hearings, the Governor shall prepare a plan setting forth the boundaries of the legislative districts for electing of the members of the Senate and the House of Delegates.

The Governor shall present the plan to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Delegates who shall introduce the Governor's plan as a joint resolution to the General Assembly, not later than the first day of its regular session in the second year following every census, and the Governor may call a special session for the presentation of the plan prior to the regular session. The plan shall conform to Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. Following each decennial census the General Assembly may by joint resolution adopt a plan setting forth the boundaries of the legislative districts for the election of members of the Senate and the House of Delegates, which plan shall conform to Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. If a plan has been adopted by the General Assembly by the 45th day after the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly in the second year following every census, the plan adopted by the General Assembly shall become law. If no plan has been adopted by the General Assembly for these purposes by the 45th day after the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly in the second year following every census, the Governor's plan presented to the General Assembly shall become law (amended by Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

Upon petition of any registered voter, the Supreme Court of Maryland shall have original jurisdiction to review the legislative districting of the State and may grant appropriate relief, if it finds that the districting of the State is not consistent with requirements of either the Constitution of the United States of America, or the Constitution of Maryland (amended by Chapter 226, Acts of 1949, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

SEC. 6. A member of the General Assembly shall be elected by the registered voters of the legislative or delegate district from which he seeks election, to serve for a term of four years beginning on the second Wednesday of January following his election (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 7. The election for Senators and Delegates shall take place on the Tuesday next, after the first Monday in the month of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-eight, and in every fourth year thereafter (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).

SEC. 8. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).

SEC. 9. A person is eligible to serve as a Senator or Delegate, who on the date of the person's election, (1) is a citizen of the State of Maryland, (2) has resided therein for at least one year next preceding that date, and (3) if the district that the person has been chosen to represent has been established for at least six months prior to the date of the person's election, has resided in that district for six months next preceding that date amd, beginnning January 1, 2024, has maintained a primary place of abode in that district for six months next preceding that date (amended by Chapter 808, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

If the district that the person has been chosen to represent has been established less than six months prior to the date of the person's election, then in addition to (1) and (2) above, the person shall have resided in the district for as long as it has been established and, beginning January 1, 2024, shall have maintained a primary place of abode in the district for as long as it has been established (amended by Chapter 808, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

A person is eligible to serve as a Senator, if the person has attained the age of twenty-five years, or as a Delegate, if the person has attained the age of twenty-one years, on the date of the person's election (amended by Chapter 880, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 808, Acts of 2021).

SEC. 10. No member of Congress, or person holding any civil, or military office under the United States, shall be eligible as a Senator, or Delegate; and if any person shall after his election as Senator, or Delegate, be elected to Congress, or be appointed to any office, civil, or military, under the Government of the United States, his acceptance thereof, shall vacate his seat; except that a Senator or Delegate may be a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States or a member of the militia of the United States or this State (amended by Chapter 61, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990).

SEC. 11. No person holding any civil office of profit, or trust, under this State shall be eligible as Senator or Delegate; however, a Senator or Delegate may be a nonelected law enforcement officer or a fire or rescue squad worker (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 80, Acts of 1996, ratified Nov. 5, 1996).

SEC. 12. No Collector, Receiver, or Holder of public money shall be eligible as Senator or Delegate, or to any office of profit, or trust, under this State, until he shall have accounted for, and paid into the Treasury all sums on the books thereof, charged to, and due by him.

SEC. 13. (a) (1) In case of death, disqualification, resignation, refusal to act, expulsion, or removal from the county or city for which he shall have been elected, of any person who shall have been chosen as a Delegate or Senator, or in case of a tie between two or more such qualified persons, the Governor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy from a person whose name shall be submitted to him in writing, within thirty days after the occurrence of the vacancy, by the Central Committee of the political party, if any, with which the Delegate or Senator, so vacating, had been affiliated, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Senator or Delegate, in the County or District from which he or she was appointed or elected, provided that the appointee shall be of the same political party, if any, as was that of the Delegate or Senator, whose office is to be filled, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Delegate or Senator, and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make said appointment within fifteen days after the submission thereof to him.

(2) If a name is not submitted by the Central Committee within thirty days after the occurrence of the vacancy, the Governor within another period of fifteen days shall appoint a person, who shall be affiliated with the same political party, if any as was that of the Delegate or Senator, whose office is to be filled, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Delegate or Senator, and who is otherwise properly qualified to hold the office of Delegate or Senator in the District or County.

(3) In the event there is no Central Committee in the County or District from which said vacancy is to be filled, the Governor shall within fifteen days after the occurrence of such vacancy appoint a person, from the same political party, if any, as that of the vacating Delegate or Senator, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Senator or Delegate, who is otherwise properly qualified to hold the office of Delegate or Senator in such District or County.

(4) In every case when any person is so appointed by the Governor, his appointment shall be deemed to be for the unexpired term of the person whose office has become vacant.

(b) In addition, and in submitting a name to the Governor to fill a vacancy in a legislative or delegate district, as the case may be, in any of the twenty-three counties of Maryland, the Central Committee or committees shall follow these provisions:

(1) If the vacancy occurs in a district having the same boundaries as a county, the Central Committee of the county shall submit the name of a resident of the district.

(2) If the vacancy occurs in a district which has boundaries comprising a portion of one county, the Central Committee of that county shall submit the name of a resident of the district.

(3) If the vacancy occurs in a district which has boundaries comprising a portion or all of two or more counties, the Central Committee of each county involved shall have one vote for submitting the name of a resident of the district; and if there is a tie vote between or among the Central Committees, the list of names there proposed shall be submitted to the Governor, and he shall make the appointment from the list (amended by Chapter 584, Acts of 1935, ratified Nov. 3, 1936; Chapter 162, Acts of 1966, ratified Nov. 8, 1966; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 649, Acts of 1986, ratified Nov. 4, 1986).

SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall meet on the second Wednesday of January, nineteen hundred and seventy-one, and on the same day in every year thereafter, and at no other time, unless convened by joint proclamation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates under section 17(g) of Article II of this Constitution or by Proclamation of the Governor. The Governor shall issue a Proclamation convening the General Assembly in extraordinary session if a majority of the members elected to the Senate and a majority of the members elected to the House of Delegates join in a petition to the Governor requesting that the Governor convene the General Assembly in extraordinary session, and the Governor shall convene the General Assembly on the date specified in the petition. This section does not affect the Governor's power to convene the General Assembly in extraordinary session pursuant to Section 16 of Article II of this Constitution (amended by Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

SEC. 15. (1) The General Assembly may continue its session so long as in its judgment the public interest may require, for a period not longer than ninety days in each year. The ninety days shall be consecutive unless otherwise provided by law. The General Assembly may extend its session beyond ninety days, but not exceeding an additional thirty days, by resolution concurred in by a three-fifths vote of the membership in each House. When the General Assembly is convened by Proclamation of the Governor, the session shall not continue longer than thirty days, but no additional compensation other than mileage and other allowances provided by law shall be paid members of the General Assembly for special session.

(2) Any compensation and allowances paid to members of the General Assembly shall be as established by a commission known as the General Assembly Compensation Commission. The Commission shall consist of nine members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, two of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and two of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Members of the General Assembly and officers and employees of the Government of the State of Maryland or of any county, city, or other governmental unit of the State shall not be eligible for appointment to the Commission. Members of the Commission shall be appointed for terms of four years commencing on June 1 of each gubernatorial election year. Members of the Commission are eligible for re-appointment. Any member of the Commission may be removed by the Governor prior to the expiration of his term for official misconduct, incompetence, or neglect of duty. The members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in carrying out their responsibilities under this section. Decisions of the Commission must be concurred in by at least five members.

(3) Within 15 days after the beginning of the regular session of the General Assembly in 1974 and within 15 days after the beginning of the regular session in each fourth year thereafter, the Commission by formal resolution shall submit its determinations for compensation and allowances to the General Assembly. The General Assembly may reduce or reject, but shall not increase any item in the resolution. The resolution, with any reductions that shall have been concurred in by joint resolution of the General Assembly, shall take effect and have the force of law as of the beginning of the term of office of the next General Assembly. Rates of compensation and pensions shall be uniform for all members of the General Assembly, except that the officers of the Senate and the House of Delegates may receive higher compensation as determined by the General Assembly Compensation Commission. The provisions of the Compensation Commission resolution shall continue in force until superseded by any succeeding resolution.

(4) In no event shall the compensation and allowances be less than they were prior to the establishment of the Compensation Commission (amended by Chapter 695, Acts of 1941, ratified Nov. 3, 1942; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 541, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 16. No book, or other printed matter not appertaining to the business of the session, shall be purchased, or subscribed for, for the use of the members of the General Assembly, or be distributed among them, at the public expense.

SEC. 17. No Senator or Delegate, after qualifying as such, notwithstanding he may thereafter resign, shall during the whole period of time, for which he was elected, be eligible to any office, which shall have been created, or the salary, or profits of which shall have been increased, during such term.

SEC. 18. No Senator or Delegate shall be liable in any civil action, or criminal prosecution, whatever, for words spoken in debate.

SEC. 19. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and elections of its members, as prescribed by the Constitution and Laws of the State, and shall appoint its own officers, determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish a member for disorderly or disrespectful behaviour and with the consent of two-thirds of its whole number of members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offence (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 20. A majority of the whole number of members elected to each House shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 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 prescribe.

SEC. 21. The doors of each House, and of the Committee of the Whole, shall be open, except when the business is such as ought to be kept secret.

SEC. 22. Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and cause the same to be published. The yeas and nays of members on any question, shall at the call of any five of them in the House of Delegates, or one in the Senate, be entered on the Journal.

SEC. 23. Each House may punish by imprisonment, during the session of the General Assembly, any person, not a member, for disrespectful, or disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings, or any of its officers in the execution of their duties; provided, such imprisonment shall not, at any one time, exceed ten days.

SEC. 24. The House of Delegates may inquire, on the oath of witnesses, into all complaints, grievances and offences, as the grand inquest of the State, and may commit any person, for any crime, to the public jail, there to remain, until discharged by due course of Law. They may examine and pass all accounts of the State, relating either to the collection or expenditure of the revenue, and appoint auditors to state and adjust the same. They may call for all public, or official papers and records, and send for persons, whom they may judge necessary in the course of their inquiries, concerning affairs relating to the public interest, and may direct all office bonds which shall be made payable to the State, to be sued for any breach thereof; and with a view to the more certain prevention, or correction of the abuses in the expenditures of the money of the State, the General Assembly shall create, at every session thereof, a Joint Standing Committee of the Senate and House of Delegates, who shall have power to send for persons, and examine them on oath, and call for Public, or Official Papers and Records, and whose duty it shall be to examine and report upon all contracts made for printing stationery, and purchases for the Public offices, and the Library, and all expenditures therein, and upon all matters of alleged abuse in expenditures, to which their attention may be called by Resolution of either House of the General Assembly.

SEC. 25. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, at any one time, nor adjourn to any other place, than that in which the House shall be sitting, without the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the members present.

SEC. 26. The House of Delegates shall have the sole power of impeachment in all cases; but a majority of all the members elected must concur in the impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and when sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be on oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to the law and evidence; but no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Senators elected.

SEC. 27. (a) Any bill may originate in either House of the General Assembly and be altered, amended or rejected by the other. No bill shall originate in either House during the last thirty-five calendar days of a regular session, unless two-thirds of the members elected thereto shall so determine by yeas and nays, and in addition the two Houses by joint and similar rule may further regulate the right to introduce bills during this period. A bill may not become a law until it is read on three different days of the session in each House, unless two-thirds of the members elected to the House where such bill is pending determine by yeas and nays, and no bill shall be read a third time until it shall have been actually engrossed or printed for a third reading.

(b) Each House may adopt by rule a "consent calendar" procedure permitting bills to be read and voted upon as a single group on first, second and third readings, provided that the members of each House are afforded reasonable notice of the bills to be placed upon each "consent calendar." Upon the objection of any member, any bill in question shall be removed from the "consent calendar" (amended by Chapter 497, Acts of 1912, ratified Nov. 4, 1913; Chapter 616, Acts of 1955, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 369, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 793, Acts of 1988, ratified Nov. 8, 1988).

SEC. 28. No bill, nor single group of bills placed on the "consent calendar," shall become a Law unless it be passed in each House by a majority of the whole number of members elected, and on its final passage, the yeas and nays be recorded, and on final passage of the bills placed on the "consent calendar" the yeas and nays on the entire group of bills be recorded. A resolution requiring the action of both Houses shall be passed in the same manner (amended by Chapter 369, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 29. The style of all Laws of this State shall be, "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland:" and all Laws shall be passed by original bill; and every Law enacted by the General Assembly shall embrace but one subject, and that shall be described in its title; and no Law, nor section of Law, shall be revived, or amended by reference to its title, or section only; nor shall any Law be construed by reason of its title, to grant powers, or confer rights which are not expressly contained in the body of the Act; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, in amending any article, or section of the Code of Laws of this State, to enact the same, as the said article, or section would read when amended. And whenever the General Assembly shall enact any Public General Law, not amendatory of any section, or article in the said Code, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to enact the same, in articles and sections, in the same manner, as the Code is arranged, and to provide for the publication of all additions and alterations, which may be made to the said Code.

SEC. 30. Every bill, when passed by the General Assembly, and sealed with the Great Seal, shall be presented by the presiding officer of the House in which it originated to the Governor for the Governor's approval. All bills passed during a regular or special session shall be presented to the Governor for the Governor's approval no later than 20 days after adjournment. Within 30 days after presentment, if the Governor approves the bill, the Governor shall sign the same in the presence of the presiding officers and Chief Clerks of the Senate and House of Delegates. Every Law shall be recorded in the office of the Supreme Court of Maryland, and in due time, be printed, published and certified under the Great Seal, to the several Courts, in the same manner as has been heretofore usual in this State (amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

SEC. 31. A Law passed by the General Assembly shall take effect the first day of June next after the session at which it may be passed, unless it be otherwise expressly declared therein or provided for in this Constitution (amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974).

SEC. 32. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the State, by any order or resolution, nor except in accordance with an appropriation by Law; and every such Law shall distinctly specify the sum appropriated, and the object, to which it shall be applied; provided, that nothing herein contained, shall prevent the General Assembly from placing a contingent fund at the disposal of the Executive, who shall report to the General Assembly, at each Session, the amount expended, and the purposes to which it was applied. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money, shall be attached to, and published with the Laws, after each regular Session of the General Assembly.

SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall not pass local, or special Laws, in any of the following enumerated cases, viz.: For extending the time for the collection of taxes; granting divorces; changing the name of any person; providing for the sale of real estate, belonging to minors, or other persons laboring under legal disabilities, by executors, administrators, guardians or trustees; giving effect to informal, or invalid deeds or wills; refunding money paid into the State Treasury, or releasing persons from their debts, or obligations to the State, unless recommended by the Governor, or officers of the Treasury Department. And the General Assembly shall pass no special Law, for any case, for which provision has been made, by an existing General Law. The General Assembly, at its first Session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall pass General Laws, providing for the cases enumerated in this section, which are not already adequately provided for, and for all other cases, where a General Law can be made applicable.

SEC. 34. No debt shall be hereafter contracted by the General Assembly unless such debt shall be authorized by a law providing for the collection of an annual tax or taxes sufficient to pay the interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to discharge the principal thereof within fifteen years from the time of contracting the same; and the taxes laid for this purpose shall not be repealed or applied to any other object until the said debt and interest thereon shall be fully discharged. The annual tax or taxes required to be collected shall not be collected in the event that sufficient funds to pay the principal and interest on the debt are appropriated for this purpose in the annual State budget. The credit of the State shall not in any manner be given, or loaned to, or in aid of any individual association or corporation; nor shall the General Assembly have the power to involve the State in the construction of works of internal improvement which shall involve the faith or credit of the State, except in aid of the construction of works of internal improvement in the counties of St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert, which have had no direct advantage from such works as have been heretofore aided by the State; and provided that such aid, advances or appropriations shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. And they shall not use or appropriate the proceeds of the internal improvement companies, or of the State tax, now levied, or which may hereafter be levied, to pay off the public debt or to any other purpose until the interest and debt are fully paid or the sinking fund shall be equal to the amount of the outstanding debt; but the General Assembly may authorize the Board of Public Works to direct the State Treasurer to borrow in the name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds, such sum or sums as may be necessary to meet temporary deficiencies in the treasury, to preserve the best interest of the State in the conduct of the various State institutions, departments, bureaus, and agencies during each fiscal year. Subject to the approval of the Board of Public Works and as provided by law, the State Treasurer is authorized to make and sell short-term notes, in the name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds to meet temporary deficiencies in the Treasury, but such notes must only be made to provide for appropriations already made by the General Assembly. Any revenues anticipated for the purpose of short-term notes, made and sold under the authority of this section, must be so certain as to be readily estimable as to the time of receipt of the revenues and as to the amount of the revenues. The General Assembly may contract debts to any amount that may be necessary for the defense of the State, and provided further that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the raising of funds for the purpose of aiding or compensating in such manner or way as the General Assembly of the State shall deem proper, those citizens of the State who have served, with honor, their Country and State in time of War; provided, however, that such action of the General Assembly shall be effective only when submitted to and approved by a vote of the people of the State at the General Election next following the enactment of such legislation (amended by Chapter 327, Acts of 1924, ratified Nov. 4, 1924; Chapter 234, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 372, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 551, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 600, Acts of 1982, ratified Nov. 2, 1982).

SEC. 35. Extra compensation may not be granted or allowed by the General Assembly to any public Officer, Agent, Servant or Contractor, after the service has been rendered, or the contract entered into; nor may the salary or compensation of any public officer be increased or diminished during his term of office except those whose full term of office is fixed by law in excess of 4 years. However, after January 1, 1956, for services rendered after that date, the salary or compensation of any appointed public officer of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore may be increased or diminished at any time during his term of office; except that as to officers in the Classified City Service, when the salary of any appointed public officer of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore however, increased or decreased, it may not again be increased or decreased, as the case may be, during the term of such public officer (amended by Chapter 416, Acts of 1957, ratified Nov. 4, 1958; Chapter 547, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 976, Acts of 1978, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 35A. Nothing in this Constitution shall exempt the salary or compensation of any judge or other public officer from the imposition by the General Assembly of a non-discriminatory tax upon income, (added by Chapter 771, Acts of 1939, ratified Nov. 5, 1940).

SEC. 36. No Lottery grant shall ever hereafter be authorized by the General Assembly, unless it is a lottery to be operated by and for the benefit of the State (amended by Chapter 364, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

SEC. 37. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 38. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, but a valid decree of a court of competent jurisdiction or agreement approved by decree of said court for the support of a spouse or dependent children, or for the support of an illegitimate child or children, or for alimony (either common law or as defined by statute), shall not constitute a debt within the meaning of this section (amended by Chapter 14, Acts of 1950, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 121, Acts of 1962, ratified Nov. 6, 1962; Chapter 321, Acts of 1982, ratified Nov. 2, 1982).

SEC. 39. The books, papers and accounts of all banks shall be open to inspection under such regulations as may be prescribed by law (amended by Chapter 151, Acts of Special Session of 1936, ratified Nov. 3, 1936).

SEC. 40. The General Assembly shall enact no Law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, as agreed upon between the parties, or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation.

SEC. 40A. The General Assembly shall enact no law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, to be agreed upon between the parties, or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation, but where such property is situated in Baltimore City and is desired by this State or by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the General Assembly may provide that such property may be taken immediately upon payment therefor to the owner or owners thereof by the State or by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, or into court, such amount as the State or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, as the case may be, shall estimate to be the fair value of said property, provided such legislation also requires the payment of any further sum that may subsequently be added by a jury; and further provided that the authority and procedure for the immediate taking of property as it applies to the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore on June 1, 1961, shall remain in force and effect to and including June 1, 1963, and where such property is situated in Baltimore County and is desired by Baltimore County, Maryland, the County Council of Baltimore County, Maryland, may provide for the appointment of an appraiser or appraisers by a Court of Record to value such property and that upon payment of the amount of such evaluation, to the party entitled to compensation, or into Court, and securing the payment of any further sum that may be awarded by a jury, such property may be taken; and where such property is situated in Montgomery County and in the judgment of and upon a finding by the County Council of said County that there is immediate need therefor for right of way for County roads or streets, the County Council may provide that such property may be taken immediately upon payment therefor to the owner or owners thereof, or into court, such amount as a licensed real estate broker or a licensed and certified real estate appraiser appointed by the County Council shall estimate to be the fair market value of such property, provided that the Council shall secure the payment of any further sum that may subsequently be awarded by a jury. In the various municipal corporations within Cecil County, where in the judgment of and upon a finding by the governing body of said municipal corporation that there is immediate need therefor for right of way for municipal roads, streets and extension of municipal water and sewage facilities, the governing body may provide that such property may be taken immediately upon payment therefor to the owner or owners thereof, or into court, such amount as a licensed real estate broker appointed by the particular governing body shall estimate to be a fair market value of such property, provided that the municipal corporation shall secure the payment of any further sum that subsequently may be awarded by a jury. This Section 40A shall not apply in Montgomery County or any of the various municipal corporations within Cecil County, if the property actually to be taken includes a building or buildings (amended by Chapter 402, Acts of 1912, ratified Nov. 4, 1913; Chapters 224 and 604, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 329, Acts of 1961, ratified Nov. 6, 1962; Chapter 100, Acts of 1962, ratified Nov. 6, 1962; Chapter 304, Acts of 1966, ratified Nov. 8, 1966; Chapter 589, Acts of 2002, ratified Nov. 5, 2002).

SEC. 40B. The General Assembly shall enact no law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, to be agreed upon between the parties or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation, except that where such property in the judgment of the State Roads Commission is needed by the State for highway purposes, the General Assembly may provide that such property may be taken immediately upon payment therefor to the owner or owners thereof by said State Roads Commission, or into Court, such amount as said State Roads Commission shall estimate to be of the fair value of said property, provided such legislation also requires the payment of any further sum that may subsequently be awarded by a jury (added by Chapter 607, Acts of 1941, ratified Nov. 3, 1942).

SEC. 40C. The General Assembly shall enact no law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, to be agreed upon between the parties or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation, except that where such property, located in Prince George's County in this State, is in the judgment of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission needed for water supply, sewerage and drainage systems to be extended or constructed by the said Commission, the General Assembly may provide that such property, except any building or buildings may be taken immediately upon payment therefor by the condemning authority to the owner or owners thereof or into the Court to the use of the person or persons entitled thereto, such amount as the condemning authority shall estimate to be the fair value of said property, provided such legislation requires that the condemning authority's estimate be not less than the appraised value of the property being taken as evaluated by at least one qualified appraiser, whose qualifications have been accepted by a Court of Record of this State, and also requires the payment of any further sum that may subsequently be awarded by a jury, and provided such legislation limits the condemning authority's utilization of the acquisition procedures specified in this section to occasions where it has acquired or is acquiring by purchase or other procedures one-half or more of the several takings of land or interests in land necessary for any given water supply, sewerage or drainage extension or construction project (added by Chapter 781, Acts of 1965, ratified Nov. 8, 1966).

SEC. 40D. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 683, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 41. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 42. Vacant (transferred to Article I, sec. 7, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 43. The property of the wife shall be protected from the debts of her husband.

SEC. 44. Laws shall be passed by the General Assembly, to protect from execution a reasonable amount of the property of the debtor (amended by Chapter 549, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976).

SEC. 45. The General Assembly shall provide a simple and uniform system of charges in the offices of Clerks of Courts and Registers of Wills, in the Counties of this State and the City of Baltimore, and for the collection thereof; provided, the amount of compensation to any of the said officers in the various Counties and in the City of Baltimore shall be such as may be prescribed by law (amended by Chapter 509, Acts of 1941, ratified Nov. 3, 1942).

SEC. 46. The General Assembly shall have power to receive from the United States, any grant, or donation of land, money, or securities for any purpose designated by the United States, and shall administer, or distribute the same according to the conditions of the said grant.

SEC. 47. Vacant (transferred to Article I, sec. 8, by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 48. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes and except in cases where no general laws exist, providing for the creation of corporations of the same general character, as the corporation proposed to be created; and any act of incorporation passed in violation of this section shall be void. All charters granted, or adopted in pursuance of this section, and all charters heretofore granted and created, subject to repeal or modification, may be altered, from time to time, or be repealed; Provided, nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to Banks, or the incorporation thereof. The General Assembly shall not alter or amend the charter, of any corporation existing at the time of the adoption of this Article, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit of such corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation shall surrender all claim to exemption from taxation or from the repeal or modification of its charter, and that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution; and any corporation chartered by this State which shall accept, use, enjoy, or in any wise avail itself of any rights, privileges, or advantages that may hereafter be granted or conferred by any general or special act, shall be conclusively presumed to have thereby surrendered any exemption from taxation to which it may be entitled under its charter, and shall be thereafter subject to taxation as if no such exemption has been granted by its charter (amended by Chapter 195, Acts of 1890, ratified Nov. 3, 1891).

SEC. 49. The General Assembly shall have power to regulate by Law, not inconsistent with this Constitution, all matters which relate to the Judges of election, time, place and manner of holding elections in this State, and of making returns thereof.

SEC. 50. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at its first session, held after the adoption of this Constitution, to provide by Law for the punishment, by fine, or imprisonment in the Penitentiary, or both, in the discretion of the Court, of any person, who shall bribe, or attempt to bribe, any Executive, or Judicial officer of the State of Maryland, or any member, or officer, of the General Assembly of the State of Maryland, or of any Municipal corporation in the State of Maryland, or any Executive officer of such corporation, in order to influence him in the performance of any of his official duties; and, also, to provide by Law for the punishment, by fine, or imprisonment in the Penitentiary, or both, in the discretion of the Court, of any of said officers, or members, who shall demand, or receive any bribe, fee, reward, or testimonial, for the performance of his official duties, or for neglecting, or failing to perform the same; and, also, to provide by Law for compelling any person, so bribing, or attempting to bribe, or so demanding, or receiving a bribe, fee, reward, or testimonial, to testify against any person, or persons, who may have committed any of said offences; provided, that any person, so compelled to testify, shall be exempted from trial and punishment for the offence, of which he may have been guilty; and any person, convicted of such offence, shall, as part of the punishment thereof, be forever disfranchised and disqualified from holding any office of trust, or profit, in this State.

SEC. 51. The personal property of residents of this State, shall be subject to taxation in the County or City where the resident bona fide resides for the greater part of the year for which the tax may or shall be levied, and not elsewhere, except goods and chattels permanently located, which shall be taxed in the City or County where they are so located, but the General Assembly may by law provide for the taxation of mortgages upon property in this State and the debts secured thereby, in the County or City where such property is situated (amended by Chapter 426, Acts of 1890, ratified Nov. 3, 1891).

SEC. 52. (1) The General Assembly shall not appropriate any money out of the Treasury except in accordance with the provisions of this section (amended by Chapter 159, Acts of 1916, ratified Nov. 7, 1916; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948).

(2) Every appropriation bill shall be either a Budget Bill, or a Supplementary Appropriation Bill, as hereinafter provided.

(3) On the third Wednesday in January in each year, (except in the case of a newly elected Governor, and then not later than ten days after the convening of the General Assembly), unless such time shall be extended by the General Assembly, the Governor shall submit to the General Assembly a Budget for the next ensuing fiscal year. Each Budget shall contain a complete plan of proposed expenditures and estimated revenues for said fiscal year and shall show the estimated surplus or deficit of revenues at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Accompanying each Budget shall be a statement showing: (a) the revenues and expenditures for the preceding fiscal year; (b) the current assets, liabilities, reserves and surplus or deficit of the State; (c) the debts and funds of the State; (d) an estimate of the State's financial condition as of the beginning and end of the preceding fiscal year; (e) any explanation the Governor may desire to make as to the important features of the Budget and any suggestions as to methods for reduction or increase of the State's revenue (amended by Chapter 725, Acts of 1955, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964).

(4) Each Budget shall embrace an estimate of all appropriations in such form and detail as the Governor shall determine or as may be prescribed by law, as follows: (a) for the General Assembly as certified to the Governor in the manner hereinafter provided; (b) for the Executive Department; (c) for the Judiciary Department, as provided by law, as certified to the Governor; (d) to pay and discharge the principal and interest of the debt of the State in conformity with Section 34 of Article III of the Constitution, and all laws enacted in pursuance thereof; (e) for the salaries payable by the State and under the Constitution and laws of the State; (f) for the establishment and maintenance throughout the State of a thorough and efficient system of public schools in conformity with Article 8 of the Constitution and with the laws of the State; and (g) for such other purposes as are set forth in the Constitution or laws of the State (amended by Chapter 20, Acts of 1952, ratified Nov. 4, 1952; Chapter 62, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990).

(5) The Governor shall deliver to the presiding officer of each House the Budget and a bill for all the proposed appropriations of the Budget classified and in such form and detail as the Governor shall determine or as may be prescribed by law; and the presiding officer of each House shall promptly cause said bill to be introduced therein, and such bill shall be known as the "Budget Bill." The Governor may, with the consent of the General Assembly, before final action thereon by the General Assembly, amend or supplement said Budget to correct an oversight, provide funds contingent on passage of pending legislation or, in case of an emergency, by delivering such an amendment or supplement to the presiding officers of both Houses; and such amendment or supplement shall thereby become a part of said Budget Bill as an addition to the items of said bill or as a modification of or a substitute for any item of said bill such amendment or supplement may affect (amended by Chapter 20, Acts of 1952, ratified Nov. 4, 1952; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(5a) The Budget and the Budget Bill as submitted by the Governor to the General Assembly shall have a figure for the total of all proposed appropriations and a figure for the total of all estimated revenues available to pay the appropriations, and the figure for total proposed appropriations shall not exceed the figure for total estimated revenues. Neither the Governor in submitting an amendment or supplement to the Budget Bill nor the General Assembly in amending the Budget Bill shall thereby cause the figure for total proposed appropriations to exceed the figure for total estimated revenues, including any revisions, and in the Budget Bill as enacted the figure for total estimated revenues always shall be equal to or exceed the figure for total appropriations (added by Chapter 745, Acts of 1973, ratified Nov. 5, 1974).

(6) The General Assembly shall not amend the Budget Bill so as to affect either the obligations of the State under Section 34 of Article III of the Constitution, or the provisions made by the laws of the State for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools or the payment of any salaries required to be paid by the State of Maryland by the Constitution (amended by Chapter 373, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).

(6a) In enacting a balanced Budget Bill each fiscal year as required under this Section, the General Assembly may amend the bill by increasing or diminishing the items therein relating to the General Assembly, and by increasing or diminishing the items therein relating to the Judiciary, but except as hereinbefore specified, may not alter the said bill except to strike out or reduce items therein, provided, however, that the salary or compensation of any public officer shall not be decreased during the public officer's term of office. When passed by both Houses, the Budget Bill shall be presented to the Governor for approval or disapproval according to Section 17 of Article II of this Constitution (added by Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

(6b) In enacting a balanced Budget Bill as required under this Section for Fiscal Year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, the General Assembly may amend the bill by increasing, diminishing, or adding items therein relating to the General Assembly, by increasing, diminishing, or adding items therein relating to the Judiciary, and by increasing, diminishing, or adding items relating to the Executive Department, provided that the total of the appropriation for the Executive Department approved by the General Assembly does not exceed the total proposed appropriation for the Executive Department submitted by the Governor. The salary or compensation of any public officer may not be decreased during the public officer's term of office. When passed by both Houses, the Budget Bill shall be a law immediately without further action by the Governor (added by Chapter 645, Acts of 2020, ratified Nov. 3, 2020).

(7) The Governor and such representatives of the executive departments, boards, officers and commissions of the State expending or applying for State's moneys, as have been designated by the Governor for this purpose, shall have the right, and when requested by either House of the General Assembly, it shall be their duty to appear and be heard with respect to any Budget Bill during the consideration thereof, and to answer inquiries relative thereto (amended by Chapter 159, Acts of 1916, ratified Nov. 7, 1916; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948).

(8) Supplementary Appropriation Bill. Either House may consider other appropriations but both Houses shall not finally act upon such appropriations until after the Budget Bill has been finally acted upon by both Houses, and no such other appropriation shall be valid except in accordance with the provisions following: (a) Every such appropriation shall be embodied in a separate bill limited to some single work, object or purpose therein stated and called herein a Supplementary Appropriation Bill; (b) Each Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall provide the revenue necessary to pay the appropriation thereby made by a tax, direct or indirect, to be levied and collected as shall be directed in said bill; (c) No Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall become a law unless it be passed in each House by a vote of a majority of the whole number of the members elected, and the yeas and nays recorded on its final passage; (d) Each Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall be presented to the Governor of the State as provided in Section 17 of Article 2 of the Constitution and thereafter all the provisions of said section shall apply (amended by Chapter 416, Acts of 1966, ratified Nov. 8, 1966).

(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the General Assembly from passing at any time, in accordance with the provisions of Section 28 of Article 3 of the Constitution and subject to the Governor's power of approval as provided in Section 17 of Article 2 of the Constitution, an appropriation bill to provide for the payment of any obligation of the State within the protection of Section 10 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States (amended by Chapter 159, Acts of 1916, ratified Nov. 7, 1916; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948).

(10) If the Budget Bill shall not have been finally acted upon by the Legislature seven days before the expiration of the regular session, the Governor shall issue a proclamation extending the session for some further period as may, in the Governor's judgment, be necessary for the passage of such bill; but no other matter than such bill shall be considered during such extended session except a provision for the cost thereof (amended by Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(11) For the purpose of making up the Budget, the Governor shall require from the proper State officials (including all executive departments, all executive and administrative offices, bureaus, boards, commissions and agencies that expend or supervise the expenditure of, and all institutions applying for State moneys and appropriations) such itemized estimates and other information, in such form and at such times as directed by the Governor. An estimate for a program required to be funded by a law which will be in effect during the fiscal year covered by the Budget and which was enacted before July 1 of the fiscal year prior to that date shall provide a level of funding not less than that prescribed in the law. The estimates for the Legislative Department, certified by the presiding officer of each House, of the Judiciary, as provided by law, certified by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland, and for the public schools, as provided by law, shall be transmitted to the Governor, in such form and at such times as directed by the Governor, and shall be included in the Budget without revision (amended by Chapter 971, Acts of 1978, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 62, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(12) The Governor may provide for public hearings on all estimates and may require the attendance at such hearings of representatives of all agencies, and for all institutions applying for State moneys. After such public hearings the Governor may, in the Governor's discretion, revise all estimates except those for the legislative and judiciary departments, and for the public schools, as provided by law, and except that the Governor may not reduce an estimate for a program below a level of funding prescribed by a law which will be in effect during the fiscal year covered by the Budget, and which was enacted before July 1 of the fiscal year prior thereto (amended by Chapter 971, Acts of 1978, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 82, Acts of 2021, ratified Nov. 8, 2022).

(13) The General Assembly may, from time to time, enact such laws not inconsistent with this section, as may be necessary and proper to carry out its provisions.

(14) In the event of any inconsistency between any of the provisions of this Section and any of the other provisions of the Constitution, the provisions of this Section shall prevail. But nothing herein shall in any manner affect the provisions of Section 34 of Article 3 of the Constitution or of any laws heretofore or hereafter passed in pursuance thereof, or be construed as preventing the Governor from calling extraordinary sessions of the General Assembly, as provided by Section 16 of Article 2, or as preventing the General Assembly at such extraordinary sessions from considering any emergency appropriation or appropriations (amended by Chapter 159, Acts of 1916, ratified Nov. 7, 1916; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948).

(15) If any item of any appropriation bill passed under the provisions of this Section shall be held invalid upon any ground, such invalidity shall not affect the legality of the bill or of any other item of such bill or bills.

SEC. 53. (a) There is a Transportation Trust Fund.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the funds in the Transportation Trust Fund may be used only:

(1) For the purpose of paying the principal of and interest on transportation bonds as they become due and payable; and

(2) After meeting debt service requirements for transportation bonds, for any lawful purpose related to the construction and maintenance of an adequate highway system in the State or any other purpose related to transportation.

(c) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, funds in the Transportation Trust Fund may not be transferred to the General Fund or a special fund of the State.

(d) This section does not apply to:

(1) An allocation or use of highway user revenues for the counties, municipalities, or Baltimore City that is authorized under Title 8, Subtitle 4 of the Transportation Article; or

(2) A transfer of funds in the Transportation Trust Fund to the Maryland Transportation Authority or the Maryland Transportation Authority Fund.

(e) Funds in the Transportation Trust Fund may be used for a purpose not related to transportation or transferred to the General Fund or a special fund of the State if:

(1) The Governor, by executive order, declares a fiscal emergency exists; and

(2) The General Assembly, by legislation passed on a yea and nay vote supported by three-fifths of all the members elected to each of the two houses of the General Assembly, concurs with the use or transfer of the funds.

(added by Chapter 422, Acts of 2013, ratified Nov. 4, 2014. Former text was repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 54. No County of this State shall contract any debt, or obligation, in the construction of any Railroad, Canal, or other Work of Internal Improvement, nor give, or loan its credit to, or in aid of any association, or corporation, unless authorized by an Act of the General Assembly (amended by Chapter 71, Acts of 1960, ratified Nov. 8, 1960).

SEC. 55. The General Assembly shall pass no Law suspending the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

SEC. 56. The General Assembly shall have power to pass all such Laws as may be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested, by this Constitution, in any Department, or office of the Government, and the duties imposed upon them thereby.

SEC. 57. The Legal Rate of Interest shall be Six per cent per annum, unless otherwise provided by the General Assembly.

SEC. 58. The Legislature shall provide by Law for State and municipal taxation upon the revenues accruing from business done in the State by all foreign corporations (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).

SEC. 59. The Legislature shall pass no law creating the office of "State Pension Commissioner", or establishing any general pension system within this State (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

SEC. 60. The General Assembly of Maryland shall have the power to provide by suitable general enactment (a) for the suspension of sentence by the Court in criminal cases; (b) for any form of the indeterminate sentence in criminal cases, and (c) for the release upon parole in whatever manner the General Assembly may prescribe, of convicts imprisoned under sentence for crimes (added by Chapter 453, Acts of 1914, ratified Nov. 2, 1915).

SEC. 61. (a) The General Assembly may authorize and empower any county or any municipal corporation, by public local law:

(1) To carry out urban renewal projects which shall be limited to slum clearance in slum or blighted areas and redevelopment or the rehabilitation of slum or blighted areas, and to include the acquisition, within the boundary lines of such county or municipal corporation, of land and property of every kind and any right, interest, franchise, easement or privilege therein, by purchase, lease, gift, condemnation or any other legal means. The term "slum area" shall mean any area where dwellings predominate which, by reason of depreciation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to the public safety, health or morals. The term "blighted area" shall mean an area in which a majority of buildings have declined in productivity by reason of obsolescence, depreciation or other causes to an extent they no longer justify fundamental repairs and adequate maintenance.

(2) To sell, lease, convey, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of said land or property, regardless of whether or not it has been developed, redeveloped, altered or improved and irrespective of the manner or means in or by which it may have been acquired, to any private, public or quasi public corporation, partnership, association, person or other legal entity.

No land or property taken by any county or any municipal corporation for any of the aforementioned purposes or in connection with the exercise of any of the powers which may be granted to such county or municipal corporation pursuant to this section by exercising the power of eminent domain shall be taken without just compensation, as agreed upon between the parties, or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation.

All land or property needed, or taken by the exercise of the power of eminent domain, by any county or any municipal corporation for any of the aforementioned purposes or in connection with the exercise of any of the powers which may be granted pursuant to this Section is hereby declared to be needed or taken for public uses and purposes. Any or all of the activities authorized pursuant to this section shall constitute governmental functions undertaken for public uses and purposes and the power of taxation may be exercised, public funds expended and public credit extended in furtherance thereof.

(b) The General Assembly may grant to any county or any municipal corporation, by public local law, any and all additional power and authority necessary or proper to carry into full force and effect any and all of the specific powers authorized by this section and to fully accomplish any and all of the purposes and objects contemplated by the provisions of this section, provided such additional power or authority is not inconsistent with the terms and provisions of this section or with any other provision or provisions of the Constitution of Maryland.

(c) The General Assembly of Maryland, by public local law, may establish or authorize the establishment of a public body or agency to undertake in a county or municipal corporation (other than Baltimore City) the activities authorized by this section, and may provide that any or all of the powers, except the power of taxation, herein authorized to be granted to such county or municipal corporation shall be vested in such public body or agency or in any existing public body or agency.

(d) The General Assembly may place such other and further restrictions or limitations on the exercise of any of the powers provided for in this section, as it may deem proper and expedient.

(e) The provisions of this section are independent of, and shall in no way affect, the powers granted under Article XIB of the Constitution of Maryland, title "City of Baltimore - Land Development and Redevelopment." Also, the power provided in this section for the General Assembly to enact public local laws authorizing any municipal corporation or any county to carry out urban renewal projects prevails over the restrictions contained in Article XIA "Local Legislation" and in Article XIE "Municipal Corporations" of this Constitution (added by Chapter 444, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960).