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CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Adopted in Convention at Guthrie, July 16, 1907. Ratified Sept. 17, 1907. In force Nov. 16, 1907. With Amendments to January 1,1975 ARTICLE II BILL OF RIGHTS Sec. 1. All political power is inherent in the people; and govern- ment is instituted for their protection, security, and ben- efit, and to promote their general welfare; and they have the right to alter or reform the same whenever the public good may require it: Provided, such change be not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States. Sec. 2. All persons have the inherent right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry. Sec. 3. The people have the right peaceably to assemble for their own good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances by petition, address, or remonstrance. Sec. 4. No power, civil or military, shall ever interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage by those entitled to such right. Sec. 5. No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, ap- plied, donated, or used directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such. Sec. 6. The courts of justice of the State shall be open to every person, and speedy and certain remedy afforded for every wrong and for every injury to person, property, or reputa- tion; and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, delay or prejudice. Sec. 7. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Sec. 8. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof of guilt is evident, or the presumption thereof is great. Sec. 9. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. Sec. 10 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall never be suspended by the authorities of this State. Sec. 11. Every person elected or appointed to any office or employ- ment of trust or profit under the laws of the State, or under any ordinance of any municipality thereof, shall give personal attention to the duties of the office to which he is elected or appointed. Drunkenness and the excessive use of intoxicating liquors while in office shall constitute sufficient cause for impeachment or removal therefrom. As amended State Question No. 73, Initiative Petition No. 46. Adopted August 4, 1914. Sec. 12. No member of Congress from this State, or person holding any office of trust or profit under the laws of any other State, or of the United States, shall hold any office of trust or profit under the laws of this State. Sec. 13. Imprisonment for debt is prohibited, except for the non- payment of fines and penalties imposed for violation of law. Sec. 14. The military shall be held in strict subordination to the civil authorities. No soldier shall be quartered in any house, in time of peace, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, except in a manner to be prescribed by law. Sec. 15. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor any law impair- ing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed. No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate: Provided, that this provision shall not prohibit the imposition of pecuniary penalties. Sec. 16. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, un- less on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. Sec. 17. No person shall be prosecuted criminally in courts of record for felony or misdemeanor otherwise than by presentment or indictment or by information. No person shall be prosecuted for a felony by information without having had a preliminary examination, before an examining magistrate, or having wai- ved such preliminary examination. Prosecutions may be in- stituted in courts not of record upon a duly verified com- plaint. Sec. 18. A grand jury shall be composed of twelve (12) persons, any nine (9) of whom concurring may find an indictment or true bill. A grand jury shall be convened upon the order of a district judge upon his own motion; or such grand jury shall be ordered by a district judge upon the filing of a petition therefor signed by qualified electors of the county equal to one percent (1%) of the population of the county according to the last preceding Federal Decennial Census, with the minimum number of required signatures being two hundred (200) and the maximum being five hundred (500); and further providing that in any calender year in which a grand jury has been convened pursuant to a petition therefor, then any subsequent petition filed during the same calender year shall require double the number of minimum signatures as were required hereunder for the first petition; or such grand jury shall be ordered convened upon the filing of a verified application by the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma who shall have authority to conduct the grand jury in investigating crimes which are alleged to have been committed in said county or involving multicounty criminal activities; when so assembled such grand jury shall have power to inquire into and return indictments for all character and grades of crime. All other provisions of the Constitution or the laws of this State in conflict with the provisions of this Constitutional amendment are hereby expressly repealed. (Amended by State Question No. 354. Referendum Petition NO. 101, adopted at election held July 1, 1952; State Question No. 457, Legislative Referendum No. 189, adopted at election held Dec. 7, 1971.) Sec. 19. The right of trial by jury shall be and remain inviolate, except in civil cases wherein the amount in controversy does not exceed one hundred dollars ($100), or in criminal cases wherein punishment for the offense charged is by fine only, not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100). Provided, however, that the Legislature may provide for jury trial in cases involving lesser amounts. Juries for the trial of civil and criminal cases shall consist of twelve (12) persons; but in the trial of misdemeanors, proceedings for the violation of ordinances or regulations of cities and towns, juvenile proceedings, actions for forcible entry and detainer, or detention only, of real property and collection of rents therefor, and civil cases concerning causes of action involving less than Twenty-five Hundred Dollars ($2,500. 00), juries shall consist of six (6) persons. In civil cases, and in criminal cases less than felonies, three- fourths (3/4) of the whole number of jurors concurring shall have power to render a verdict. In all other cases the en- tire number of jurors must concur to render a verdict. In case a verdict is rendered by less than the whole number of jurors, the verdict shall be in writing and signed by each juror concurring therein. (As amended State Question No. 354, Referendum Petition NO. 101, adopted primary election July 1, 1952; State Question No. 459, Legislative Referen- dum No. 172, adopted at election held Sept. 17, 1968, eff. January 13, 1969.) Sec. 20. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county in which the crime shall have been committed or, where uncertainty exists as to the county in which the crime was committed, the accused may be tried in any county in which the evidence indicates the crime might have been com- mitted. Provided, that the venue may be changed to some other county of the State, on the application of the ac- cused, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. He shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation a- gainst him and have a copy thereof, and be confronted with the witnesses against him, and have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his behalf. He shall have the right to be heard by himself and counsel; and in capital cases, at least two days before the case is called for trial, he shall be furnished with a list of the witnesses that will be call- ed in chief, to prove the allegations of the indictment or information, together with their post office addresses. (As amended State Question No. 401, Referendum Petition NO. 132, adopted special election Sept. 12, 1961.) Sec. 21. No person shall be compelled to give evidence which will tend to incriminate him, except as in this Constitution specifically provided; nor shall any person, after having once been acquitted by a jury, be again put in jeopardy of life or liberty for that of which he has been acquitted. Nor shall any person be twice put in jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offense. Sec. 22. Every person may freely speak, write, or publish his senti- ments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions for libel, the truth of the matter alleged to be libelous may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous be true, and was written or published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be ac- quitted. Sec. 23. No private property shall be taken or damaged for private use, with or without compensation, unless by consent of the owner, except for private ways of necessity, or for drains and ditches across lands of others for agricultural, mining, or sanitary purposes, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. Sec. 24. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation. Such compensation, irrespec- tive of any benefit from any improvements proposed, shall be ascertained by a board of commissioners of not less than three freeholders, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. The commissioners shall not be appointed by any judge or court without reasonable notice having been served upon all parties in interest. The commissioners shall be selec- ted from the regular jury list of names prepared and made as the legislature shall provide. Any party aggrieved shall have the right of appeal, without bond, and trial by jury in a court of record. Until the compensation shall be paid to the owner, or into court for the owner, the property shall not be disturbed, or the proprietary rights of the owner di- vested. When possession is taken of property condemned for any public use, the owner shall be entitled to the immediate receipt of the compensation awarded, without prejudice to the right of either party to prosecute further proceedings for the judicial determination of the sufficiency or insuf- ficiency of such compensation. The fee of land taken by com- mon carriers for right of way, without the consent of the owner, shall remain in such owner subject only to the use for which it is taken. In all cases of condemnation of pri- vate property for public or private use, the determination of the character of the use shall be a judicial question. Sec. 25. The legislature shall pass laws defining contempts and reg- ulating the proceedings and punishment in matters of con- tempt: Provided, that any person accused of violating or disobeying, when not in the presence or hearing of the court, or judge sitting as such, any order of injunction, or restraint, made or entered by any court or judge of the State shall, before penalty or punishment is imposed, be entitled to a trial by jury as to the guilt or innocence of the accused. In no case shall a penalty or punishment be imposed for contempt, until an opportunity to be heard is given. Sec. 26. The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms in defence of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power, where thereunto legally summoned, shall never be prohibited; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the Legislature from regulating the carrying of weapons. Sec. 27. Any person having knowledge or possession of facts that tend to establish the guilt of any other person or corporation under the laws of the state shall not be excused from giv- ing testimony or producing evidence, when legally called upon so to do, on the ground that it may tend to incriminate him under the laws of the state; but no person shall be pro- secuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he may so testify or produce evidence. All other pro- visions of the Constitution or the laws of this state in conflict with the provisions of this Constitutional amend- ment are hereby expressly repealed. (Amended by State Ques- tion No. 482, legislative Referendum NO. 188, adopted at election held Dec. 7, 1971.) Sec. 28. The records, books, and files of all corporations shall be, at all times, liable and subject to the full visitorial and inquisitorial powers of the State, notwithstanding the im- munities and privileges in this Bill of Rights secured to the persons, inhabitants, and citizens thereof. Sec. 29. No person shall be transported out of the State for any offence committed within the State, nor shall any person be transported out of the State for any purpose, without his consent, except by due process of law; but nothing in this provision shall prevent the operation of extradition laws, or the transporting of persons sentenced for crime, to other states for the purpose of incarceration. Sec. 30. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches or seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, describing as particularly as may be the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized. Sec. 31. The right of the State to engage in any occupation or busi- ness for public purposes shall not be denied nor prohibited, except that the State shall not engage in agriculture for any other than educational and scientific purposes and for the support of its penal, charitable, and educational insti- tutions. Sec. 32. Perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall never be allowed, nor shall the law of primogeniture or entailments ever be in force in this State. Sec. 33. The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny, impair, or disparage others re- tained by the people.