The Constitution of the State of Alabama is the basic governing document of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

. It was adopted in 2022 and is Alabama's seventh

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

History

Alabama has had seven constitutions to date, all but the current one established via State Conventions: (converting

Alabama Territory The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when it wa ...

into a State), 1861 (

Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

), 1865 (

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

), 1868 (Reconstruction), 1875 ( ending Reconstruction), 1901 (

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

) and the current document, adopted in 2022.

Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey (born October 15, 1944) is an American politician serving as the 54th and incumbent governor of Alabama since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat, Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38th ...

formally proclaimed the new constitution to be in effect on Monday, November 28, 2022, shortly after the state's election results were certified.

Recompilation of the Alabama Constitution of 1901

The current Alabama Constitution is a recompilation of the Alabama Constitution of 1901. The recompilation had five objectives, as follows: *arranging it in proper articles, parts, and sections; *removing all racist language; *deleting duplicative and repealed provisions; *consolidating provisions regarding economic development; and *arranging all local amendments by county of application. Examples of racist language being removed included Section 102 of Article IV of the former Constitution, which forbade "marriage between any white person and a

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

, or descendant of a negro".

General overview

The Alabama Constitution, in common with all other state constitutions, defines a tripartite government organized under a

presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separatio ...

. Executive power is vested in the

, legislative power in the

Alabama State Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both chambers se ...

(

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

, composed of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

and

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...

), and judicial power in the Judiciary of Alabama. Direct, partisan, secret, free elections are provided for filling all branches.

References

2022 establishments in Alabama 2022 in Alabama 2022 in American law Alabama law

{{Constitutional-law-stub