Article 3:

Executive Branch

Section 1. The Chief Executive Power shall be vested in the “Governor”, who shall hold office for a term of four years and shall not serve more than a total of ten years in their lifetime. The term of office shall begin at 12:00 pm, January 31st, of each even numbered year, not also a leap year.

Section 2. No person except a citizen of the United States of America shall be eligible for the Office of the Governor. A person shall be a minimum of thirty years of age and a resident of Oregon for a minimum of three years at the time of taking the oath of office.

Section 3. No member of Congress, federally appointed official, or federally employed person shall be eligible to be Governor for one year after their discharge or resignation from office or employment.

Section 4. Vacancy in Office of the Governor. In the case of removal from office, death, resignation, or disability as prescribed by law, the following progression of replacement shall occur:

Speaker of the House
President of the Senate
Treasurer
Secretary of State

The Governor shall hold office until the next general biennial election or the completion of the term of office. If for any reason the Governor shall leave office in less than two years, there shall be a special election. The above list shall be acting governor until a replacement is elected and shall take the oath of office immediately upon conferral by the Secretary of State.

Section 5. The Governor is Commander in Chief of military forces and the State Militia. The Governor shall be in command of the military reserve not currently on deployment and naval forces of this State, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion. The Governor shall organize the Militia to repel invasion from foreign or domestic threats to life, property, and the Constitution.

Section 6. The Governor may convene a special Legislative Assembly by proclamation, and shall state to both houses when assembled, the purpose for which they shall have been convened.

Section 7. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law. Upon conviction for treason, the Governor shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the Legislative Assembly, at its next meeting, when the Legislative Assembly shall either grant a pardon, commute the sentence, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve.

Section 8. The Governor shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; and shall report to the Legislative Assembly at its next meeting each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and the reasons for granting the same; and also the names of all persons in whose favor remission of fines and forfeitures shall have been made, and the several amounts remitted.

Section 8a. The Governor shall have veto power over any and all legislation presented for signature into law and shall have five working days of the Legislative Assembly being in session to sign or veto any given bill. A bill will be considered vetoed if not signed within the ten working days or with the ten working days of the Legislative adjournment. The Legislature may resubmit the bill without reconsideration in the House and Senate upon the start of the Midterm Session on the even numbered years. The ten working days will be extended due to personal hardship or travel on behalf of the State of Oregon.

Section 8b. Any bill can be returned to the Legislative Assembly for line item removal by both the Senate and the House, at which time of return from consideration for line item removal, the ten working days for signature shall restart.

Section 8c. The Senate and the House shall Override a Veto by a two-thirds majority Signature vote in both houses. No changes to the bill may be made prior to the Override Signature Vote. Failure to Override the veto sends the bill back to the Legislative Assembly. All bills to be considered for Override must be vetoed prior to being Overridden.

Section 8d. There is no obligation to explain objections to any bill vetoed. Failure of the Legislative assembly to attach to any given bill the names of the Legislators responsible for creating the bill will be at the Governor’s discretion to veto on that reason only. The Governor may return any bill for a signature vote, and such will reset the ten working day requirement for signature into law.

Section 9. Governor to Fill Vacancies by Appointment. When during a recess of the legislative assembly a vacancy occurs in any office, the appointment to which is vested in the legislative assembly, or when at any time a vacancy occurs in any other state office, or in the office of judge of any court, the governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment, which shall expire when a successor has been elected and qualified. When any vacancy occurs in any elective office of the state or of any district or county thereof, the vacancy shall be filled at the next general election, provided such vacancy occurs more than sixty-one (61) days prior to such general election.

Section 10. Governor to issue writs of election to fill vacancies in legislature. The Governor shall issue writs of Election to fill such vacancies as may have occurred in the Legislative Assembly.

Section 11. Commissions. All commissions shall issue in the name of the State; shall be signed by the Governor, sealed with the seal of the State, and attested by the Secretary of State.

Section 12. The Executive Branch shall consist of the following:

In the original Constitution, this section was “Article VI Administrative Department”. The reason for consolidating this under the Executive Branch is consistency across the State in budgets, law enforcement, and how the use of dedicated funds are used and distributed. Quirks between Counties and Cities all are sources and opportunities for confusion.

Governor
Secretary of State
Treasurer
County Commissioners
Sheriffs

Section 12a. The Governor shall have Authority over the Secretary of State and Treasurer.

Section 12b. The Governor shall not have Authority over the County Commissioners or the Sheriffs.

Section 13: The Governor shall have emergency powers in time of natural disaster and shall not continue for a period of greater than 20 days without Legislative approval from both Houses.

  1. Secretary of State (SOS)
    1. The Secretary of State shall be elected for a maximum of two terms with a maximum lifetime of ten years due to the death or removal from office.
    2. The SOS shall conduct Elections
      1. All elections shall require photo identification
      2. All elections shall be in-person
      3. All elections shall be one-person-one-vote
      4. All elections shall be on a Tuesday as prescribed by law and the previous Monday for only those that require assistance to get to a polling place.
        1. No exceptions shall be made for anybody wanting to vote because they can’t make the Tuesday date.
      5. All elections shall be same day counting at the location of the Vote.
      6. Any challenge to the count at the precinct shall be done at the precinct.
        1. Recounts shall be done at the precinct if the tally is within 1%
      7. All election ballots shall, after counting and certification, shall be transported to County Seat by local Uniformed Police for storage and protection. There shall not be any other form of transportation allowed or any other people other than Uniformed Police allowed to transport ballots to the County Seat.
      8. Absentee voting will be done only at the county seat and may be done up to seven days in advance of the election day.
        1. No vote made at the County Seat may be changed.
        2. Any Voter shall be guilty of a felony for voting absentee and also voting at their precinct in the same election.
        3. Absentee ballot shall not be counted unless the margin between candidates or measures is less than the total difference between candidates or measures.
      9. Military voting is the only exception allowed for delivery to the County seat by the US Postal Service.
      10. Voter Rolls shall be maintained by the “Records Officer” under control of the Treasurer.

        Having the Voter Rolls under the guise of the Treasurer is a new check and balance for Voter Integrity.

    3. The SOS shall Audit all government employees every odd numbered year and produce a report for the State of the State address that will list out the number of employees, their location of government employment, and branch of government employment.
      1. The Audit report of government employees shall be publicly available at no cost or restriction of any kind.

        This is the “Transparency Clause”

    4. The Secretary of State shall have authority to audit all State activities and Public Accounts, and at the discretion of the Governor and Secretary of State, make audits public or deliver audit information to the appropriate authorities as prescribed by law.
    5.  Seal of state. There shall be a seal of State, kept by the Secretary of State for official purposes, which shall be called “The seal of the State of Oregon”.
  2. Treasurer
    1. The Treasurer shall be elected for a maximum of two terms with a maximum of ten years due to the death or removal from office. Election of the Treasurer shall be every leap year.
    2. The Treasurer shall have a minimum of a financial degree and does not require a CPA.
    3. Powers and duties of Treasurer. The powers and duties of the Treasurer of State shall be such as may be prescribed by law.
    4. The Treasurer shall have authority to stop questionable expenditures until Legislative clarification or until due process of law allows.
    5. The Treasurer shall appoint the following Secretaries:
      1. Secretary of Property Tax Revenues
        1. This office has the sole responsibility of determining the actual cost associated with Police, Fire, Incarceration, city archives, and any other costs related to property ownership, property protection, theft, and such.
        2. This Officer is appointed and requires a simple majority signature vote of the Senate.
      2. Secretary of PERS distribution
        1. This Officer requires and Oregon CPA license.
        2. This Officer is appointed and does not require Senate approval.
      3. Records Officer
        1. This Officer shall be responsible for maintaining the voter rolls.
        2. This Officer shall be elected for a six year term and may hold the office for a maximum of three terms. The Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer of State shall keep the public records, books and papers at the seat of government in any manner relating to their respective offices.
      4. Secretary of Voter Rolls
  3. County Commissioners:
    1. There shall be one County Commissioner for every 165,000 people within a County boundary.
    2. They shall be elected to a four year term. For Counties that have multiple Commissioners, they will stagger there election to every other biennium.
    3. They shall be elected for a lifetime maximum of 14 total years.
  4. Sheriff
    1. Each County shall have an elected Sheriff.
    2. The Sheriff shall be the Chief law enforcement officer for each County
    3. Each County Sheriff shall be responsible for coordinating the transport of ballots from each precinct to the County Seat.
  5. County Officers: There shall be elected in each county by the qualified electors thereof at the time of holding general elections, a county clerk, treasurer and sheriff who shall severally hold their offices for the term of four years.
    1. County officers’ qualifications; location of offices of county and city officers; duties of such officers. Every county officer shall be an elector of the county, and the county assessor, county sheriff, county coroner and county surveyor shall possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed by law. All county and city officers shall keep their respective offices at such places therein, and perform such duties, as may be prescribed by law.
    2. Vacancies in county, township, precinct and city offices. Vacancies in County, Township, precinct and City offices shall be filled in such manner as may be prescribed by law.
  6. County home rule under county charter. The Legislative Assembly shall provide by law a method whereby the legal voters of any county, by majority vote of such voters voting thereon at any legally called election, may adopt, amend, revise or repeal a county charter. A county charter may provide for the exercise by the county of authority over matters of county concern. Local improvements shall be financed only by taxes, assessments or charges imposed on benefited property, unless otherwise provided by law or charter. A county charter shall prescribe the organization of the county government and shall provide directly, or by its authority, for the number, election or appointment, qualifications, tenure, compensation, powers and duties of such officers as the county deems necessary. Such officers shall among them exercise all the powers and perform all the duties, as distributed by the county charter or by its authority, now or hereafter, by the Constitution or laws of this state, granted to or imposed upon any county officer. Except as expressly provided by general law, a county charter shall not affect the selection, tenure, compensation, powers or duties prescribed by law for judges in their judicial capacity, for justices of the peace or for district attorneys. The initiative and referendum powers reserved to the people by this Constitution hereby are further reserved to the legal voters of every county relative to the adoption, amendment, revision or repeal of a county charter and to legislation passed by counties which have adopted such a charter; and no county shall require that referendum petitions be filed less than 90 days after the provisions of the charter or the legislation proposed for referral is adopted by the county governing body. To be circulated, referendum or initiative petitions shall set forth in full the charter or legislative provisions proposed for adoption or referral. Referendum petitions shall not be required to include a ballot title to be circulated. In a county a number of signatures of qualified voters equal to but not greater than four percent of the total number of all votes cast in the county for all candidates for Governor at the election at which a Governor was elected for a term of four years next preceding the filing of the petition shall be required for a petition to order a referendum on county legislation or a part thereof. A number of signatures equal to but not greater than six percent of the total number of votes cast in the county for all candidates for Governor at the election at which a Governor was elected for a term of four years next preceding the filing of the petition shall be required for a petition to propose an initiative ordinance. A number of signatures equal to but not greater than eight percent of the total number of votes cast in the county for all candidates for Governor at the election at which a Governor was elected for a term of four years next preceding the filing of the petition shall be required for a petition to propose a charter amendment.
  7. Other officers. Such other county, township, precinct, and City officers as may be necessary, shall be elected, or appointed in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

Section 13: The Governor shall have emergency powers in time of natural disaster and shall not continue for a period of greater than 20 days without Legislative approval from both Houses.

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The following is a list of positions that report to the Governor;

Section Y: Appointed Officials that require Senate approval;

  1. Secretary of Education
  2. Secretary of Water
  3. Secretary of Waste Management
  4. Secretary of Energy
  5. Secretary of Transportation
  6. Bureau of Labor Commissioner
  7. Secretary of the Bureau of Records

Section Z: Appointed Officials that does not require Senate approval;

  1. Information Technology Director
  2. Special District Supervisor (i.e. Mosquito Abatement District)
  3. Secretary of Voter Rolls