The Constitution of the State of Arizona 1

The Constitution of the State of Arizona 1

The Constitution of the State of Arizona

Just as the United States Constitution forms the basis of all legal laws and actions taken within the United States, state constitutions form the basis of all legal laws and actions taken in a state. The phrase “legal law” may seem odd, after all, all laws are legal, are they not? However, that is not accurate, many “laws” have been declared illegal due to their being unconstitutional. Laws are determined to be unconstitutional when they violate the provisions of either a state constitution or the United States Constitution. Federal laws only need to be constitutional under the United States Constitution, state laws, however, must be constitutional under both the state’s constitution and the United States Constitution. For the most part, however, state laws and the kind of laws that may be passed or which may control certain state institutions, is determined by the four corners of a state’s constitution.

The constitution of the state of Arizonais the founding legal document of the state of Arizona and, as such, it sets the limits of all laws within the state. All laws, or statutes, that affect how the state of Arizona is organized, operated, and maintained must follow the structure and guidelines provided by the constitution of the state of Arizona. For example, the Arizona constitution begins by declaring the physical boundaries of the state and then moves on to discuss how the physical boundaries of the state may be altered. The Arizona constitution then discusses the purpose of the constitution, the purpose of the state’s government, and then provides sections with provisions similar to the Bill of Rights, which discuss the rights of Arizona citizens (Article 2). Thereafter the Arizona constitution focuses on specific areas of law, such as the legislature in Article 4, the executive department, or governor’s office, in Article 5, the judicial department in Article 6, and others. These Articles provide the basic framework upon which all laws for that particular are will be derived from.

Article 12, for example, deals with the subject of Arizona counties. This article has nine separate sections and each section discusses one aspect of a county, such what is defined as a county, what its structure is, what its role is, what its powers are, and other factors. The Arizona constitution specifies that each county in the state is a body politic. A body politic is a specific social compact through which a group of people agree to be governed buy certain laws for the common good (Black’s, 175). Because a county is an area of land that is “created” and under which all persons and property located within those boundaries agrees to obey the “laws” of that county, it is a “body politic.” The Arizona constitution also specifies who the elected officials of a county are, how they are to be elected, what their qualifications must be, their official duties and powers, their salaries, and how long they will serve in office. Both the government of a county and the citizens of a county have the option of voting to enact a charter for the county that will control additional government and functions of that county. Through a charter a county can levy and collect taxes for county services, and it must include other provisions Article 12’s sections determine a charter county must include in its charter.

Article 13 of the Arizona constitution deals with the subject of “municipal corporations” or municipalities. A municipality is a city or town formed, or “incorporated” by the legislature. To be a municipality the constitution requires a city or town to have at least 3,500 residents; its electors may then elect fourteen “freeholders” who within ninety days following their election must “prepare and propose a charter “ for the municipality (Article 13, Section 2). The electors can then vote on the charter, which will only be enacted if a majority of citizens vote for its passage and the governor then signs it after verifying it does not conflict with the constitution.Municipal legislators may then pass amendments to such charter, as needed. The Arizona constitution specifies that municipalities may engage in any business or enterprise which any person, firm, or corporation may engage in. This allows cities to form, for example, their own waste collection services. Article 13, Section 6, however, notifies municipalities that no incorporation or charter or organization may divest the state of its ownership of the land within a municipality.

The Arizona constitution has two articles, Articles 14 and 15, that deal with non-municipal corporations. Article 14 begins by granting corporations the right to sue and be sued, as any person in the state has. Moreover, Article 14 also stipulates how corporations are to be formed (through the filing of articles with the state and the naming of an agent for service of process) and matters such as the rights and duties of shareholders, the powers of corporate officers, how elections for directors and officers shall be conducted, and the type of corporate records that must be maintained. The constitution also provides, however, that a failure to form a corporation as instructed will not act as a defense in a court of law for persons who conduct business but fail to properly form a corporation according to the constitution’s requirements. Article 14 also serves to limit the abilities of corporations to provide funds to alter or affect political action. Article 14 also makes it illegal, as does the United States’ Sherman Act, for any corporations to form monopolies or trusts to “to fix the prices, limit the production, or regulate the transportation of any product or commodity” (Article 14, Section 15; Rubin).

Article 15 of the Arizona constitution is dedicated to the laws that affect “public service corporations.” Public service corporations are defined as those that, whether formed on a non-profit or for-profit basis or whether owned by a municipality or by private citizens, perform waste removal, common carrier services, provide fire protection services, or which fulfill other public purposes. As public service corporations these businesses are regulated by the state of Arizona, meaning that the constitution and laws of the state grant the state, and its agents, certain rights. Article 15 specifies the rights granted to the state over public service corporations. Those rights include: establishment of rates charged for services; regulations regarding public safety issues; investigations of corporate actions and observance of laws; manner of conducting business; and laws regarding the need to report to state commissions and to be fined for failures to obey state laws or regulations, which may include the termination of their right to conduct business.

Another area in which the Arizona constitution has significant control is the area of public education. Public education includes all state elementary, middle, and high schools as well as state institutions of higher education such as colleges and universities. This also involves the setting of educational policies and curriculums of study. Article 11 of the Arizona constitution is devoted to the topic of education. The Arizona constitution established a board of education, a state superintendent of education, and the powers and duties of each. Most importantly, of course, the Arizona constitution provides that each state school district shall have at lease one free, or as free as possible, school that will be open for at least six months each year. Moreover, such schools shall be open to all students aged six years to twenty-one years of age.

To maintain the requirement of the United States Constitution’s First Amendment, Article 11, Section 7 specifies that no “sectarian instruction shall be imparted in any school or state educational institution ... and no religious or political test or qualification shall ever be required as a condition of admission into any public educational institution ... as teacher, student, or pupil.” This means that neither religion nor political belief or affiliation may be used to prevent admission or employment of persons to Arizona public school systems.Finally, Article 11 details how the system of public education shall be funded and maintained.

Like the United States Constitution in the United States, the Arizona constitution forms the highest law of the land of Arizona. It serves to indicate what rights citizens have and what rights the state government, county governments, and municipal governments have. It also specifies the limits of those rights and what laws may affect those rights. In a way, it is the “code book” of Arizona and establishes how the state, and each of its subdivisions, will conduct the business of the state.

References

Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Ed. (1991). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.

Constitution of the State of Arizona. Retrieved October 18, 2008, from

Rubin, J.E. (2001). General Overview ofUnited States Antitrust Law. Report for Congress. Retrieved October 18, 2008, from