Introduction
Any government has to outline how it is going to lead its people. This outline which is put in writing is what is called a constitution. The document describes how laws are made by the government, shows the powers that the government has, explains how courts make policies and show whether citizens have a right to change the constitution. The constitution affects most operations of the government and the citizens. In this paper, I am going to look at Arizona’s constitution and show how it affects counties.
Arizona constitution
Basically the Arizona constitution refers to a document that dominates the U.S state of Arizona. It provides a framework for the government on how it is going to lead its citizens. It is the first and only constitution to be adopted by Arizona State and came as a result of populism and progressivism. The constitution was drafted in 1910 during a convention and was presented to Congress for approval. In 1912 during the general election, the Arizona constitution was approved. This was after Arizona was approved by President Taft on February 14 as 48th state of United State as it used to be a territory and since then, the constitution became the governing document of Arizona. The constitution brought liberty and as a result, the people of the state of Arizona were very grateful to Almighty God for their liberty and ordained the constitution (McClory, 2001).
In 1893, Arizona had around I5 counties which differed in their sizes. These counties were named after native groups that lived in different parts of Arizona but three of the counties were named after the Arizona first explorers from Spain. Counties are political jurisdiction of a county and are an area of land that is “created” and under which all persons and properties located within those boundaries agree to be ruled by certain rules of that county. In every country, there has to be an election of an officer who is obligated to perform duties that are accorded to them.
Arizona constitution consists of 30 articles that are 1-6.6.1, 7-22 and 25-30. The issues concerning Arizona counties are in article 12 of the constitution and this article contains nine sections(the State of Arizona,n.d).Arizona’s constitution defines what a county is, its structure, its roles and powers. Additionally, the constitution dictates that counties should be corporate and political and therefore counties remain corporate and politic until the law is changed.
In addition, the Arizona constitution spell who will be the officials of the county, which criteria will be used in electing them, their qualifications, how long they will remain in the office and how much they will be paid (Black’s Law Dictionary, 2001). As a result, this may hurt the county since even if the official is not performing, he/she will have to remain in the office till the end of their term. Moreover, each county has to follow the laws as dictated by the constitution since the Arizona constitution term the county as a body of politics meaning they have agreed to be governed by the laws.
The Arizona constitution gives both the government and citizens of the county the right to decide whether to vote to enact a charter for the county that will control the functions of those counties and additional governments or not. Through a charter a county can levy and collect taxes for county services. In addition, this constitution describes when county officials can be changed and give procedures that can be followed in case there is a disagreement between two counties.Lastly,the size and location of the county are determined by the constitution.
Conclusion
Arizona constitution just like any other constitution sets laws that affect all the other laws that are set by different government systems of the government. For instance, the laws made by the counties of Arizona are determined by the Arizona constitution.
Reference List
- Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Ed. (1991).Constitution of the State of Arizona. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.
- McClory,T.(2001)Understanding the Arizona constitution. United States. Arizona University Press.
- State of Arizona.”Article 12”.Arizona constitution.Arizona Legislature.