Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Impeachment Process topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate advances constitutional-resolution language to let Legislature call special sessions for impeachment
Summary
Senate Joint Resolution 6, which would allow the Legislature to call itself into a special session to hear impeachment matters, was moved to third reading after debate over polling procedures and which officials would be covered.
The Senate advanced Senate Joint Resolution 6 on Feb. 5, a proposed constitutional amendment to permit the Legislature to call a special session for impeachment proceedings.
Senator Hilliard, speaking for the Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendation, said the measure would allow a two-thirds poll of representatives to convene a special session for impeachment and would preserve a review stage before the Senate proceeds to trial. The resolution would also explicitly include justices of the peace in the scope of impeachment coverage. "We decided to look to the framework of the U.S. Constitution... we felt it was more appropriate... to have the body then review the evidence," Hilliard said.
Senators questioned procedural details: whether polling would be written or public and how to avoid prejudging evidence before a hearing. The sponsor said those mechanics would be left to the Legislature’s rules rather than embedded in the Constitution.
The floor motion sent SJR 6 to third reading. The transcript’s roll-call text includes an anomalously low numeric tally in the floor record; because constitutional amendments require a larger threshold, the official tally must be confirmed in the enrolled record.
What’s next: SJR 6 was placed on the third-reading calendar for final floor consideration; sponsors and clerks will confirm the official vote totals and any constitutional threshold requirements prior to final action.
(Reporting based on floor debate; the transcript includes inconsistent roll-call text, so this account avoids repeating an anomalous in-session number and notes the need to verify official records.)
