New Jersey Legislative Council
| New Jersey Legislative Council | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
|
President of Council
|
|
|
Various
|
|
| Structure | |
| Seats | 13-18 |
|
Political groups
|
|
| Meeting place | |
| New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey | |
The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 until it was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the Constitution of 1844.
The Legislative Council replaced the New Jersey Provincial Council, which had been the upper house under colonial rule. The Provincial Council consisted of up to twelve members, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the British crown. As this created an overly aristocratic and non representative body, the framers of the 1776 state constitution provided for an elected Legislative Council, with one Member of Council elected in each county for a one-year term. This structure would remain in place after 1844, when the Legislative Council would be replaced by the New Jersey Senate, and continued until 1965.
The 1776 Constitution set up a fusion of powers system of state government, which allowed for an overlap of executive, legislative and judicial authority. It provided for a bicameral legislature consisting of a General Assembly with three members from each county and a Legislative Council with one member from each county. All state officials, including the governor, were to be appointed by the Legislature under this constitution. The Vice-President of Council would succeed the Governor (who was the President of the Council) if a vacancy occurred in that office. The Governor was elected to a one-year term by the Legislative Council and the General Assembly — in joint meeting — and served, with casting vote, as the President of the Council. The Legislative Council itself chose one of its members to be Vice-President of Council who would succeed if a vacancy occurred in the Governor's office. Each county elected one member for a one-year term. Members were required to be "an inhabitant and freeholder in the county in which he is chosen, and worth at least one thousand pounds proclamation money, of real and personal estate, within the same county". Thirteen counties in 1776 increased to eighteen by 1844.
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