Designing impeachment procedures
for a unicameral governmental system
should not be difficult. Many bicam-
eral systems call for a two-thirds vote of
both the impeaching (accusing) house
and the dispositive (trying) house. The
United States Constitution provides for
impeachment by the House of Repre-
sentatives, with no majority required,
and trial by the Senate, where a two-
thirds vote is necessary for conviction.
In the unicameral system, a two-
thirds vote of the single body would be
sufficient for impeachment; then, a sim-
ilar two-thirds vote of the tribunal
hearing the charge would yield convic-
tion.
Today, Nebraska is the only state with
a unicameral legislature. Its constitu-
tion provides as follows : 2
"The Senate and House of repre-
sentatives in joint convention shall
have the sole power of impeachment,
but a majority of the members elected
must concur therein. Upon the enter-
tainment of a resolution to impeach
by either House the other House shall
at once be notified thereof and the
two Houses shall meet in joint con-
vention for the purpose of acting upon
such resolution within three days of
such notification. A notice of an im-
a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall
peachment of any officer, other than
be forthwith served upon the Chief
1 This article was prepared for the Commis-
sion by Kenneth L. Lasson, a research assistant
for the Commission and at present Assistant to
the Dean at the University of Maryland School
of Law; B.A., 1963, The Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity; LL.B., 1966, University of Maryland;
M.A., 1967, The Johns Hopkins University.
2 neb. const, art. Ill, § 17. Since a 1934
amendment made the Nebraska legislature
unicameral, the power of impeachment stated
in Article III, § 17 has been a power of the
one house legislature.
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Justice, by the Secretary of the Sen-
ate, who shall thereupon call a session
of the Supreme Court to meet at the
Capitol within ten days after such
notice to try the impeachment. A
notice of an impeachment of a Justice
of the Supreme Court shall be served
by the Secretary of the Senate, upon
the Judge of the judicial district
within which the Capitol is located,
and he thereupon shall notify all the
Judges of the District Court in the
state to meet with him within thirty
days at the Capitol, to sit as a Court
to try such impeachment, which
Court shall organize by electing one
of its number to preside. No person
shall be convicted without the concur-
rence of two-thirds of the members of
the Court of impeachment, but judg-
ment in cases of impeachment shall
not extend further than removal from
office and disqualification to hold and
enjoy any office of honor, profit, or
trust, in this state, but the party im-
peached, whether convicted or ac-
quitted shall nevertheless be liable to
prosecution and punishment accord-
ing to law. No officer shall exercise
his official duties after he shall have
been impeached and notified thereof,
until he shall have been acquitted."
The Model State Constitution, which
recommends a unicameral system, pro-
poses the following impeachment proce-
dure in Section 4.18:
"The legislature may impeach the
governor, the heads of principal de-
partments, judicial officers and such
other officers of the state as may be
made subject to impeachment by law,
by a two-thirds vote of all the mem-
bers, and shall provide by law proce-
dures for the trial and removal from
office, after conviction, of officers so
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