THE CONNECTICUT STATE CONSTITUTION
The Constitution of the State of Connecticut, the basic governing document of the state, was approved by statewide voter referendum on December 14, 1965, and formally adopted on December 30 of that year. The three branches of the state's government— executive, legislative, and judicial—were made much more equal by this document than in the past, when the state had a dominant legislature and a weak governorship.
Connecticut is the "Constitution State," so-named for its first constitution written in the 1630s. The state has a complex constitutional history, featuring several constitutions or proposed constitutions, with a period in the late-18th and early-19th centuries when the state had essentially no constitution at all.
The 1965 constitutional convention tackled legislative reapportionment in a big way—the previous constitution assigned legislative representatives to each town, resulting in small rural towns enjoying equal representation with large urban communities. The 1965 convention also fine-tuned and reaffirmed the constitution of 1818. Since 1965, the document has been amended 30 times. Any member of the legislature may propose an amendment, but the state does not have a statewide ballot initiative process. Instead, voters are automatically asked every 20 years whether the state constitution should be revised or amended.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Voters elect six state officers statewide: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state (with responsibility for elections and records keeping), treasurer (administers the state's investment portfolio), comptroller (the state's chief financial officer; handles accounting services and keeps the state's books), and attorney general (the state's chief legal official). All of these offices carry four-year terms with no term limits.
Governor
The Governor of Connecticut is the head of the executive branch, serving a four-year term without term limits. She or he enforces the state's laws, has the power to convene the legislature, submits a budget, can approve or veto bills passed by the legislature, and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has no powers to pardon criminals, making Connecticut one of only four states where the office lacks this authority (the others being Alabama, Georgia, and Idaho).
Still, the 1965 constitution expanded the governor’s powers significantly through a more useable power of veto. The governor's Office of Policy and Management is a key participant in the state's budgeting process.
Lieutenant Governor
The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket but are nominated separately. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the state senate in a largely ceremonial role (although he or she can cast a tie-breaking vote in that body).
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The state legislature, the Connecticut General Assembly, convenes annually and is considered a part-time group. In odd-numbered years it meets from January to June; in even-numbered years from February to May. Committees may meet year-round.
The legislature consists of the Senate, currently featuring 36 members, and the House of Representatives, with a current membership of 151. The legislature enacts laws dealing with the collection and allocation of public money, the environment, education, law, and other matters. The General Assembly has 27 committees, all of which are joint committees comprised of members from both the House and the Senate. The largest committee is the Appropriations Committee, a key player in the state budgeting process. Another key group for budgeting is the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. The legislature's budget office is the Office of Fiscal Analysis.
Senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The minimum age for senators and representatives is 21.
The chief officers of the Senate are the lieutenant governor, who is president of the body and casts a vote in the event of a tie, and the president pro tempore, who manages the order of Senate business and appoints committee members and committee chairs. (The president pro tempore has the greatest authority of any officer as far as the actual workings of the Senate.) The chief House officer is the Speaker of the House, who appoints committee members and chairs and controls the flow of legislation.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Connecticut state judiciary is composed of four courts: the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court, superior courts, and probate courts. Judges in the state system are nominated by the governor and appointed by the General Assembly.
The mandatory retirement age for supreme court justices, appellate court judges, and superior court judges is 70. Judge trial referees are judges 70 and older who have been designated by the chief justice of the supreme court to hear cases. The state also has a certain number of magistrates: lawyers who are not judges but who are authorized to hear and decide certain cases, such as child support.
The Judicial Selection Committee evaluates and recommends candidates to the governor for nomination to judgeships on the supreme court, the appellate court, and the superior courts. The governor refers candidates to the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee; from there, nominations proceed to the overall General Assembly for voting. Judges serve eight-year terms and may be reappointed indefinitely.
The Judicial Selection Committee sets criteria for appointment to all state judgeships.
Supreme Court
Until enactment of the 1965 constitution, the formal name of the state supreme court was Supreme Court of Errors. The 1965 document changed the body's name to Connecticut Supreme Court. The supreme court is the state's highest court; it reviews selected superior court and appellate court decisions. State law specifies which types of appeals may be brought directly from the superior court to the supreme court (thus bypassing the appellate court).
Appellate Court
The State Appellate Court reviews decisions issued by the Superior Court.
Superior Court
The Superior Court handles a very wide range of civil, criminal, family, and juvenile matters. Each superior court resides in one of the state's 13 judicial districts.
Probate Court
Connecticut has 117 probate courts (although the number will be reduced to 54 in January 2011). These courts handle estates and trusts, children's matters (adoption, guardianship, etc.), and incapacity cases. Judges in probate court are elected to four-year terms with no term limits. To qualify a candidate must be an attorney, an elector in the district he or she is running in, and between the ages of 18 and 70.
LOCALITIES
Connecticut has eight counties but no county government. Below the state level, governing units are either cities or towns. The state has 169 of these. It also has a number of special districts that focus on delivery of a specific government service or services.
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