States. A man may not sue the State of Iowa, but he may secure a certificate as to the legality of his claim from the auditor of State, and use this in presenting his claim before the General Assembly, which, by a twothirds vote, may grant an appropriation to satisfy the same. (See notes on Art. III., Sec. 31.) The outcome of a civil suit is a judgment in favor of the plaintiff or defendant, and may require the payment of a sum of money to the plaintiff. This judgment is recorded by the clerk of the court, and becomes a lien on the real property of the defendant. Criminal cases

are those involving the commission of an offense against the laws of the State or municipality, a public wrong. In criminal eases the plaintiff is the State, and the defendant is the one accused of breaking the law. The outcome of a criminal case is the acquittal or conviction and punishment of the defendant.

273. Style of Process, Salary, Etc.-Sec. 7. The Judges of the Supreme and District Courts shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

Sec. 8. The style of all process shall be "The State of Iowa," and all prosecutions shall be conducted in the name and by the authority of the same.

Sec. 9. The salary of each Judge of the Supreme Court shall be two thousand dollars per annum; and that of each District Judge, one thousand six hundred dollars per annum, until the year eighteen hundred and sixty; after which time they shall severally receive such compensation as the General Assembly may, by law, prescribe; which compensation shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which they shall have been elected.

The salary of the judges of the supreme court is now $4,000; that of the judges of the district courts is $2,500.

274. Changes in Districts and Judges.-Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into eleven Judicial Districts; and after the year eighteen hundred and sixty, the General Assembly may reorganize the Judicial Districts and increase or diminish the number of Districts, or the number of Judges of the said Court, and may increase the number of Judges of the Supreme Court, but such increase or diminution shall not be more than one District, or one Judge of either Court, at any one session; and no reorganization of the districts, or diminution of

the number of Judges, shall have the effect of removing a Judge from office. Such reorganization of the districts, or any change in the boundaries thereof, or increase or diminution of the number of Judges, shall take place every four years thereafter, if necessary, and at no other time.

(Amendment.) At any regular session of the General

Assembly, the State may be divided into the necessary Judicial Districts for District Court purposes, or the said districts may be reorganized and the number of the districts and the Judges of said courts increased or diminished; but no reorganization of the districts or diminution of the Judges shall have the effect of removing a Judge from office.

(The foregoing amendment was adopted at the general election in 1884.)

This section provides for all necessary changes in the courts of Iowa, but protects judges of the supreme and districts courts from being thrown out of office before the end of the term for which they were elected, by any decrease in the number of judges. There is no such constitutional provision protecting the judges of the lower courts or of the circuit courts described in the note below. Therefore, when the circuit courts were abolished, the circuit judges lost their positions, and although they brought their cases into the Supreme Court, it was decided that they had no vested rights, and could therefore be removed with the abolition of the court by an act of the General Assembly.

Changes in the Judicial Department.—(1) The Changes in the Supreme Court. The constitution of 1846 provided for a supreme court of three members-the chief justice and two associates. In the transaction of business, two of them constituted a quorum. Το provide that they should be as free from partisan politics as possible, they were elected by the General Assembly for a term of six years. To accommodate the interest of the State, the court convened at such times and places as the General Assembly directed. As a consequence of this policy, the court met for many years in various places in the State, until finally, after the completion of the capitol at Des Moines, the court was permanently located at the capital city.

The constitution of 1857 changed the plan of election of the judges so that they were chosen by the qualified electors of the State, and their terms of office were so changed as to expire at different times,

while the chief justice became the one that had the shortest time to serve, coming to this official rank by rotation. The number of judges remained for a time at three, but the amount of business so increased that it became necessary to enlarge the number to five, and afterward to six-the present number of members in the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Changes in the District Court.—(2) The constitution of 1846 provided for the organization of courts of original jurisdiction in cases in law and equity, and all civil and criminal cases arising under the laws where trial was to occur before being heard by the supreme court. At the beginning, there were four judicial districts, and one judge to each district. The number of districts was increased from time to time as the necessities of the business required.

The constitution of 1857 changed the length of the term of the district judge's office from five to four years, and the General Assembly has from time to time increased the number of districts until, in 1896, there are twenty districts, and from one to four judges in each district.

Circuit Courts.-At one time the courts had so much business that it became necessary to reorganize the courts in some ways, so as to have more judges. As the constitution then was, there was a district attorney to represent the State in all criminal actions, to each district judge, and an increase in judicial districts would multiply these district attorneys, which was not considered necessary or expedient. Hence the General Assembly provided for a new judge to each district to be called a circuit judge, whose jurisdiction consisted of all probate business, and besides had concurrent jurisdiction with the district court in all civil business. The criminal business belonged to the district court alone. (167.)

After the amendment to the State constitution (1884) that provided for the selection of a county attorney for each county to represent the State in all criminal actions, and the abolishment of the office of district attorney, the district court system was reorganized; the circuit court, as it had been called, was abolished, and from one to four judges were provided by law for the several districts, as the needs of the business of each district required.

275. Judges and Attorneys, Sec. 11. The Judges of the Supreme and District Courts shall be chosen at the general election; and the term of office of each Judge shall commence on the first day of January next after his election.

Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for the election of an Attorney-General by the people, whose term of office shall be two years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

Sec. 13. The qualified electors of each judicial district shall, at the time of the election of District Judge, elect a District Attorney, who shall be a resident of the district for which he is elected, and who shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

(The foregoing section was stricken out and the following substituted therefor at the general election in 1884.)

Sec. 13. The qualified electors of each county shall, at the general election in the year 1886, and every two years thereafter, elect a county attorney, who shall be a resident of the county for which he is elected, and shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.

Changes in the office of County Attorney.-The constitution of 1846 provided for the office of prosecuting attorney, the officer to be elected by the several counties at the general election. This officer was the advisor of the several county officers, and represented the State in all criminal cases tried before the district court. The constitution of 1857 dropped the provision regarding the county prosecuting attorney, and substituted a district attorney to be chosen by the electors of each judicial district. This was done in the interests of economy and also in the hope of providing more efficient officers than was possible under the prosecuting attorney system, since a lawyer could afford, with such an extent of territory, to give all his time to the prosecution of offenders against the criminal laws of the State.

After a time the office of district attorney was found to interfere with the proposed reorganization of the district courts, and in 1884, by a constitutional amendment, the office of district attorney was abolished and that of county attorney restored, the term of service being changed to two years.

276, The Grand Jury.-Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide for the carry