Table 1.3

General Information on State Constitutions (As of January 1, 2022)

Available versions: 2023 2022 (showing)

						Number of amendments
FIPS	State or other jurisdiction	Number of constitutions*	Dates of adoption	Effective date of present constitution	Estimated length (number of words)**	Submitted to voters	Adopted
01	Alabama	6	1819, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1875, 1901	Nov. 28, 1901	402,852	1316 (a)	977 (a)
02	Alaska	1	1956	Jan. 3, 1959	13,479	43	29
04	Arizona	1	1911	Feb. 14, 1912	47,306	280	156
05	Arkansas	5	1836, 1861, 1864, 1868, 1874	Oct. 30, 1874	77,663	211	110 (b)
06	California	2	1849, 1879	July 4, 1879	76,930	914	540
08	Colorado	1	1876	Aug. 1, 1876	84,239	360	167
09	Connecticut	2 (c)	1818, 1965	Dec. 30, 1965	16,544	35	33
10	Delaware	4	1776, 1792, 1831, 1897	June 10, 1897	25,445	(d)	152
12	Florida	6	1839, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1886, 1968	Jan. 7, 1969	48,440	191	141
13	Georgia	10	1777, 1789, 1798, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1877, 1945, 1976, 1982	July 1,1983	41,684	109 (e)	85 (e)
15	Hawaii	1 (f)	1950	Aug. 21, 1959	21,498	140	114
16	Idaho	1	1889	July 3, 1890	24,626	215	127
17	Illinois	4	1818, 1848, 1870, 1970	July 1, 1971	16,401	23	15
18	Indiana	2	1816, 1851	Nov. 1, 1851	11,610	81	49
19	Iowa	2	1846, 1857	Sept. 3, 1857	11,089	59	54
20	Kansas	1	1859	Jan. 29, 1861	14,097	129	99
21	Kentucky	4	1792, 1799, 1850, 1891	Sept. 28, 1891	27,234	78	43
22	Louisiana	11	1812, 1845, 1852, 1861, 1864, 1868, 1879, 1898, 1913, 1921, 1974	Jan. 1, 1975	76,730	297	204
23	Maine	1	1819	March 15, 1820	16,313	208	175
24	Maryland	4	1776, 1851, 1864, 1867	Oct. 5, 1867	43,198	270	234 (g)
25	Massachusetts	1	1780	Oct. 25, 1780	45,283	148	120
26	Michigan	4	1835, 1850, 1908, 1963	Jan. 1, 1964	31,164	78	34
27	Minnesota	1	1857	May 11, 1858	12,016	218	121
28	Mississippi	4	1817, 1832, 1869, 1890	Nov. 1, 1890	26,229	165	127
29	Missouri	4	1820, 1865, 1875, 1945	March 30,1945	85,673	196	128
30	Montana	2	1889, 1972	July 1, 1973	12,790	61	35
31	Nebraska	2	1866, 1875	Oct. 12, 1875	34,934	357 (h)	233 (h)
32	Nevada	1	1864	Oct. 31, 1864	31,915	243	144
33	New Hampshire	2	1776, 1784	June 2, 1784	13,238	291 (i)	147
34	New Jersey	3	1776, 1844, 1947	Jan. 1, 1948	28,071	94	77
35	New Mexico	1	1911	Jan. 6, 1912	33,198	308	174
36	New York	4	1777, 1822, 1846, 1894	Jan. 1, 1895	49,360	310	231
37	North Carolina	3	1776, 1868, 1970	July 1, 1971	17,177	51	41
38	North Dakota	1	1889	Nov. 2, 1889	18,746	284	161 (j)
39	Ohio	2	1802, 1851	Sept. 1, 1851	59,858	294	177
40	Oklahoma	1	1907	Nov. 16, 1907	84,956	376	200
41	Oregon	1	1857	Feb. 14, 1859	49,430	506	259
42	Pennsylvania	5	1776, 1790, 1838, 1873, 1968 (k)	1968 (k)	26,078	42 (k) (l)	36 (k)
44	Rhode Island	2 (c)	1842, 1986 (m)	Dec. 4, 1986	11,407	15 (m)	13 (m)
45	South Carolina	7	1776, 1778, 1790, 1861, 1865, 1868, 1895	Jan. 1, 1896	27,421	690 (n)	500 (n)
46	South Dakota	1	1889	Nov. 2, 1889	28,840	245	124
47	Tennessee	3	1796, 1835, 1870	Feb. 23, 1870	13,960	66	43
48	Texas	5 (o)	1845, 1861, 1866, 1869, 1876	Feb. 15, 1876	92,345	694	515
49	Utah	1	1895	Jan. 4, 1896	21,010	185	129
50	Vermont	3	1777, 1786, 1793	July 9, 1793	8,565	212	54
51	Virginia	6	1776, 1830, 1851, 1869, 1902, 1970	July 1, 1971	24,009	62	54
53	Washington	1	1889	Nov. 11, 1889	32,578	183	108
54	West Virginia	2	1863, 1872	April 9, 1872	33,324	126	75
55	Wisconsin	1	1848	May 29, 1848	15,102	198	148
56	Wyoming	1	1889	July 10, 1890	26,349	131	101
60	American Samoa	2	1960, 1967	July 1, 1967	6,000	15 (p)	7 (p)
69	CNMI***	1	1977	Jan. 9, 1978	13,700	60 (p)	56 (p) (q)
72	Puerto Rico	1	1952	July 25, 1952	9,400	8 (p)	6 (p)

Source:

John Dinan and The Council of State Governments, with research assistance from Wake Forest students Bradley Harper and Alec Papovich.

Key:

*	—	The constitutions referred to in this table include those Civil War documents customarily listed by the individual states.
**	—	In calculating word counts, supplemental information regarding dates of adoption and other material not formally a part of the constitution are generally excluded.
***	—	Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.

Footnotes:

(a)	The Alabama constitution includes numerous local amendments that apply to only one county. An estimated 70 percent of all amendments are local.
(b)	Eight of the approved amendments have been superseded and are not printed in the current edition of the constitution. The total adopted does not include five amendments proposed and adopted since statehood.
(c)	Colonial charters with some alterations served as the first constitutions in Connecticut (1638, 1662) and in Rhode Island (1663).
(d)	Proposed amendments are not submitted to the voters in Delaware.
(e)	The Georgia currently constitution requires amendments to be of “general and uniform application throughout the state,” thus eliminating local amendments that accounted for most of the amendments before 1982.
(f)	As a kingdom and republic, Hawaii had five constitutions.
(g)	Two sets of identical amendments were on the ballot and adopted in the 1992 Maryland election. The four amendments are counted as two in the table.
(h)	The 1998 and 2000 Nebraska ballots allowed the voters to vote separately on “parts” of propositions. In 1998, 10 of 18 separate propositions were adopted; in 2000, 6 of 9.
(i)	The constitution of 1784 was extensively revised in 1792. Figure shows proposals and adoptions since the constitution was adopted in 1784.
(j)	The figures do not include submission and approval of the constitution of 1889 itself and of Article XX; these are constitutional questions included in some counts of constitutional amendments and would add two to the figure in each column.
(k)	Certain sections of the constitution were revised by the limited convention of 1967-68. Amendments proposed and adopted are since 1968.
(l)	Excludes a 2019 amendment that was placed on the ballot but a court enjoined the votes from being counted.
(m)	Following approval of eight amendments and a “rewrite” of the Rhode Island Constitution in 1986, the constitution has been called the 1986 Constitution.
(n)	In 1981 two-thirds of proposed and four-fifths of adopted amendments were local. Since then amendments have been statewide propositions.
(o)	The Constitution of the Republic of Texas preceded five state constitutions.
(p)	These totals for territorial constitutions are in some cases taken from 2011 data.
(q)	The total excludes one amendment ruled void by a federal district court.