16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, vote for an inhabitant of the county to be sheriff of said county for one year and until a successor be duly qualified. In case no person shall have a majority of the electoral votes of his county for sheriff, the General Assembly, in joint committee, shall elect a sheriff from the two candidates, who shall have the greatest number of votes in such county.
17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the state, and attested by the secretary.
ARTICLE IX.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the state, and all laws contrary to or inconsistent with the same which may be passed by the General Assembly shall be null and void.
2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for carrying this constitution into effect.
3. The judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and military, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to the due observance of this constitution and of the constitution of the United States.
4. No jurisdiction shall hereafter be entertained by the General Assembly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate of minors, or appeal from judicial decisions, nor in any other matters appertaining to the jurisdiction of judges and courts of law. But the General Assembly shall confer upon the courts of the state all necessary powers for affording relief in the cases herein named; and the General Assembly shall exercise all other jurisdiction and authority which they have heretofore entertained, and which is not prohibited by, or repugnant to this constitution.
5. The General Assembly shall from time to time cause estimates to be made of the ratable property of the state, in order to the equitable apportionment of state taxes.
6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the state, one-sixth part thereof shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors, provided that the tax on a poll shall never exceed the sum of fifty cents, and that all persons who actually perform military duty, or duty in the fire department, shall be exempted from said poll tax.
7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to incur state debts to an amount exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of invasion, without the express consent of the people. Every proposition for such increase shall be submitted to the electors at the next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose, and shall not be farther entertained by the General Assembly, unless it receive the votes of a majority of all the persons voting. This section shall not be construed to refer to any money that now is, or hereafter may be, deposited with this state by the general government.