General Information
The Alabama Senate is composed of 35 Senators, in keeping with Article IV, Section 50, of the Alabama Constitution, which limits the Alabama House of Representatives to 105 members, and the Senate to 35; together with Article IX, Sections 197 and 198, which requires that membership in the Senate consist of not less than one-fourth, nor more than one-third, of the total membership of the House of Representatives. These sections also allow for additional representation, in the event that new counties are created. Thus, the Alabama Senate is precisely one-third the size of the House of Representatives, and each Senator represents a district of approximately 125,000 Alabamians.
Under Article IV, Section 47 of the Constitution, Senators must be at least 25 years of age at the time of their election, must be citizens and residents of the state of Alabama for at least 3 years, and reside within their district for at least one year prior to election.
Senators, like members of the House of Representatives, are elected for four-year terms, and take office at midnight of the day of their election. Amendment 97 to the Constitution, provides that should a vacancy occur in either house of the Legislature, the governor is required to call a special election to fill the vacancy.
While the House of Representatives has exclusive power to originate revenue bills, such legislation can be amended and/or substituted by the Senate. Moreover, because the Senate is considered to be the "deliberative body", rules concerning length of debate are more liberal than those of the House of Representatives.
Like the United States Senate, the Alabama Senate has sole power of Confirmation of certain appointees designated by the Constitution and by statute. The legislative antecedent of this role is a similar power that was vested in the Roman Senate during the Roman Republic.
The Senate Seal features an open book and torch, accompanied by the Latin phrase Libertas Per Lege, meaning "Liberty Through Law". The official Seal of the Senate was adopted by Senate Resolution, August 19, 1965, and was created by a special committee consisting of then Senators John Tyson (Mobile), Vaughan Hill Robison (Montgomery), Bill Nichols (Talladega), Lieutenant Governor Jim Allen and Secretary of the Senate McDowell Lee.
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