New York State Secretary of State Fourth Constitution of the State of New York

The Constitution of 1894 was framed and adopted by a Convention held in Albany from May 8 through September 29, 1894.

The Constitution of 1846 (Article 13, Section 2) required that every twenty years the question be placed before the voters of whether the Constitution should be amended and revised. In the fall of 1886 the voters approved the calling of a Convention for this purpose, but it was not held until 1894 because the Governor and the Legislature could not agree on a way of selecting delegates. The Convention was finally convened pursuant to legislation of 1893 and 1894. At the end of the Constitution are the signatures of the officers of the officers of the Convention, a copy of the resolution of the Convention, September 29, 1894, that the proposed Constitution be submitted to the people for ratification, and the certificate of the Secretary of State, John Palmer, of receipt of the engrossed Constitution. The Constitution was ratified by the voters on November 6, 1894.

Published in "New York Constitution Annotated," (1938); "Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York," (annual); and other sources.

High resolution images of the original documents that comprise this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

Access to original records is restricted: digitized and published versions are first-use copies.