
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 48USC1591]

 
              TITLE 48--TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS
 
                       CHAPTER 12--VIRGIN ISLANDS
 
                     SUBCHAPTER IV--EXECUTIVE BRANCH
 
Sec. 1591. Governor and Lieutenant Governor; election; 
        eligibility; official residence; powers and duties; report
        
    The executive power of the Virgin Islands shall be vested in an 
executive officer whose official title shall be the ``Governor of the 
Virgin Islands''. The Governor of the Virgin Islands, together with the 
Lieutenant Governor, shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast by 
the people who are qualified to vote for the members of the legislature 
of the Virgin Islands. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be 
chosen jointly, by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable 
to both officers. If no candidates receive a majority of the votes cast 
in any election, on the fourteenth day thereafter a run-off election 
shall be held between the candidates for Governor and Lieutenant 
Governor receiving the highest and second highest number of votes cast. 
The first election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be held on 
November 3, 1970. Thereafter, beginning with the year 1974, the Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected every four years at the general 
election. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall hold office for a 
term of four years and until their successors are elected and qualified. 
No person who has been elected Governor for two full successive terms 
shall be again eligible to hold that office until one full term has 
intervened. The term of the elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor 
shall commence on the first Monday of January following the date of 
election.
    No person shall be eligible for election to the office of Governor 
or Lieutenant Governor unless he is an eligible voter and has been for 
five consecutive years immediately preceding the election a citizen of 
the United States and a bona fide resident of the Virgin Islands and 
will be, at the time of taking office, at least thirty years of age. The 
Governor shall maintain his official residence in the Government House 
on Saint Thomas during his incumbency, which house, together with land 
appurtenant thereto, is hereby transferred to the government of the 
Virgin Islands. While in Saint Croix the Governor may reside in 
Government House on Saint Croix, which house, together with land 
appurtenant thereto is also transferred to the government of the Virgin 
Islands.
    The Governor shall have general supervision and control of all the 
departments, bureaus, agencies, and other instrumentalities of the 
executive branch of the government of the Virgin Islands. He may grant 
pardons and reprieves and remit fines and forfeitures for offenses 
against local laws. He may veto any legislation as provided in this 
chapter. He shall appoint, and may remove, all officers and employees of 
the executive branch of the government of the Virgin Islands, except as 
otherwise provided in this or any other Act of Congress, or under the 
laws of the Virgin Islands, and shall commission all officers that he 
may be authorized to appoint. He shall be responsible for the faithful 
execution of the laws of the Virgin Islands and the laws of the United 
States applicable in the Virgin Islands. Whenever it becomes necessary, 
in case of disaster, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion or imminent 
danger thereof, or to prevent or suppress lawless violence, he may 
summon the posse comitatus or call out the militia or request assistance 
of the senior military or naval commander of the Armed Forces of the 
United States in the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, which may be given 
at the discretion of such commander if not disruptive of, or 
inconsistent with, his Federal responsibilities. He may, in case of 
rebellion or invasion or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety 
requires it, proclaim the islands, insofar as they are under the 
jurisdiction of the government of the Virgin Islands, to be under 
martial law. The members of the legislature shall meet forthwith on 
their own initiative and may, by a two-thirds vote, revoke such 
proclamation.
    The Governor shall prepare, publish, and submit to the Congress and 
the Secretary of the Interior a comprehensive annual financial report in 
conformance with the standards of the National Council on Governmental 
Accounting within one hundred and twenty days after the close of the 
fiscal year. The comprehensive annual financial report shall include 
statistical data as set forth in the standards of the National Council 
on Governmental Accounting relating to the physical, economic, social, 
and political characteristics of the government, and any other 
information required by the Congress. The Governor shall also make such 
other reports at such other times as may be required by the Congress or 
under applicable Federal law. He shall have the power to issue executive 
orders and regulations not in conflict with any applicable law. He may 
recommend bills to the legislature and give expression to his views on 
any matter before that body.
    There is hereby established the office of Lieutenant Governor of the 
Virgin Islands. The Lieutenant Governor shall have such executive powers 
and perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor or 
prescribed by this chapter or under the laws of the Virgin Islands.

(July 22, 1954, ch. 558, Sec. 11, 68 Stat. 503; Pub. L. 90-496, Sec. 4, 
Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 837; Pub. L. 97-357, title III, Sec. 309(a), 
Oct. 19, 1982, 96 Stat. 1710; Pub. L. 98-454, title V, Sec. 502, Oct. 5, 
1984, 98 Stat. 1735; Pub. L. 105-362, title IX, Sec. 901(n), Nov. 10, 
1998, 112 Stat. 3290.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ``this Act'', 
meaning act July 22, 1954, ch. 558, 68 Stat. 497, as amended, known as 
the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, which is classified 
principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to 
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1541 of this title 
and Tables.


                               Amendments

    1998--Pub. L. 105-362, in fourth paragraph, struck out ``The 
Governor shall transmit the comprehensive annual financial report to the 
Inspector General of the Department of the Interior who shall audit it 
and report his findings to the Congress.'' after ``other information 
required by the Congress.'' and ``He shall also submit to the Congress, 
the Secretary of the Interior, and the cognizant Federal auditors a 
written statement of actions taken or contemplated on Federal audit 
recommendations within sixty days after the issuance date of the audit 
report.'' after ``under applicable Federal law.''
    1984--Pub. L. 98-454 substituted ``Saint Croix, which house, 
together with land appurtenant thereto is also transferred to the 
government of the Virgin Islands'' for ``Saint Croix free of rent'' in 
second paragraph.
    1982--Pub. L. 97-357, in fourth paragraph, substituted provisions 
relating to the preparation, etc., of a comprehensive annual financial 
report to be submitted to the Congress, the Secretary of the Interior, 
and the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, preparation 
of other reports as required by Congress or applicable Federal law, and 
submittal of a written statement of actions taken or contemplated on 
Federal audit recommendations for provisions relating to an annual 
report of transactions of the Virgin Islands government to the Secretary 
of the Interior for transmittal to Congress and such other reports as 
required by Congress or applicable Federal law.
    1968--Pub. L. 90-496 amended section generally, providing for the 
popular election of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, setting the 
date of the first election, defining the scope of their authority, 
setting out the duties of their offices, specifying the qualifications 
for the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and providing that 
an elected Governor may serve two full successive terms but shall not be 
again eligible to hold that office until one full term has intervened.


                    Effective Date of 1968 Amendment

    Section 16 of Pub. L. 90-496 provided that: ``Those provisions of 
this Act [see Short Title note set out under section 1541 of this title] 
necessary to authorize the holding of an election for Governor and 
Lieutenant Governor on November 3, 1970, shall be effective January 1, 
1970. All other provisions of this Act, unless otherwise expressly 
provided herein, shall be effective January 4, 1971.''


                Submerged Lands, Conveyance to Territory

    Conveyance of submerged lands to the government of the Virgin 
Islands, see section 1701 et seq. of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1575 of this title.
