Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands | |
|---|---|
| 36th Legislature | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Vice President | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 15 |
 | |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 2 years (no term limits) |
| Authority | Organic Act of the Virgin Islands |
| Salary | $85,000 |
| Elections | |
| Plurality-at-large voting | |
Last election | November 5, 2024 |
Next election | November 3, 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| The Legislature Building, Charlotte Amalie | |
| Website | |
| http://www.legvi.org/ | |
TheLegislature of the United States Virgin Islands is theterritorial legislature of theUnited States Virgin Islands. The legislative branch of theunincorporated U.S. territory isunicameral, with a single house consisting of 15 senators, elected to two-year terms withoutterm limits. The legislature meets inCharlotte Amalie on the island ofSt. Thomas.
The roots of the modern legislature date to the passage of the Colonial Law in 1852 during theDanish colonial period. The law created a Colonial Assembly for theDanish West Indies, as well as the appointment of avice-regent serving as the colony'sgovernor executive, serving on behalf of theKing of Denmark. Despite the name, the Colonial Assembly acted more as an advisory body than a true legislature. Vice-regents continued to reserve the right to reject or amend anylaw they did not see fit.
A further Colonial Law coming in 1863 broke the Assembly into two parts, creating a colonial council for the newly createdSt. Thomas andSt. John Municipality, and a separate colonial council for theSt. Croix Municipality. The 1863 law provided the councils to combine into a single legislature when called upon by the Vice-regent or by legislators themselves, and gave legislators greater say in the colony's finances. However, theDanish monarch still reserved the right to pick several members of the councils, givingCopenhagen a continued say in the colony's legislative affairs. The monarch-appointed vice-regent and the king also continued to reserve the right to pass or deny any colonial bills brought upon their desks. Thevoting franchise of this period remained low, hovering just under six percent.
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Judiciary
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Divisions |
Upon theU.S. purchase of the islands fromDenmark in 1917 by fears ofGerman expansion into theCaribbean, the renamedU.S. Virgin Islands government underwent a gradual overhaul. From 1917 to 1931, theU.S. Navy administered the islands, with a Navy officer serving gubernatorial duties, while the colonial councils for the territory's two municipalities created by theDanes fifty years earlier remained with little change. Islanders were grantedAmerican citizenship in 1927, and after popular discontent with incompetent naval rule, the islands came under the supervision of the federalDepartment of the Interior in 1931.
TheU.S. Congress's passage of the1936 Organic Act brought the greatest amount of self-government the islands had ever known. For the first time, all islanders above the age of 21 enjoyeduniversal suffrage. The colonial councils—now municipal councils—could combine when desired to form a Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly now could override gubernatorial vetoes with a two-thirds majority, a parliamentary procedure endowed to theU.S. Congress and variousstate legislatures. The federalCongress andPresident, however, continued to reserve the right toveto territorial legislation.
TheRevised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1954 dissolved the two Municipal Councils, creating a permanent unified andunicameral Legislature of the Virgin Islands. A revision in the territory's constitution in 1966 increased the number of legislators from its original amount of 11 to 15.
Today, the Legislature of the Virgin Islands is a territorial legislative body with the same rights and powers comparable to that of manystate legislatures within theUnited States.
The senate's home is the Legislature Building, a historic building built in 1828 as Danish police barracks, modified extensively in 1884, which is included in theCharlotte Amalie Historic District.[1][2]
The legislature, referred to as the Senate, is aunicameral body, one of the four such legislative bodies in the United States, along withNebraska,Guam and theDistrict of Columbia. The legislature meets inside the Senate Building inCharlotte Amalie, a restoredDanish andAmerican militarybarracks building as well as a former high school.
It is composed of 15 senators, each serving two-year terms. The territory is divided into two multimember constituencies, with seven senators representing each, elected byblock voting, while a single senator fromSt. John is elected at large.
Qualifications to be a senator include being at least 21 years of age, aU.S. citizen, a resident of theVirgin Islands for three years, and a qualified resident of their representing district.
| Party (Shading indicates majority/plurality) | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Independent Citizens | Independent | ||
| End of previous Legislature | 11 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| Begin (January 13, 2025) | 12 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Latest voting share | 80% | 0% | 20% | 100% |
| District | Name | Party | Took Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-large | Angel Bolques Jr. | Democratic | 2022 |
| St. Croix | Franklin D. Johnson | Independent | 2021 |
| Hubert L. Frederick | Democratic | 2025 | |
| Clifford A. Joseph | Democratic | 2025 | |
| Kenneth Gittens | Democratic | 2019, 2013-2017 | |
| Marise C. James | Democratic | 2023 | |
| Novelle Francis | Democratic | 2015 | |
| Kurt Vialet | Democratic | 2025, 2015-2023 | |
| St. Thomas/ St. John | Alma Francis-Heyliger | Independent | 2021 |
| Carla J. Joseph | Democratic | 2021 | |
| Avery L. Lewis | Democratic | 2025 | |
| Dwayne M. DeGraff | Independent | 2017 | |
| Ray Fonseca | Democratic | 2023 | |
| Marvin Blyden | Democratic | 2015 | |
| Milton E. Potter | Democratic | 2021 |
Source:[3]
Articles Related to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands | |
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