158
●
Chapter 10
ReviewQuestions
1. (a) Name our state. (b) Name the capital city of our state.
2. Where is our capital city located?
3. What are the three branches of state government called?
4. What is themain purpose of the legislative branch?
5. What two groupsmake up the legislative branch of our state government?
6. What is the name given to the entire group of the legislative branch?
7. Howmany people are elected to the stateHouse of Representatives?
8. Howmany are elected to the Senate?
9. What is themain purpose of the executive branch of government?
10. What is the name given to the position of chief executive officer?
11. Howmany departments are in the executive branch?
12. What does the attorney general’s office do?
13. For what is the auditor general’s office known?
14. What is themain purpose of the judicial branch of government?
15. What is the name of the highest court in our state?
is the chief lawofficer of the state.Heor she
works with our courts and the justice
system. His or her office helps to see that
people are treated fairly by a business.
The
treasurer
manages themoney that
is collected through taxes and other
sources. The
auditor general
is the
“watchdog” of the state treasury. He or she
sees to it that all collectedmoney is placed
in the state treasury. This person also sees
that themoney is legally spent.
Remember that a tax is money that
people pay to the government. Then the
government uses this money to pay for
programs it provides. All state workers are
paid through this money. Taxes are part of
the law at all levels of government.
State Judicial Branch
T
he state judicial branch is the part of
government that deals with our
court system. Our courts explain the
meaningof the laws. Judges are in chargeof
courts. For example, let’s say a law is broken
or a crime has been committed by
someone. When the police capture
someone, they turn him over to the justice
system. Each arrested person has rights.
Each person is innocent of the crime until
proven guilty. He or she has a right tohave
a lawyer. He or she also has a right to be
tried by a
jury
. A jury is a group of people
who listen to the evidence in a case. The
jury decides whether the accused person is
innocent or guilty of a crime.
There are different kinds of courts in our
state. All courts operate under our
State
Supreme Court
. It was set up in 1722,
and is the oldest one in the country! The
State Supreme Court supervises all other
courts in the state. There are several
different kinds of lower courts at the
state level.
You can seehow similar our national and
state governments are. All branches of
government are separate. However, all
branches of government must work
together to keep our state government
running smoothly.