The Utah State Archives is pleased to announce that the 116-year-old Utah State Constitution is now available with a full text search on its web site. The Utah State Archives is also the custodian of the record which now may be viewed along side a typescript taken from the 1898 Revised Statutes of Utah at archives.utah.gov.

The “engrossed” copy of the Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention following completion by the Engrossing Clerk Joseph A. Smith “without blot, erasure or interlineation, on parchment sheets, 11 x 17″ on May 8, 1895. Voters in Utah approved the new Constitution in November of the same year, and final approval from President Grover Cleveland came on January 4, 1896, when Utah officially became the 45^th state in the Union. A complete archival description of the original record will also be available.

“The State Constitution is an important historical record. It is the original document of citizen’s rights in Utah,” comments the State Archivist, Patricia Smith-Mansfield. “Having online access provides the public a wonderful opportunity to see the original State Constitution.”

UPDATE: The Deseret News has published an article, “Original Utah Constitution documents posted online“