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{{Short description|Territorial legislature of the United States Virgin Islands}}
{{redirect|Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands|the legislative body in the [[British Virgin Islands|British overseas territory]]|House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands}}

{{Infobox legislature
| background_color = {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}
| name          = Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands 
| legislature = [[35th Virgin Islands Legislature|35th Legislature]]
| coa_pic        =
 | coa-pic       = 
 | session_room  = File:Legislature Building USVI 01.JPG
 | house_type    = Unicameral
 | houses        = 
 | leader1_type  = [[List of Presidents of the Virgin Islands Legislature|President]]
 | leader1       = [[Novelle Francis]]
 | party1        = ([[Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands|D]])
 | election1     = January 9, 2023
 | leader2_type  = Vice President 
 | leader2       = [[Marvin Blyden]] ([[Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands|D]])
 | election2     = January 9, 2023
 | leader3_type  = Majority Leader
 | leader3       = [[Kenny Gittens]] ([[Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands|D]])
 | election3     = January 9, 2023
 |leader4_type  = Minority Leader
 | leader4       = [[Dwayne M. DeGraff]] ([[Independent politician|I]])
 | election4     = January 9, 2023
 | members       = 15
| structure1     =
| structure1_res = 250px
| political_groups1 =
'''Majority'''
*{{nowrap|{{color box|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|border=silver}} [[Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands|Democratic]] (11)}}
'''Minority'''
*{{nowrap|{{color box|{{Party color|Independent}}|border=black}} [[Independent politician|Independent]] (4)}}
 | term_length = 2 years (no term limits)
 | authority = [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands|Organic Act of the Virgin Islands]]
 | salary = $85,000
 | last_election1     = [[2022 United States Virgin Islands legislative election|November 8, 2022]]
| next_election2    = November 5, 2024
 | meeting_place = The Legislature Building, <br>[[Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]]
 | website       = http://www.legvi.org/
}}
The '''Legislature of the Virgin Islands''' is the [[state legislature (United States)|territorial legislature]] of the [[United States Virgin Islands]]. The legislative branch of the [[incorporated territory|unincorporated U.S. territory]] is [[unicameral]], with a single house consisting of 15 senators, elected to two-year terms without [[term limits in the United States|term limits]]. The legislature meets in [[Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]] on the island of [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]].

==History==

=== The Danish period: 1852–1917 ===
The roots of the modern legislature date to the passage of the Colonial Law in 1852 during the [[Danish colonial empire|Danish colonial period]]. The law created a Colonial Assembly for the [[Danish West Indies]], as well as the appointment of a [[Viceroy|vice-regent]] serving as the colony's [[List of Governors of the Danish West Indies|governor executive]], serving on behalf of the [[King 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 any [[law]] 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 created [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]] and [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. John]] Municipality, and a separate colonial council for the [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. 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, the [[King of Denmark|Danish monarch]] still reserved the right to pick several members of the councils, giving [[Government of Denmark|Copenhagen]] 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. The [[suffrage|voting franchise]] of this period remained low, hovering just under six percent.

=== The American period: 1917–present ===
{{Politics of the U.S. Virgin Islands}}
Upon the [[United States|U.S.]] purchase of the islands from [[Denmark]] in 1917 by fears of [[German Empire|German]] expansion into the [[Caribbean]], the renamed [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] government underwent a gradual overhaul. From 1917 to 1931, the [[U.S. Navy]] administered the islands, with a Navy officer serving gubernatorial duties, while the colonial councils for the territory's two municipalities created by the [[Denmark|Danes]] fifty years earlier remained with little change. Islanders were granted [[United States citizenship|American citizenship]] in 1927, and after popular discontent with incompetent naval rule, the islands came under the supervision of the federal [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] in 1931.

The [[U.S. Congress]]'s passage of the [[Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of the United States|1936 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 enjoyed [[universal 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 the [[U.S. Congress]] and various [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]]s. The federal [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] and [[U.S. President|President]], however, continued to  reserve the right to [[veto]] territorial legislation.

=== Modern legislature ===
The [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands]] of 1954 dissolved the two Municipal Councils, creating a permanent unified and [[unicameral]] 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 many [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]]s within the [[United States]].

===Legislature Building===
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 the [[Charlotte Amalie Historic District]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vinow.com/stt/stt-a/charlotte-amalie/legislature-building/ |title=Legislature Building |publisher=VINow.com}}</ref><ref name=nrhpdoc-CharlotteAmalie>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=76001860}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Charlotte Amalie Historic District |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Russell Wright |date=May 20, 1976 |access-date=May 24, 2017 }} With {{NRHP url|id=76001860|photos=y|title=28 photos from 1976 (#2 shows the Legislature Building)}}.</ref>

==Legislature==

The legislature, referred to as the Senate, is a [[unicameral]] body, one of the four such legislative bodies in the United States, along with [[Nebraska Legislature|Nebraska]], [[Legislature of Guam|Guam]] and the [[Council of the District of Columbia|District of Columbia]]. The legislature meets inside the Senate Building in [[Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]], a restored [[Military of Denmark|Danish]] and [[United States Armed Forces|American]] military [[barracks]] 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 by [[Plurality-at-large voting|block voting]], while a single senator from [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. John]] is elected at large. For a long time the legislature was the only one of its kind in the United States where the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] had no representation whatsoever, until the [[Hawaii Senate]] lost its sole Republican member in 2016.

Qualifications to be a senator include being at least 21 years of age, a [[U.S. citizen]], a resident of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]] for three years, and a qualified resident of their representing district.

=== Current composition ===

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
!rowspan=3|
!colspan=3|Party <div style="font-size:80%">(Shading indicates majority/plurality)</div>
!rowspan=3|Total
|- style="height:5px"
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}"|
| style="background-color:{{party color|ICM Party (United States)}}"|
| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent}}"|
|-
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Independent Citizens Movement|Independent<br/>Citizens]]
![[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|[[34th Virgin Islands Legislature|End of previous Legislature]]
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|10
| 0
| 5
! 15
|-
|colspan=5|
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin (January 9, 2023)
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|11
| 0
| 4
! 15
|-
!Latest voting share
!{{Party shading/Democratic}}|{{percentage|9|15|1}}
!{{percentage|0|15|0}}
!{{percentage|6|15|2}}
!{{percentage|15|15|15}}
|}

===Members===
{| class=wikitable
! District !! Name !! Party !! Took Office
|-
! At-large 
| [[Angel Bolques Jr.]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2022
|-
!  rowspan=7|St. Croix
| [[Franklin D. Johnson]]
| {{Party shading/Independent}}|Independent
| 2021
|-
| [[Diane T. Capehart]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
|  2023
|-
| [[Javan James Sr.]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2019
|-
| [[Kenneth Gittens]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2019
|-
| [[Marise James|Marise C. James]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2023
|-
| [[Novelle Francis]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2015
|-
| [[Samuel Carrion]]
| {{Party shading/Independent}}|Independent
| 2021
|-
! rowspan=7|St. Thomas/<br>St. John
| [[Alma Francis-Heyliger]]
| {{Party shading/Independent}}|Independent
| 2021
|-
| [[Carla J. Joseph]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2021
|-
| [[Donna Frett-Gregory]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2019
|-
| [[Dwayne M. DeGraff]]
| {{Party shading/Independent}}|Independent
| 2017
|-
| [[Ray Fonseca (politician)|Ray Fonseca]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2023
|-
| [[Marvin A. Blyden|Marvin Blyden]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| 2015
|-
| [[Milton E. Potter]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic 
| 2021
|}
Source:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://viconsortium.com/vi-government/virgin-islands-35th-legislature-senators-commence-2-year-term-following-swearing-in-ceremony | title=35th Legislature Senators Commence 2-Year Term Following Swearing-In Ceremony }}</ref>

== Past composition of the Legislature ==
{{main|Political party strength in the United States Virgin Islands}}

*[[34th Virgin Islands Legislature]] (2021)

*[[31st Virgin Islands Legislature]] (2015)<ref>{{Cite news |title= 31st Legislature Sworn In at Brief Public Ceremony Before First Session |language=en |work=St. Thomas Source |url=https://stthomassource.com/content/2015/01/13/31st-legislature-sworn-brief-public-ceremony-first-session/
|access-date=2015-01-12}}</ref>
*[[28th Virgin Islands Legislature]] (2009)

==See also==
*[[List of state and territorial capitols in the United States]]
*[[List of Virgin Islands Legislatures]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}

{{United States legislatures|collapsed}}

{{Navboxes 
|title = Articles Related to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands 
|list  = 
{{U.S. Virgin Islands}}
{{Legislatures of the Americas}}
{{National unicameral legislatures}}
{{Legislature of the Virgin Islands}}
}}

[[Category:Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]
[[Category:Territorial legislatures of the United States|Virgin Islands]]
[[Category:Unicameral legislatures|Virgin Islands United States]]

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