You asked which states have legislative terms longer than two years. You also wanted to know whether the length of terms for Connecticut General Assembly members is set by the state constitution or statute. This report has been updated by OLR Report 2022-R-0056.

In five states, state senators and state representatives both serve for a four-year term. In 32 states, state senators serve for a four-year term while state representatives serve for a two-year term. In all other states but Nebraska, both offices serve two-year terms. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature and its members serve four-year, staggered terms. In total, 27 of the states with four-year terms have staggered terms. The information in Tables 1 and 2 comes from The Book of the States 2005.

The length of terms for Connecticut General Assembly members is set by the state constitution (Ct. Const. Art. III, § 10).

Table 1: States With Four-Year Senate and House Terms

*Staggered terms.

Table 2: States With Four-Year Senate Terms

*Staggered terms.

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