[1][2] In addition, the legislatures of the territories of American Samoa,[3] Northern Mariana Islands,[4] and Puerto Rico[5] have impeachment powers.
Impeachment describes the process through which the legislature may bring charges and hold a trial with a penalty including removal from office.
Several others, including Missouri's Eric Greitens in 2018, have resigned rather than face impeachment, when events seemed to make it inevitable.
[194] The most recent impeachment of a state governor occurred on January 14, 2009, when the Illinois House of Representatives voted 117–1 to impeach Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges;[195] he was subsequently removed from office and barred from holding future office by the Illinois Senate on January 29.
[186] The National Conference of State Legislatures has observed that gubernatorial impeachment occurs relatively infrequently[6] and has cited two factors in believed to be partially responsible for this: