Rule 3.5. House Legislative Services; Council; executive director

A. The House Legislative Services Council is hereby created which shall be responsible for the employment and supervision of a research, drafting, and committee staff for the House of Representatives. Such staff shall be designated as House Legislative Services, and shall have as its purpose the provision of research, drafting, and similar legislative services to the House of Representatives, its members, and committees. The staff shall have, without limitation, the following duties: (1) the furnishing of research and bill drafting services to members of the House and the committees of the House; (2) providing objective reports on the context of pending and adopted legislation; (3) the preparation of manuals, directories, and similar informational materials for the use of the House and House staff; (4) providing professional services on behalf of the House of Representatives, or its committees; and (5) the performance of all other duties the council may deem essential to the work of the House and the legislature generally, and the members thereof.

B. The House Legislative Services Council shall be composed of the Speaker of the House, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, nine members appointed by the Speaker, one member to be appointed from each congressional district in effect at the date of appointment and two members to be appointed from the state at large, and the Clerk of the House. Members shall be appointed no later than the first day of the first regular session after the election of members of the legislature. Vacancies shall be filled in the manner of the original appointment. The members of the council shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from among the membership at the first meeting of the council following their appointment every four years. Legislative members shall receive the same per diem and travel expenses for attendance at meetings of the council as is provided for attendance at meetings of legislative committees.

C. House Legislative Services shall be under the general supervision and control of the House Legislative Services Council. The House Legislative Services Council shall employ an executive director who shall be the administrative officer of House Legislative Services. With respect to the operations of the standing committees of the House, supervision of the House Legislative Services staff personnel assigned to those committees shall be exercised by the director in coordination with the respective committee chairmen.

D. The executive director, with the approval of the House Legislative Services Council, shall have the authority to employ, terminate, and fix the salaries of such staff as shall be necessary to carry out the purposes of House Legislative Services, pursuant to policies adopted by the House Legislative Services Council.

HR 14, 1981; HR 4, 1982; HR 8, 1991, eff. Jan. 13, 1992; HR 45, 1998, eff. May 20, 1998.