(2) |
The powers, functions, and duties of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel under the supervision of the director shall be:
(a) |
to provide research and legal staff assistance to all standing, special, and interim committees as follows:
(i) |
to assist each committee chairman in planning the work of the committee; |
(ii) |
to prepare and present research and legal information in accordance with committee instructions or instructions of the committee chairman; |
(iii) |
to prepare progress reports of committee work when requested; and |
(iv) |
to prepare a final committee report in accordance with committee instructions, that includes relevant research information, committee policy recommendations, and recommended legislation; |
|
(b) |
to collect and examine the acts and official reports of any state and report their contents to any committee or member of the Legislature; |
(c) |
to provide research and legal analysis services to any interim committee, legislative standing committee, or individual legislator on actual or proposed legislation or subjects of general legislative concern; |
(d) |
(i) |
to exercise under the direction of the general counsel the constitutional authority provided in Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 32, in serving as legal counsel to the Legislature, majority and minority leadership of the House or Senate, any of the Legislature’s committees or subcommittees, individual legislators, any of the Legislature’s staff offices, or any of the legislative staff; and |
(ii) |
to represent the Legislature, majority and minority leadership of the House of Representatives or Senate, any of the Legislature’s committees or subcommittees, individual legislators, any of the Legislature’s staff offices, or any of the legislative staff in cases and controversies before courts and administrative agencies and tribunals; |
|
(e) |
to prepare and assist in the preparation of legislative bills, resolutions, memorials, amendments, and other documents or instruments required in the legislative process and, under the direction of the general counsel, give advice and counsel regarding them to the Legislature, majority and minority leadership of the House of Representatives or Senate, any of its members or members-elect, any of its committees or subcommittees, or the legislative staff; |
(f) |
under the direction of the general counsel:
(i) |
to review, examine, and correct any technical errors when:
(A) |
preparing legislation that passed both houses to enroll the legislation and prepare the laws for publication; or |
(B) |
maintaining the accuracy of the electronic code database; and |
|
(ii) |
to deliver enrolled legislation to the House of Representatives and the Senate for submission to the governor for gubernatorial action; |
|
(g) |
(i) |
to exercise control over and to act as the repository and custodian of the official copy and database of the current version of the Utah Constitution; |
(ii) |
to incorporate into the Utah Constitution any amendments to the Utah Constitution that pass during a regular general election; and |
(iii) |
to update and maintain the bold face descriptive titles to sections of the Utah Constitution; |
|
(h) |
to prepare the laws for publication; |
(i) |
(i) |
to maintain, exercise control over, and act as the repository and custodian of the official copy and database of the Utah Code, organized by title, chapter, part, and section; and |
(ii) |
to keep the Utah Code database current, including updating the database to reflect:
(A) |
any duly enacted legislation making changes, including future changes, to the Utah Code; and |
(B) |
any corrections of technical errors; |
|
|
(j) |
to formulate recommendations for the revision, clarification, classification, arrangement, codification, annotation, and indexing of Utah statutes, and to develop proposed legislation to effectuate the recommendations; |
(k) |
to appoint and develop a professional staff within budget limitations; and |
(l) |
to prepare and submit the annual budget request for the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel. |
|