If the legislative management’s administrative rules committee objects to all or any portion of a rule because the committee deems it to be unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or beyond the authority delegated to the adopting agency, the committee may file that objection in certified form with the legislative council. The filed objection must contain a concise statement of the committee’s reasons for its action.

1.    The legislative council shall attach to each objection a certification of the time and date of its filing and, as soon as possible, shall transmit a copy of the objection and the certification to the agency adopting the rule in question. The legislative council also shall maintain a permanent register of all committee objections.

2.    The legislative council shall publish an objection filed pursuant to this section in the next issue of the code supplement. In case of a filed committee objection to a rule subject to the exceptions of the definition of rule in section 28-32-01, the agency shall indicate the existence of that objection adjacent to the rule in any compilation containing that rule.

3.    Within fourteen days after the filing of a committee objection to a rule, the adopting agency shall respond in writing to the committee. After receipt of the response, the committee may withdraw or modify its objection.

4.    After the filing of a committee objection, the burden of persuasion is upon the agency in any action for judicial review or for enforcement of the rule to establish that the whole or portion thereof objected to is within the procedural and substantive authority delegated to the agency. If the agency fails to meet its burden of persuasion, the court shall declare the whole or portion of the rule objected to invalid and judgment must be rendered against the agency for court costs. These court costs must include a reasonable attorney’s fee and must be payable from the appropriation of the agency which adopted the rule in question.