CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 10230-10248
GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 10230-10248
10230. The Legislative Counsel shall be in attendance upon all
regular and special sessions of the Legislature.
10231. The Legislative Counsel shall prepare and assist in the
preparation, amendment and consideration of legislative measures when
requested or upon suggestion as herein provided.
10231.5. (a) A bill that, as introduced or amended in either house
of the Legislature, would require a state agency to submit a report
on any subject to either house of the Legislature generally, a
committee or office of either house of the Legislature, or the
Legislative Counsel Bureau shall include a provision that repeals the
reporting requirement, or makes the requirement inoperative, no
later than a date four years following the date upon which the bill,
as enacted, becomes operative or four years after the due date of any
report required every four or more years. If the bill requires that
the report be submitted to either house of the Legislature generally,
it shall also include a provision that requires the report to be
submitted pursuant to Section 9795.
(b) The Legislative Counsel, in drafting a bill for introduction
or an amendment to a bill that would impose a reporting requirement
described in subdivision (a), shall include a provision that repeals
the reporting requirement, or makes the reporting requirement
inoperative, four years after the date on which the requirement
becomes operative, unless the person requesting the bill or amendment
directs the Legislative Counsel to do otherwise. If the bill
requires that the report be submitted to either house of the
Legislature generally, the Legislative Counsel shall also include a
provision that requires the report to be submitted pursuant to
Section 9795.
10232. Upon request, the Legislative Counsel shall advise any State
agency as to the preparation of measures to be submitted to the
Legislature.
10232.5. Upon request, the Legislative Counsel may provide legal
services to the State Auditor.
10233. Insofar as in his power, upon request, the Legislative
Counsel shall aid and assist any member of the Legislature as to
bills, resolutions and measures, drafting them into proper form, and
furnishing to the member the fullest information upon all matters in
the scope of the bureau.
10234. The Legislative Counsel shall give such consideration to and
service concerning any measure before the Legislature as
circumstances will permit, and which is in any way requested by the
Governor, the Senate or Assembly, or any committee of the Legislature
having the measure before it for consideration.
10235. (a) The Legislative Counsel shall give such consideration to
and service concerning any bill in the Governor's hands for
rejection, approval, or other action, as the circumstances will
permit and the Governor requests.
(b) Upon request, the Legislative Counsel may provide to the
Governor an opinion, orally or in writing, upon any question of law.
(c) The Legislative Counsel may provide additional legal services
to the Governor concerning any matter as the circumstances permit and
the Governor requests.
10236. Upon request, the Legislative Counsel shall advise as to its
work with any legislative committee appointed to carry on
investigations.
10237. The Legislative Counsel shall prepare or assist in the
preparation or amendment of legislative measures at the written
suggestion of any judge of the Supreme Court, the courts of appeal,
or of the superior courts of the state.
10238. Every suggestion of a judge shall set forth the substance of
the provisions desired or which may be needed with the reasons
therefor.
10239. A suggestion by a judge of the Supreme Court shall be filed
with the clerk of that court. A suggestion by a judge of a court of
appeal shall be filed with the clerk of that court. A suggestion by a
judge of a superior court shall be filed with the clerk of the court
of appeal of the district within which the superior court is
located.
10240. When a suggestion is so filed with the clerk, he shall make
and send to the permanent office of the Legislative Counsel a
certified copy of the suggestion. All suggestions received at the
permanent office shall be permanently filed and recorded and copies
furnished to the Legislative Counsel.
10241. The Legislative Counsel shall prepare a measure in
accordance with the suggestion of a judge, and shall transmit it to
the chairman of the judiciary committee of each house at the next
session of the Legislature.
10242. The Legislative Counsel shall advise the Legislature from
time to time as to legislation necessary to maintain the codes and
legislation necessary to codify such statutes as are enacted from
time to time subsequent to the enactment of the codes. Such
recommendations shall include such restatement without substantive
change as will best serve clearly and correctly to express the
existing provisions of the law.
10242.5. (a) The Legislative Counsel shall annually prepare,
publish, and maintain an electronic list of all reports that state
and local agencies are required or requested by law to prepare and
file with the Governor or the Legislature, or both, in the future or
within the preceding year. The list shall include all of the
following information:
(1) The name of the agency that is required or requested to
prepare and file the report.
(2) A brief description of the subject of the report.
(3) The date on which the report is to be completed and filed.
(4) The date on which the report was completed and filed.
(b) Each list by the Legislative Counsel prepared pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be sent to each Member of the Legislature and
shall be available to the public. The Legislative Counsel may charge
a member of the public a fee that does not exceed the direct cost of
printing the list.
(c) Each state and local agency that is required or requested by
law to prepare a report described in subdivision (a) shall file a
printed copy of the report with the Legislative Counsel.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Agency" includes any city, county, special district,
department, board, bureau, or commission, including any task force or
other similar body that is created by statute or resolution. "Agency"
does not include the University of California.
(2) "Report" includes any study or audit.
(e) (1) The Legislative Counsel shall update the list required by
subdivision (a) by removing obsolete or duplicate reports from the
list. The Legislative Counsel shall also remove reports from the list
as directed by Section 4 of the act adding this subdivision, or a
subsequent statute that further requires the Legislative Counsel to
remove reports included in the list.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "obsolete report" means a
report that has not been completed and filed and for which the date
that the report was required to be completed and filed was four or
more years after the initial report is submitted.
10243. The Legislative Counsel shall cooperate with the proponents
of an initiative measure in its preparation when:
(a) Requested in writing so to do by 25 or more electors proposing
the measure; and
(b) In the judgment of the Legislative Counsel there is reasonable
probability that the measure will be submitted to the voters of the
State under the laws relating to the submission of initiatives.
10244. The Legislative Counsel may contract, at not less than cost
and subject to regulations approved by the Director of General
Services, with any county or city for the codification, compilation,
or indexing of any or all of its ordinances or resolutions. All money
received by the Legislative Counsel pursuant to such contracts shall
be paid into the State Treasury to the credit and in augmentation of
the current appropriation for the support of the Legislative Counsel
Bureau.
10245. The Legislative Counsel may cooperate with any educational
institution of the State in any manner approved by the Legislative
Counsel and such institution.
10246. The Legislative Counsel shall not appear in any action or
proceeding in the courts of this state or of the United States
without the prior approval of the Joint Rules Committee. If the
existence of said committee terminates such approval may be given in
writing by the Speaker of the Assembly and the President pro Tempore
of the Senate. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Legislature
from giving its approval for such appearance by concurrent
resolution.
10247. When a bill is introduced in the Legislature and each time a
bill is amended, on or after January 1, 1990, the Legislative
Counsel shall determine whether the bill appropriates funds that
apply toward the minimum funding for school districts and community
college districts required pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of
the California Constitution. The Legislative Counsel shall make this
determination known in the Legislative Counsel's Digest of the bill
and shall describe in the digest the basis for this determination.
10248. (a) The Legislative Counsel shall, with the advice of the
Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, make
all of the following information available to the public in
electronic form:
(1) The legislative calendar, the schedule of legislative
committee hearings, a list of matters pending on the floors of both
houses of the Legislature, and a list of the committees of the
Legislature and their members.
(2) The text of each bill introduced in each current legislative
session, including each amended, enrolled, and chaptered form of each
bill.
(3) The bill history of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.
(4) The bill status of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.
(5) All bill analyses prepared by legislative committees in
connection with each bill in each current legislative session.
(6) All vote information concerning each bill in each current
legislative session.
(7) Any veto message concerning a bill in each current legislative
session.
(8) The California Codes.
(9) The California Constitution.
(10) All statutes enacted on or after January 1, 1993.
(b) The information identified in subdivision (a) shall be made
available to the public by means of access by way of the largest
nonproprietary, nonprofit cooperative public computer network. The
information shall be made available in one or more formats and by one
or more means in order to provide the greatest feasible access to
the general public in this state. Any person who accesses the
information may access all or any part of the information. The
information may also be made available by any other means of access
that would facilitate public access to the information. The
information that is maintained in the legislative information system
that is operated and maintained by the Legislative Counsel shall be
made available in the shortest feasible time after the information is
available in the information system. The information that is not
maintained in the information system shall be made available in the
shortest feasible time after it is available to the Legislative
Counsel.
(c) Any documentation that describes the electronic digital
formats of the information identified in subdivision (a) and is
available to the public shall be made available by means of access by
way of the computer network specified in subdivision (b).
(d) Personal information concerning a person who accesses the
information may be maintained only for the purpose of providing
service to the person.
(e) No fee or other charge may be imposed by the Legislative
Counsel as a condition of accessing the information that is
accessible by way of the computer network specified in subdivision
(b).
(f) The electronic public access provided by way of the computer
network specified in subdivision (b) shall be in addition to other
electronic or print distribution of the information.
(g) No action taken pursuant to this section shall be deemed to
alter or relinquish any copyright or other proprietary interest or
entitlement of the State of California relating to any of the
information made available pursuant to this section.