Section 2-701 – “Committee” Defined

    In this subtitle, “Committee” means the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics.

Section 2-702 – Established

    There is a Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, which is a joint committee of the Senate and the House.

Section 2-703 – Membership

    (a)    (1)    The Committee consists of the following 12 regular members:             (i)    six Senators appointed by the President; and             (ii)    six Delegates appointed by the Speaker.         (2)    (i)    The Senators appointed by the President shall be chosen so that each political party is represented in approximately the same proportion as the party is represented in the Senate. Minority party members shall […]

Section 2-704 – Officers

    (a)    The President and the Speaker:         (1)    jointly shall appoint a chairman and a vice chairman of the Committee; or         (2)    each shall appoint a cochairman of the Committee.     (b)    Appointees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.

Section 2-705 – Meetings

    The Committee shall meet at the times and places that it determines.

Section 2-706 – Duties; Maintenance of Conflict of Interest Filings

    (a)    The Committee shall:         (1)    perform all duties assigned to it by law or by legislative rules;         (2)    from time to time, recommend to the presiding officers any changes in or amendments to the rules of legislative ethics;         (3)    on request of a member of the General Assembly, issue an advisory opinion regarding the legislative ethics of an action […]

Section 2-707 – Rules

    (a)    (1)    The Committee may propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of rules of legislative ethics.         (2)    Changes to the rules shall be presented in the form of a joint resolution and shall become effective after adoption of the joint resolution by a constitutional majority of each house voting separately.         (3)    Before presenting a change to the rules, the […]

Section 2-708 – Referrals Authorized

    The President and the Speaker may refer to the Committee any matter that they consider appropriate.

Section 2-709 – Counsel to the Ethics Committee

    (a)    The Executive Director of the Department of Legislative Services, subject to the approval of the President and Speaker, shall appoint an attorney to serve as Counsel to the Committee.     (b)    The Counsel:         (1)    shall devote full time to the duties of the Committee, but may not participate in any investigatory or prosecutorial function;         (2)    may provide information to […]

Section 2-710 – Citizens’ Advisory Board for Legislative Ethics

    (a)    In this section, “Board” means the Citizens’ Advisory Board for Legislative Ethics established under subsection (b) of this section.     (b)    (1)    There is a Citizens’ Advisory Board for Legislative Ethics.         (2)    The Board consists of the following members:             (i)    a member of the public who shall serve as the chair, appointed jointly by the President of the Senate and […]