Chap. 254.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 573, 574, 575, 576, 577,
578, 579 and 580 of the Code, relating to the legislative drafting bureau,
re-establishing the same, providing for a director, his duties, his assistants
and clerks, and to repeal sub-section (b) of section 22 of chapter 33 of
the acts of 1927, commonly known as “an act to re-organize the administration
of the State government.” [S B 147]

Approved March 24, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
five hundred and seventy-three to five hundred and eighty, both in-
clusive, be amended and re-enacted, and that a new section, numbered
five hundred and eighty-a, be added to the Code of Virginia, all of
which shall read as follows:

Section 573. There is hereby established, a division of statutory
research and drafting, in charge of a director, who shall be appointed
by the governor, subject to the approval of the general assembly, who
shall hold office at the pleasure of the governor.

The director shall be an experienced lawyer, preferably a graduate
of a school of law, of some approved college or university.

Section 574. The director, subject to the approval of the governor,
may employ and fix the compensation of necessary assistants, drafts-
men, and clerks, who shall be elected solely on the grounds of fitness for
the performance of the duties assigned to them. Such compensation
shall be paid out of appropriations made for the purpose.

Section 5/5. ‘The director of grounds and buildings shall provide
the division with suitable rooms in the State library building, State
capitol, State office building or elsewhere in the city of Richmond, and
so situated as to be convenient for the members of the general assembly.

Section 576. The division, through its director and employees,
shall have access to the State law library, and to the State library, with
the right to withdraw, in the performance of his or their duties, any
books, pamphlets, or printed data, from either library, subject to the
rules of the said libraries, respectively, as to time.

Section 577. The division shall collect and classify books, pam-
phlets, periodicals, documents, and other literature relating to prospec-
tive or pending legislation ;

Prepare catalogues, indexes, lists, digests, and compilations of ma-
terials relating to subjects of legislation;

Publish bulletins and pamphlets containing guides to or summaries
of materials or information in the division: :

Keep on file copies of all bills, resolutions, amendments thereto,
report of committees, and other documents, printed by order of either
house of the general assembly;

Accumulate data and statistics regarding the practical operation and
effect of statutes of this and other states.

Upon the request of the governor, or any member of the general
assembly, the division shall:

Draft or aid in drafting legislative bills or resolutions and amend-
ments thereto;

Advise as to the constitutionality or probable legal effect of pro-.
posed legislation ;

Prepare summaries of existing laws affected by proposed legisla-
tion, compilations of laws in other states or countries relating to the
subject matter of such legislation, and statements of the operation and
effect of such laws;

Make researches and examination as to any subject of proposed
legislation.

The director shall catalogue and publish a list of State publications
available for sale by the State and, with the approval of the governor,
may, from time to time, fix the price of such publications. Copies of
such publications shall be furnished to the members of the general as-
sembly and to the press of the State.

It shall also be the duty of the director to examine the statutory
law of this State with a view to ascertain all irregularities and defects
therein, all obsolete laws and all laws requiring amendment, and, at
least sixty days before any regular session, he shall make a detailed
report of his findings to the governor.

The director, on his own initiative, or at the request of the governor
during the recess of the general assembly, shall proceed with a revision
and codification of all of the general laws not embraced in amended
Code sections, passed since nineteen hundred and eighteen, which re-
vision, together with explanatory notes, shall be submitted to the gen-
eral assembly of nineteen hundred and thirty-two.

The director shall perform such other duties as may be required of
him by the governor.

Section 578. All books, documents and other materials, and the
guides to materials shall be at all times accessible to the governor and
members of the general assembly, State and municipal officers, boards
and commissions, and the general public for reference purposes.

2. Be it further enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
subsection (b) of section twenty-two of chapter thirty-three of the
acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, commonly known as an
act to reorganize the administration of the State government, be, and
the same is, hereby repealed.