5832918 Resolution 21-360, Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016

A RESOLUTION

                                                        

21-360

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

January 5, 2016        

 

 

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to clarify that a District government attorney, hearing officer, or administrative law judge who is required to be a member of the District of Columbia Bar as a prerequisite of employment shall file a Certificate of Good Standing from the Committee on Admissions of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals with the Department of Human Resources by December 15 of each year, to allow an attorney employed by the Council of the District of Columbia to file a Certificate of Good Standing with the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia, to allow the Director of the Department of Human Resources or the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia to verify good standing through electronic means, to clarify that the Director of the Department of Human Resources and the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia shall publish in the District of Columbia Register, on an annual basis, a list of all attorneys, hearing officers, and administrative law judges who have not met the Certificate of Good Standing filing requirement, and to authorize the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia to issue policy directives regarding timing, wavier, and notice of the Certificate of Good Standing filing requirement.

 

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016”.

 

Sec. 2. (a)  On December 17, 2014, the Council passed the District Government Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Amendment Act of 2014, effective March 13, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-241; 62 DCR 1335) (the “Act”), which clarified that hearing officers and administrative law judges are required to file a Certificate of Good Standing if their employment requires that they be members of the District of Columbia Bar.  Previously, the law required only attorneys to file such certificates, but it was discovered in 2014 that certain administrative law judges and hearing officers were allegedly presiding over their cases without being in good standing with the District of Columbia Bar.  In order to close this loophole, the Council passed the Act.

(b)  Additionally, the Act transferred responsibility for collecting Certificates of Good Standing from the District’s Department of Human Resources (“DCHR”) to the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (“BEGA”).  However, enforcement and regulatory authority remains with DCHR.  Thus, the Act created a bifurcated process in which one agency, BEGA, acts solely as a repository for the Certificates of Good Standing, but another agency, DCHR, is responsible for ensuring that attorneys, hearing officers, and administrative law judges comply with the law and is the agency with rulemaking authority.   In order to streamline the process and to prevent duplicity, it is necessary to transfer collection authority back to DCHR.

(c)  Further, section 881 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective July 25, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-182; D.C. Official Code § 1-608.81), requires attorneys employed by an independent agency to file certificates of good standing with DCHR if they meet the applicable requirements.  The District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, confusingly, and incorrectly, defines the Council of the District of Columbia as an “independent agency.”

(d)  Accordingly, the law currently requires attorneys employed by the Council of the District of Columbia to file their Certificates of Good Standing with DCHR, which falls under the executive branch of the District government.  This violates the spirit of separation of powers, as it requires legislative branch employees to report to an agency overseen by the executive branch.  Thus, this emergency clarifies that an attorney employed by the Council of the District of Columbia who is required to file a Certificate of Good Standing shall file his or her certificate with the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia and not with DCHR. 

(e)  In order to further aid DCHR and the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia in streamlining this process, and to reduce the burden on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, DCHR, and the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia, the proposed emergency legislation would allow DCHR and the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia to verify the good standing of attorneys, hearing officers, and administrative law judges through electronic means. 

(f)  Given that the law mandates that all applicable individuals file a Certificate of Good Standing by December 15 of each year and that BEGA and DCHR already have begun the process for calendar year 2015, it is necessary that the Council immediately clarify the process so that these agencies may take prompt action.  Moreover, immediate Council action is necessary so that attorneys employed by the Council of the District of Columbia may file a Certificate of Good Standing for calendar year 2015 with the Office of the Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia without violating section 881 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective July 25, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-182; D.C. Official Code § 1-608.81). 

 

            Sec. 3.  The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 be adopted after a single reading.        

 

            Sec. 4.  This resolution shall take effect immediately.