§ 22 — Custody of legislative papers and documents

New York § 22

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law LEG: Legislative
• Art. 2: Members, Officers and Employees of the Legislature

Text

§ 22. Custody of legislative papers and documents. The secretary or\nclerk of each house, as the case may be, shall take charge of and keep\non file all legislative papers and documents of such house, and those\npresented to it; and shall cause all such papers and documents in his\ncharge to be so classified and arranged that they can be easily found.\nAs used in this section, "legislative papers and documents" means: bills\nand amendments thereto; fiscal notes; introducers' bill memoranda;\nresolutions and amendments thereto; and index records; messages received\nfrom the governor or the other house of the legislature; home rule\nmessages; legislative notification of the proposed adoption of rules by\na state agency; members' code of ethics statements; transcripts, minutes\nor journal records of public sessions, including meetings of committees\nand subcommittees and public hearings, with the records of attendance of\nmembers thereat and records of any votes taken; final reports and formal\nopinions submitted to the legislature; and final reports or\nrecommendations and minority or dissenting reports and opinions of\nmembers of committees, subcommittees, or commissions of the legislature.\n No such paper or document shall be withdrawn from the files of either\nhouse, whether the same be in charge of the regents of the university or\nthe secretary or clerk of such house, except that such secretary or\nclerk, or a deputy appointed by him, shall have access to the papers and\ndocuments of such house in charge of the regents for the purpose of\ntaking copies. Any person may obtain a certified copy of any such paper\nor document in such files by applying to the secretary or clerk or such\ndeputy in charge thereof and paying to such secretary, clerk or deputy\nsuch fees as are prescribed pursuant to the provisions of the public\nofficers law. Either house may, by resolution, order title deeds or\noriginal documents accompanying any petition to be delivered to the\npersons entitled thereto. The journals of proceedings and legislative\npapers and documents of each house, heretofore published and now in the\ncustody of its secretary or clerk, and such papers and documents of each\nhouse hereafter published and kept in custody of its secretary or clerk,\nshall be deemed for all purposes to be the original journals of the\nproceedings and the original papers and documents of such house. The\njournal clerk of each house shall compare a printed volume or volumes of\nits journal of proceedings hereafter published under the direction of\nthe secretary or clerk of such house with the original manuscript copy\nthereof, and having noted in such printed volume or volumes each error\ncontained therein, shall attach thereto a certificate, under his hand\nand official seal, that each such printed volume, as corrected, is a\ncorrect transcript of the text of such original manuscript copy. He\nshall thereupon deposit such printed volume or volumes, so corrected and\ncertified, in the custody of the secretary or clerk of such house, and\nthe same shall thereupon become and be deemed for all purposes to be the\noriginal journal or journals of proceedings of such house; and the same,\nor a copy certified by the secretary or clerk, or journal clerk may be\nread in evidence. The manuscript copy of the journal prepared by the\njournal clerk shall be kept continuously in the custody of the secretary\nor clerk until the journal shall have been printed, compared, corrected\nand certified in the form and manner provided herein, thereafter, in the\ndiscretion of the secretary or clerk, such manuscript copy and the\noriginal copies of introduced bills and resolutions may be destroyed.\nThe secretary or clerk shall cause a duplicate or typewritten copy of\nsaid manuscript copy of each day's journal to be prepared and furnished\nto the printer for his use in printing the journal.\n