State Agencies
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

Between 1969 and 1972, the General Assembly
created twelve principal departments that com-
bined by function the several hundred agencies,
boards, and commissions then comprising the Ex-
ecutive Branch of the State government. These
twelve departments are: Agriculture, Budget and
Fiscal Planning, Economic and Community De-
velopment, General Services, Health and Mental
Hygiene, Human Resources (formerly Employ-
ment and Social Services), Licensing and Regula-
tion, Natural Resources, Personnel, Public Safety
and Correctional Services, State Planning, and
Transportation. A number of agencies were not
assigned to a department but have remained inde-
pendent because of their function.

The head of each department is the Secretary,
who is appointed by the Governor and is subject
to Senate confirmation. Each Secretary serves at
the Governor's pleasure and is a member of his
cabinet. Each Secretary carries out the Governor's
policies regarding the particular department and
is responsible for the department's operation. The
Secretary is also responsible for the department's
budget, the promulgation of rules and regula-
tions, planning activities, and the appointment of
the required advisory boards.

With the approval of the Governor, each Secre-
tary appoints a Deputy Secretary who has duties
prescribed by law or delegated by the Secretary.
The Deputy Secretary serves at the pleasure of
the Secretary. Each department has a Deputy
Secretary, except for the Department of Public
Safety and Correctional Services, which has two
Deputy Secretaries.

A department may also have an Assistant Sec-
retary who is appointed by the Secretary. Each
Assistant Secretary has duties as may be assigned
by law. The Secretary also has such staff assis-
tants, professional consultants, and employees as
provided in the budget. These assistants and con-
sultants serve at the pleasure of the Secretary, but
other employees are under the merit system. The
appointment or removal of personnel by agencies
within the department is generally subject to the
approval of the Secretary, who may delegate this
responsibility to agency heads.

In several of the departments, when appoint-
ments are to be made by the Secretary with the
approval of the Governor, the appointee serves at
the Secretary's pleasure. The Secretary may not,
however, remove the appointee without the Gov-
ernor's approval.

Executive Departments/123

The Secretary may create advisory boards and
determine their size, composition, and purposes.
Each Secretary has a seal for his office.

The Attorney General is the legal advisor to
each department and assigns Assistant Attorneys
General to each. In the department, one Assistant
Attorney General is designated as Counsel to the
department to render legal aid, advice, and coun-
sel as required by the Secretary and the depart-
ment.

Each act establishing a department listed the
agencies, boards and commissions, and other units
contained in the new department. The act also
stated that the department might be expanded to
include other agencies or units as provided by law.

Chapter 415, Acts of 1970, permitted the exec-
utive reorganization program to be adapted to
changing needs and programs by giving the Gov-
ernor the authority to assign agencies that are not
included in a department to one of the principal
departments, either at the time the department
was created or thereafter. Non-statutory commis-
sions may be placed in the appropriate cabinet
department by executive order.

Chapter 77, Acts of 1969, established the first
of the cabinet-level departments with the creation
of the Department of Health and Mental Hy-
giene. This department consolidated into a single
organization all agencies concerned with health
and the licensing and regulation of health profes-
sions and occupations.

Chapter 78, Acts of 1969, created the Depart-
ment of Budget and Fiscal Planning to supersede
the former Department of Budget and Procure-
ment, the Governor's agency for the analysis of
the revenue structure of the State and the prepa-
ration of his budget.

Chapter 154, Ads Of 1969, consolidated all
conservation and natural resources agencies into a
single Natural Resources Department.

Chapter 155, Acts of 1969, transferred plan-
ning functions to a new Department of State
Planning to act as the Governor's staff agency in
planning matters and to develop a program to
employ natural and other resources of the State
in order to promote the health, safety, and gener-
al welfare of its citizens.

Chapter 98, Acts of 1970, consolidated the re-
sponsibility for administering the appointment,
promotion, discharge, pay, and retirement of State
employees into the Department of Personnel.