COMMITTEE STAFFING & LEGAL ANALYSIS
(410) 841-3870

LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICES
DIVISION

Lynda C. Davis, Director (410) 841-3810

RESEARCH DIVISION

Myron H. Miller, Director (410) 841-3875

The Department of Legislative Reference, as
one of the two principal staffing agencies of the
General Assembly, serves the legislature and its
committees and provides information to the public
about the General Assembly and legislative matters.
Originally created in 1906 to serve the Balti-
more City Council, the Department also began
assisting the General Assembly in 1916 (Chapter
565, Acts of 1906, Chapter 474, Acts of 1916).
The State's portion of the Department was trans-
ferred in 1965 to the Legislative Branch (Chapter
453, Acts of 1965). In 1966, the Department
severed any affiliation with the City of Baltimore
and established permanent offices in Annapolis
(Chapter 571, Acts of 1966).
Historically, the Department has conducted re-
search and drafted legislation for members of the
General Assembly. The Department also has provided
legislative bills, enactments, journals, documents, re-
cords, and the codifications of State and local laws.
With professional legal and research staff, the De-
partment supports legislative committees, subcom-
mittees, task forces, and commissions. For the General
Assembly, the Department provides ongoing statu-
tory revision services, conducts legal and legislative
research, and offers specialized information services.
The Department also reviews and analyzes regulations
proposed by Executive Branch agencies, provides
legislative and general library resource materials and
information services to the General Assembly and the
public, and provides computerized services for legis-
lative purposes, including the preparation of bills,
laws, journals, and other documents, as well as auto-
mated searches of the law.
The Department operates through the Office of
the Director and five divisions: Administrative Serv-
ices, Computer Services, Legislative, Library and
Information Services, and Research.

COMPUTER SERVICES DIVISION
Michael C. Coffin, Director
(410) 841-3787

The Computer Services Division operates
data processing equipment for the preparation of
bills, the entry and maintenance of data into the
bill status system, and the preparation of several
departmental publications. These publications
include committee hearing schedules, synopses
of laws, and legislative indexes. The work of the
Division's proofreading staff complements the
Division's data processing.

LEGISLATIVE DIVISION
Michael I. Volk, Director
William G. Somerville, Deputy Director
& Revisor of Statutes
(410) 841-3870

The Legislative Division provides legal and re-
lated staff services to the General Assembly. The
Division drafts and reviews nearly all bills and
amendments introduced or considered by the Gen-
eral Assembly.
The Division is organized under two units: Leg-
islative Drafting and Statutory Revision, and Com-
mittee Staffing and Legal Review.

LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING & STATUTORY REVISION
(410) 841-3870

Legislative Drafting. The Legislative Division
provides nonpartisan professional staff to research,
draft, and prepare legislative bills at the request of
members of the State Senate and House of Dele-
gates. Each year, more than 3,500 bills and joint
resolutions and over 2,000 amendments are drafted
by Division staff.
After bills are introduced by members of the
General Assembly, the Division prepares, reviews,
coordinates, and processes amendments to bills.
Amendments are formal changes that can alter
significantly the content of a bill.
Statutory Revision. The statutory revision
function of the Legislative Division originated as
the Division of Statutory Revision, created in
1972 within the Department of Legislative Ref-
erence (Chapter 182, Acts of 1972). The Divi-
sion, also known as the Code Revision Division,
was incorporated into the Legislative Division in
1990. The statutory revision component devel-
ops and prepares the comprehensive revision and
restatement of the Annotated Code of Maryland,
i.e., the statutory body of the laws of Maryland
(Code State Government Article, secs 2-1315
through 2-1319).
The first reorganization and recodification of
the Annotated Code since 1888 was begun in 1970
by the Commission to Revise the Annotated Code
of Maryland. The Commission was charged to
study and revise the Annotated Code in order to
improve the organization, accessibility, utility, and
clarity of law and to eliminate unconstitutional,
obsolete, inconsistent or conflicting statutes. Until
1985, the Division of Statutory Revision worked
under Commission supervision.
In 1985, the Legislative Policy Committee be-
gan to oversee Code revision under a reorganized
system of small committees with continuing review
by the General Assembly. This committee system
includes the Code Revision Committee and indi-
vidual article review committees for articles in pro
duction. Currently under review are further