Rules Committee

(a) Rules, standards, and forms

The Rules Committee establishes and maintains a rule-making process that is understandable and accessible to justice system partners and the public. The committee:

(1) Identifies the need for new rules, standards, and forms;

(2) Establishes and publishes procedures for the proposal, adoption, and approval of rules of court, forms, and standards of judicial administration that ensure that relevant input from the public is solicited and considered;

(3) Reviews proposed rules, standards, and forms and circulates those proposals for public comment in accordance with its procedures and guidelines.

(4) Provides guidelines for the style and format of rules, forms, and standards and ensures that proposals are consistent with the guidelines;

(5) Ensures that proposals for new or amended rules, standards, and forms do not conflict with statutes or other rules; and

(6) Determines whether proposals for new or amended rules, standards, or forms have complied with its procedures.

(b) Jury instructions

The committee establishes and maintains a process for obtaining public comment on the jury instructions and assists the council in making informed decisions about jury instructions.

(c) Recommendations

The Rules Committee assists the council in making informed decisions about rules of court, forms, standards of judicial administration, and jury instructions. The committee:

(1) Recommends whether the council should approve, modify, or reject each proposal;

(2) Recommends to the Executive and Planning Committee whether a proposal should be on the council's consent or discussion agenda and how much time should be allocated for discussion; and

(3) When appropriate, identifies issues for discussion.

If the Rules Committee recommends against approval, it states the reasons for its recommendation.

(d) Circulating orders

The committee initiates circulating orders to allow the council to adopt rules, standards, and forms between council meetings, if necessary.

(e) Responsibility of the Administrative Director

The Administrative Director is responsible for ensuring that items submitted to the committee for circulation for comment and the council's agenda comply with the committee's procedures and its guidelines on format and style.