Rule-making procedures

(a) Who may make proposals

A Judicial Council internal committee, advisory committee, task force, or Judicial Council staff may recommend that the council adopt, amend, or repeal a rule or standard or adopt, approve, revise, or revoke a form.

(b) Legal and advisory committee review

The internal committee, advisory committee, task force, or Judicial Council staff (the proponent) must first submit its proposal to Legal Services for legal and drafting review. If the proponent is not an advisory committee, and an appropriate advisory committee exists, the proponent must also submit the proposal to that advisory committee for review.

(c) Recommendation to Rules Committee

After the proposal has been reviewed by Legal Services and any appropriate advisory committee, the proponent must submit the proposal to the Rules Committee with a recommendation that it be (1) circulated for public comment or (2) submitted to the council for approval without public comment.

(d) Review by Rules Committee

The Rules Committee must review the recommendation and may take one of the following actions:

(1) Circulate the proposal for public comment;

(2) If the proposal presents a nonsubstantive technical change or correction or a minor substantive change that is unlikely to create controversy, recommend that the council adopt it without circulating it for comment;

(3) Postpone circulation for comment and either request further information or analysis by the proponent or refer the matter to another council internal or advisory committee, the full council, or the Chief Justice; or

(4) Reject the proposal if it is contrary to statute, conflicts with other rules or standards, or is contrary to established council policy.

(e) Review of comments

After a proposal is circulated, the proponent must review the comments and decide whether to reject the proposal or to recommend that the council adopt it, with or without modifications.

(f) Submission to council

If, after reviewing the comments, the proponent recommends that the council adopt the proposal, the matter will be placed on the council's agenda. The Rules Committee must review the recommendation and submit its own recommendation to the council. The council may adopt, modify, or reject the proposal.

(g) Compelling circumstances

The procedures established in this rule must be followed unless the Rules Committee finds that compelling circumstances necessitate a different procedure. The committee's finding and a summary of the procedure used must be presented to the council with any recommendation to the council made under this subdivision.