Government Attorney Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Amendment Act of 2002
Bill 14-591

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A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

To amend the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to require that all government attorneys, who have D.C. bar membership as a prerequisite to their employment, submit a certificate of good standing from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals by May 15th of each year.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "Government Attorney Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement Amendment Act of 2002".

Sec. 2. Title VIII-B of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code §1-608.51 et seq.), is amended as follows:

(a) The title heading is amended to read as follows:

"Title VIII-B. GOVERNMENT ATTORNEYS.".

(b) The existing text is designated as subtitle A.

(c) A new subtitle B is added to read as follows:

"Subtitle B - Certificate of Good Standing Filing Requirement.

"Sec. 881. Certificate of good standing filing requirement.

"(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, each attorney employed at the level of DS-13 or above that is required to be a member of the D.C. bar as a prerequisite of employment, by the Mayor, the Office of the Corporation Counsel, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Education, and by any independent agency shall file with the District of Columbia Office of Personnel, a Certificate of Good Standing from the District of Columbia Bar Committee on Admissions, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, on or before May 15th of each year.

"(b) The Director of Personnel shall publish on or before June 15th of each year a list of all attorneys who have not met the filing requirements of subsection (a) of this section in the District of Columbia Register.

"(c) Government attorneys who fail to meet the filing requirement of subsection (a) of this section shall be given a notice of termination of employment on or before June 30th of each year. The notice shall advise the attorney that their termination shall be effective on a date no later than 30 days from the date of the notice, unless the Certificate of Good Standing is filed within that time period.

"(d) Any attorney may request a waiver of the filing requirement for good cause by filing a request, no later than April 15th, with the Council.

"(e) A waiver may be granted from the May 15th deadline for reasons as follows:

"(1) An attorney has been employed with the District government for less than 13 months from the filing date and is in the process of being admitted to the District of Columbia Bar;

"(2) An attorney submits proof that he or she is unable to comply with the filing deadline due to a physical or mental impairment; or

"(3) An attorney submits proof that the inability to meet the deadline was due to circumstances beyond the control of the attorney.".

The Council finds that this legislation will have no fiscal impact since the costs of the Certificates of Good Standing will be borne by individual attorneys and the costs of compiling the certificates and filing a list in the District of Columbia Register will be minimal.

Sec. 4. Effective date.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.