§29-7-6. Powers and duties; requests for assistance; state agencies and departments to submit reports.

(a) The Director of the Legislative Reference Service shall have all of the following powers and duties:

(1) To respond to questions concerning the organization and administration of state government or the operation of constitutional or statutory law.

(2) To render assistance in the drafting of bills and amendments to bills.

(3) To make studies and reports on problems of state and local government in Alabama, either upon request or on his or her own initiative.

(4) To conduct a continuous analysis of the scope, effect, and methods of federal, state, and local government operations in Alabama and make those recommendations to the Legislative Council as he or she determines to be appropriate.

(5) To prepare, when directed by the Legislature, a compilation or code of the statutes of Alabama.

(6) To act as Code Commissioner in determining the content of the code and any supplements thereto and to prepare an annual codification bill to adopt changes to the code enacted at prior sessions of the Legislature.

(7) To enter into a printing contract on behalf of the State of Alabama, when approved and directed by the Legislative Council, to publish the official code of the statutes of Alabama.

(8) To perform any other tasks related to service to the Legislature of Alabama as may be required by the Legislative Council.

(b) Requests for assistance under subdivisions (1) and (3) of subsection (a) shall be prepared only for a member of the Legislature or the Lieutenant Governor, or a person authorized by a member of the Legislature or the Lieutenant Governor. Requests for assistance under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) shall be prepared only for a member of the Legislature, the Lieutenant Governor, or the Governor, or a person authorized by a member of the Legislature, the Lieutenant Governor, or the Governor. A request for assistance made by a member of the Legislative Council or a person authorized by a member of the Legislative Council shall be given priority over any other request. A request for assistance made by a member of the Legislature or a person authorized by a member of the Legislature shall be given priority over any other requests other than by members of the Legislative Council. The director may respond to other requests for assistance, including, but not limited to, requests from other state governments, as he or she determines to be in the best interests of the state.

(c)(1) Communications concerning a request for assistance between the director and each officer and employee of the Legislative Reference Service and an individual authorized by this section to make a request for assistance shall be privileged and confidential. When responding to a request for assistance, the director and each officer and employee of the Legislative Reference Service shall maintain this privilege. All requests for assistance and the contents thereof, including, but not limited to, the fact a request was made, any materials related to the request, and any work product related to or arising from the request, shall be confidential and privileged until this privilege is waived. The privilege is waived when the Legislative Reference Service receives instructions to release the material from the member of the Legislature in whose name the request for assistance was made, or the Lieutenant Governor for a request for assistance made in the name of the Lieutenant Governor, or the Governor for a request for assistance made in the name of the Governor.

(2) The introduction of a bill prepared by the Legislative Reference Service is a waiver of the privilege imposed by this subsection only with respect to the contents of the bill.

(3) The advertising of a local bill by synopsis or in a form less than in its entirety is not, in and of itself, a waiver of the privilege for the purposes of this subsection.

(d) In order that the purposes of this chapter shall be best served, each department and agency of State of Alabama government shall furnish to the Legislative Reference Service copies of all monthly, quarterly, annual, biennial, quadrennial, and other regular reports which it is required by law to prepare for other agents or officials of the state government and copies of all printed publications that it issues. Each department or agency of State of Alabama government shall comply with requests for supplementary reports made by the Legislative Reference Service and approved by the Legislative Council. Each department and agency of State of Alabama government shall make its internal records available to the Legislative Reference Service upon request.

(Acts 1945, No. 152, p. 190, §2; Acts 1949, No. 427, p. 609; Acts 1993, No. 93-618, p. 1020, §1; Acts 1995, No. 95-567, p. 1185, §1.)