Sec. 51-216a. (Formerly Sec. 51-16). Commission on Official Legal Publications. Publications. Copyrights.
Sec. 51-216a. (Formerly Sec. 51-16). Commission on Official Legal Publications. Publications. Copyrights. (a) The Commission on Official Legal Publications
shall be an agency of the Judicial Branch and shall be composed of the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, who shall be chairperson, ex officio; the Chief Court Administrator,
ex officio; a judge or former judge of the Supreme Court and a state referee, both of
whom shall be appointed by the Chief Justice; the executive secretary of the Judicial
Branch; the Reporter of Judicial Decisions; and one other employee of the Judicial
Branch appointed by the Chief Justice.
(b) The commission shall acquire, publish, distribute and maintain for the benefit
of the state a sufficient supply of the official legal publications, which shall consist of:
(1) The Connecticut Reports consisting of the reports of cases determined by the Supreme Court as prepared for publication by the Reporter of Judicial Decisions, (2) reports
of cases determined by the Appellate Court as prepared for publication by the Reporter
of Judicial Decisions, (3) the Connecticut Law Journal, (4) the Connecticut Practice
Book and cumulative supplements thereto, (5) the digests compiled by or under the
supervision of the Reporter of Judicial Decisions pursuant to section 51-215b, and such
other volumes of law reports and digests as the Reporter of Judicial Decisions deems
necessary, (6) such decisions of the Superior Court as the Reporter of Judicial Decisions
selects for publication pursuant to section 51-215a, and (7) such additional publications
pertaining to the state Judicial Branch, the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court, the
Superior Court and the practice of law as may be assigned to the commission. The
commission may publish, maintain and distribute the official legal publications in available alternative formats. An alternative format may be the sole method for the publication, maintenance and distribution of all volumes of the Connecticut Reports, excluding
the most recent one hundred volumes.
(c) In addition to the publication of regulations pursuant to section 4-173, the commission shall publish in the Connecticut Law Journal except as they may be incorporated
into any revision of the Connecticut Practice Book: (1) Rules adopted by the judges of
the Supreme Court, including but not limited to the rules adopted by the Supreme Court
for the courts of probate, (2) the rules of the Appellate Court, and (3) the rules of the
Superior Court.
(d) The commission may publish in the Connecticut Law Journal, or prepare for
separate publication and publish, such other documents and information as in its opinion
are proper or of sufficient importance to warrant publication.
(e) The commission may establish an electronic bulletin board to provide information to members of the public upon such terms as it deems to be in the best interest of
the state.
(f) The commission shall, to the extent it finds it desirable to do so, cause official
legal publications to be copyrighted in the name of the Secretary of the State for the
benefit of the people of the state.
(g) All official legal publications published by the commission pursuant to this
section and each compilation of effective regulations published by the commission pursuant to section 4-173 shall be printed on paper that meets or exceeds the American
National Standards Institute standards for permanent paper, unless such paper is not
available.
(1951, 1953, S. 3124d; 1957, P.A. 176, S. 4; 1959, P.A. 330, S. 3; 1963, P.A. 288, S. 4; P.A. 73-541, S. 1, 8; P.A. 74-338, S. 35, 94; P.A. 82-248, S. 118; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 62, 82; P.A. 84-27, S. 1; P.A. 91-144, S. 5; P.A. 95-176,
S. 1.)
History: 1959 act deleted Connecticut departmental regulations from Subsec. (a) and modified "additional publications"
with the words "pertaining to the state judicial department, the state-maintained courts and the practice of law"; 1963 act
added Connecticut Circuit Court Reports and the digest thereof to Subsec. (a); P.A. 73-541 deleted specific reference to
advance parts of Connecticut Reports, to the Phillips Connecticut Digest and its cumulative supplements, the Connecticut
Supplement, etc., referring instead to "such other volumes of law reports and digests as the reporter of judicial decisions
deems necessary" and authorized publication of documents and information which commission deems sufficiently important to warrant publication in Subsec. (a) and updated section references in Subsecs. (b) and (d); P.A. 74-338 corrected
section reference in Subsec. (d); P.A. 82-248 rephrased and reorganized the section, added provisions formerly in Secs.
51-22a and 51-216b and deleted certain provisions and reenacted them as part of Sec. 51-216b; Sec. 51-16 transferred to
Sec. 51-216a in 1983; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 added provision re publishing of cases determined by the appellate court,
added reference to appellate court and added provision re publication of rules of appellate court; P.A. 84-27 amended
Subsec. (a) by designating as members the chief court administrator and an employee of the judicial department appointed
by the chief justice; P.A. 91-144 added Subsec. (f) requiring legal publications and regulations to be printed on paper
meeting or exceeding the American National Standards Institute standards for permanent paper; P.A. 95-176 amended
Subsec. (a) by changing "department" to "branch" and "chairman" to "chairperson", amended Subsec. (b) by adding
provision permitting commission to publish, maintain and distribute official legal publications in alternative format, excluding most recent one hundred volumes, and inserted new Subsec. (e) permitting commission to establish electronic bulletin
board to provide information to public, relettering former Subsecs. (e) and (f) accordingly.
Annotation to former section 51-16:
Cited. 24 CS 316.