SENATOR Edith Deleon Guerrero on Wednesday introduced Senate Bill 22-82 “to clarify that the local legislative delegations have the power to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum.”
Title 1, Chapter 3, Section 1301 of the Commonwealth Code authorizes the presiding officers of House of Representatives and the Senate to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum.
S.B. 22-82 would include the local legislative delegations in the provision allowing the Legislature’s presiding officers to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum.
The bill states that I CMC Section 1301 “appears to be based on the former Trust Territory Code which did not account for local legislative delegations established in September 1983.”
Although the subject areas of the local legislative delegations are limited to matters within each respective senatorial district, S.B. 22-82 states that “the delegations, similar to the Senate and House of Representatives, may conduct investigations into local matters affecting their senatorial district. As such, it is necessary for the local legislative delegations to utilize the same subpoena powers of the Senate and House of Representatives.”
The bill also stated that the respective rules of each of the local delegations “currently authorize [the] delegations to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum.”
However, the bill states, the subpoena powers set forth in the Commonwealth Code require more clarification.
The CNMI has three legislative delegations: the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, the Tinian and Aguigan Legislative Delegation and the Rota Legislative Delegation.
