The California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) is an independent

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

state agency responsible for recommending reforms of state law.

Duties

The CLRC makes recommendations to the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

to correct defects in California statutory law and to bring that law into harmony with modern conditions. The CLRC may only study matters that have been expressly authorized by legislative resolution or statute. Some of the CLRC's studies are purely technical. For example, in 2006 the CLRC was directed to recodify the Penal Code provisions relating to deadly weapons, to make them easier to use and understand without making any change in the outcomes under those laws. Other CLRC studies involve significant legal and policy issues. For example, in 2013 the CLRC was directed to make recommendations to modernize California law on state and local government access to the customer records of communication service providers. CLRC studies vary widely in scope. Some involve the revision of a single code section, while others have created or recodified entire codes of law. For example, the CLRC drafted the California Evidence Code.

Staff

Seven of the CLRC's ten members are appointed by the Governor for four year terms, with the advice and consent of the California Senate. One Member of the Senate is appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, one Member of the Assembly is appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Legislative Counsel serves ex officio. The Commission's staff consists of its Executive Director, Chief Deputy Counsel, two staff attorneys, and two administrative support staff.

Location

The CLRC currently maintains its main office at

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and a branch office at

Cubberley Community Center Cubberley Community Center known locally as "Cubberley", is a community center in Palo Alto, California that has been in operation since 1990. It is housed on the campus of the former Ellwood P. Cubberley High School. Space is available for rent by ...

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Code Commission

The CLRC is the successor to the California Code Commission, which itself was the successor to a series of earlier ''ad hoc'' codification commissions. The Code Commission was established in 1929. It spent 24 years codifying the massive body of uncodified law that had accumulated (and continued to accumulate) in the

California Statutes California Statutes (Cal. Stats., also cited as Stats. within the state) are the acts of the California State Legislature as approved according to the California Constitution and collated by the Secretary of State of California. A legislative bil ...

, because the original

California Codes The California Codes are 29 legal codes enacted by the California State Legislature, which together form the general statutory law of California. The official Codes are maintained by the California Office of Legislative Counsel for the Legislatur ...

were not a comprehensive codification. After the Code Commission completed the monumental task of codifying virtually all general California statutory law into the California Codes, it recommended the creation of the CLRC, as a permanent law reform body.

References

External links