The Chief Clerk of the California Assembly is a nonpartisan elected officer of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

. The Chief Clerk serves as the chief parliamentarian of the 80-member house. The clerk is also charged with maintaining the records and votes of the Assembly, engrossing and enrolling bills, providing members with analyses of bills on

third reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

, amending legislation, and publishing the bills, journals, files, and histories of the lower house. Historically, persons who have served as Chief Clerk have possessed an advanced degree when they were elected (e.g., M.A. or J.D.). In

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, three officers are elected every two years when the Assembly organizes: Chief Clerk, Chief

Sergeant-at-Arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

, and

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

. These officers are not members of the house and serve the legislature in a nonpartisan capacity. The current Chief Clerk is Sue Parker, first woman to hold the position, who was first elected in 2020. This is a list of Chief Clerks of the California Assembly. To keep the numbering system correct, there are instances where a clerk has had a hiatus between terms of service (e.g. J.M. Anderson is the ''sixth'' person to serve as Chief Clerk: he served 1855–56, had a four-year hiatus, and then returned from 1860–61). Therefore, the numbering of Chief Clerks in column one fluctuates based upon the fact that some clerks served previously. Their original "clerk number" is retained on the left with an asterisk to indicate why it is out of numeric sequence. * For information about the Assembly, see

. * For a list of all members of the Assembly see

Members of the California State Legislature These are tables of members of the California State Legislature (California State Senate and California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California ...

* For example:

Arthur Ohnimus Arthur Allen Ohnimus (1893–1965) was the longest serving Assembly Chief Clerk in California history (1923–1963). He was also the first Chief Administrative Officer of the Assembly Rules Committee (1957–1963). Ohnimus served under 8 Repu ...

(J.D., St. Ignatius),

James Driscoll James Driscoll (born October 9, 1977) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour. Amateur career Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, outside B ...

(M.A., Claremont College) and R. Brian Kidney (M.A., University of San Francisco). Several years after he was elected Clerk, Driscoll earned a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law. * Resigned February 1, 1850. * Resigned February 15, 1853. * {{note, 4, 4 Retired October 4, 1963.

References

* ''California's Legislature'', Appendix E, California State Legislature, Office of the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, published 2006. * Rules of the Assembly (House Resolution 1, 2007-08 Regular Session)
Chief Clerk's web site

External links

California State Assembly web site

National Conference of State Legislatures

California State Legislature