Attorney (Assistant Revisor I)

Job Duties

Responsibilities and Tasks :

• Draft legislative documents at the request of legislators, legislative staff, legislative committees, constitutional officers, and state departments and agencies :

a. Draft and approve legislative bills, resolutions, amendments. In consultation with the requester, determine the issues to be addressed and suggest possible legislative solutions and drafting alternatives.

b. Draft and approve House of Representatives committee reports and conference committee reports for the House and Senate, including major omnibus bills.

c. Upon request, provide advice on the legal effect of existing laws and potential legal effect of proposed laws.

d. Summarize legislation upon request of members.

a. Review bills and other documents drafted outside the office to determine the intent of the legislation, that the draft reflects that intent, and whether the document contains policy, linguistic, or grammatical ambiguity, and work with the original drafter to revise the draft if appropriate.

b. Review and revise all original and outside-drafted documents for constitutional requirements and compliance with legislative or administrative rules and practice, form requirements, and policy interactions and conflicts with existing law.

c. Draft conforming changes and review grammatical corrections suggested by the legal editing team for clarity and legal and policy significance.

d. Review engrossments of House of Representatives and Senate bills prepared by

Legal Editors and make corrections or suggest journal corrections as necessary.

e. Review all enrolled bills passed by the legislature for presentment to the Governor for correct text and passage dates.

Draft and provide full-text side-by-side reports for members and conference committees and the public on the differences in House of Representatives and Senate companion bills in conference committee.

Staff House of Representatives floor sessions to draft amendments, provide legal and procedural advice, and provide other drafting assistance to House of Representatives members and staff.

Draft and submit bills to the legislature that recodify, clarify, or correct errors in laws and statutes.

Research the status, operation, and wording of laws and proposed laws in other states and federal jurisdictions.

Draft administrative rule documents at the request of state departments and agencies :

a. Draft and approve proposed rules, modifications, adopted rules, and notices of adoption.

b. Conduct related legal and policy research.

Review, correct, and approve administrative rule documents drafted outside the office for form, content, and effect on existing law and recommend appropriate changes.

Prepare, review, and edit enacted law for publication in Laws of Minnesota and Minnesota Statutes :

a. Review actions of the legislature to decide how to report them, considering such questions as whether multiple amendments conflict or can be merged, how delayed repealers and effective dates should be reported, and what user aids should be included to organize the published material.

b. Draft and review conflict and other editorial notes and histories.

c. Make and review suggested editorial changes within the office’s statutory editorial powers.

d. Prepare and review material for the indexes to Minnesota Statutes.

e. Note errors in legislation for correction in the revisor’s bill and draft and submit the corrections and memoranda of explanation to the Deputy or Assistant Deputy Revisor for inclusion in the revisor’s bill.

a. Draft and approve all editorial notes and histories.

b. Review and determine the method of reporting agency action and the use of various user aids to organize the published material.

Respond to inquiries about laws and rules, proposed legislation and rules, the legislative and administrative process, and general drafting and editing matters.

Develop specific proficiency in assigned drafting areas and develop general proficiency in all areas of the law.

As requested, staff legislative study groups, conference committees, and other legislative working groups.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Budget Responsibility :

None

Supervisor Responsibility :

None

Indirect Supervision :

The Assistant Revisor I supervises the work of Senior Legal Assistants, Legal Assistants, and Drafting and Editing Assistants on documents for which the Assistant Revisor is responsible.

The Assistant Revisor I supervises the work of Administrative Assistants and Legislative Aides on tasks assigned to them by the Assistant Revisor, such as opening bill-and-rule drafting files, mailing and delivering documents, faxing, photocopying, and doing similar tasks.

Scope of Relationships

a. Daily contact with House of Representatives members and staff regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 6 and 11

b. Daily contact with Senate members and staff regarding responsibilities and tasks

1 to 6 and 11

c. Frequent contact with constitutional officers and staff regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 8 and 11

d. Daily contact with state departments and agencies staff with regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 8 and 11

e. Frequent contact with political subdivisions regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 6 and 11

f. Frequent contact with officials and staff of lobbyists, including attorneys, and trade, governmental, and professional associations regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 6 and 11

g. Frequent contact with public regarding responsibilities and tasks 1 to 6 and 11

a. Daily contact with administrative staff

b. Daily contact with Senior Legal Editors, Legal Editors, and Drafting and Editing

Assistants

c. Daily contact with attorneys

d. Daily contact with Revisor and management team

e. Periodic contact with attorney serving as Master Indexer

f. Periodic contact with computer staff

Decision Making and Impact of Error :

a. Primary decision making :

i. on form and substance of all legislative documents drafted and on form and substance for all documents reviewed, subject to the approval of the requester; and

ii. while serving on the House of Representatives floor over, authority on the form and substance of the amendment or other document being drafted, subject only on the approval of the member requesting the service.

b. Shared decision making :

i. with other legislative staff and members when substantive issues arise in a document that is being reviewed;

ii. with Senior Assistant Revisors and Deputy Revisors and Assistant Deputy Revisors on form or substantive issues that arise during the drafting or review process; and

iii. with Deputy Revisors and Assistant Deputy Revisors on editorial powers and policies, drafting editorial notes, merging amendments to the same law, or resolving conflict issues that arise during the editorial process.

a. Errors may impact the legislative process. If a legislative drafting error is found before a bill is passed, the error may be corrected by a journal correction, an amendment in committee, on the floor of the body or in the other body, or by passing a separate corrective bill. These corrections may inconvenience the legislative body, embarrass the legislator, or delay or impede the functioning of the legislature.

b. Errors may impact the rulemaking process. If the error is contained in the rules and the error is found before the rule is adopted, the rule may have to be withdrawn or a modification to the rule may have to be published and approved by the Office of Administrative Hearings. The correction may result in additional expense and inconvenience to the agency and to the administrative law judge.

c. Errors may impact the effect of a law. If an error is discovered after a law is enacted, agencies, at the request of a legislator, may disregard the error in administering the law and have corrective legislation passed at a special or later legislative session. If this correction is not possible, funds may not be spent, programs may be delayed, or laws may be administered contrary to legislative intent. In addition, errors may cause adverse publicity that impacts legislators or the reputation of the legislature, causes litigation, or result in a law or part of a law being held invalid, unenforceable, or unconstitutional.

d. Errors may impact the effect of a rule. If an error is discovered after a rule is adopted, the agency may be able to overlook the error in administering the rule. If the agency cannot overlook the error, the effect of the rule may be delayed until the rule can be amended or repealed through the rulemaking process. This delay may be inconvenient and expensive for the agency and, if the rule is delayed, inconvenient or detrimental to persons affected by the rule.

e. Errors may result in inaccurate or misleading publications that do not correctly reflect the actions of the legislature, causing considerable inconvenience and confusion to state agencies and local governments, the legal community, and the public.

Working Conditions / Physical Demands :

Normal office conditions, about 80 percent of the time.

During the legislative session, there are periods when extremely long hours are required, without time for adequate rest and with little or no prior notice.

During the legislative session, complex, error-free work may need to be performed under extremely short time constraints.

During the legislative session, complex, error-free work on the House of Representatives floor must be performed under extremely short time constraints, with no opportunity for consultation with or normal review by others, with minimal workspace, and with few resources in an extremely noisy environment.

Minimum Education Required

Law degree

Admission to Minnesota Bar

Current license to practice law in Minnesota

Minimum Experience Required

0-3 Years

Shift

First (Day)

Number of Openings

Public Transportation Accessible

Yes

Veterans Encouraged to Apply

Yes

Physical Required

No

Drug Test Required

No

Compensation

$86,717.00 - $156,395.00 / Annually

Postal Code

55155

Place of Work

On-site

Requisition ID

2866

Job Type

Full Time

Job Benefits

GREAT BENEFITS PACKAGE! The Revisor’s Office offers a comprehensive benefits

package including low cost medical, dental and vision insurance, employer paid life

insurance, short-term and long-term disability, pre-tax flexible spending accounts,

defined contribution retirement plan with 6.25% employer contribution, tax-deferred

compensation (457 plan), generous vacation and sick leave, and eleven paid holidays

each year.

Application Instructions

Please send a resume, cover letter, and writing sample to jobs@revisor.mn.gov.