COMMITTEE

committee (k<<schwa>>-mit-ee).1. (k<<schwa>>-mit-ee). A subordinate group to which a deliberative assembly or other organization refers business for consideration, investigation, oversight, or action <the bill was sent to legislative committee>.

“One of the outstanding characteristics of membership organizations the world over is the powerful role played by committees in setting policy and in carrying out their objectives. The Congress, state legislatures, business asso-ciations, and countless clubs and societies have traditionally conducted their work through committees of their members.” Lewis Deschler, Deschler’s Rules of Order § 103, at 189 (1976).ad hoc committee.See special committee.arrangements committee.A committee charged with organizing the physical space in which a deliberative as-sembly meets. audit committee.A committee appointed by the board of an organization, esp. a corporation, to oversee the financial reporting process, select an independent auditor, and receive the audit. • Ideally, a committee member is financially literate and wholly independent, having no financial interest (direct or indirect) in the company, no executive position, and no familial relationship with any member of the company’s management or a major shareholder.committee of one.A committee with only one member.committee of the whole.A special committee that comprises all the deliberative assembly’s members who are present. • A deliberative assembly may resolve itself into a committee of the whole so that it can take advantage of the greater procedural flexibility that a committee enjoys, usu. presided over by some chair other than the assembly’s regular chair. Cf. quasi committee of the whole. [Cases: States  32. C.J.S. States §§ 48–50.] committee on conference.See conference committee. committee with full power.See committee with power.

committee with power.A committee to which the referring body has delegated the necessary authority for acting on the business referred, usu. without need for a prior report to the referring body. — Also termed committee with full power.

conference committee.A joint meeting of two legislative committees, one from each house of a bicameral legis-lature, usu. charged with adjusting differences in a bill passed by both houses in different versions. — Also termed committee on conference. See CONFERENCE(2). [Cases:

States  34. C.J.S. States §§ 55–58.]

“A committee on conference from each of the two houses meeting together is not a joint committee but a joint meeting of two committees. The quorum of a committee on conference is a majority of the members of each committee. In voting in a conference committee, the committee of each house votes separately. The committee on conference from each house submits its report to the house from which it was appointed. The report, upon being received, may be treated like other reports, except that the report of a conference committee is usually given a higher precedence. Under no condition, including suspension of the rules, may the house alter or amend the report of the committee, but must adopt or refuse to adopt the report in the form submitted.” National Conference of State Legislatures, Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure § 770, at 558–59 (2000).congressional committee.A committee of the House of Representatives, a committee of the Senate, or a joint committee. [Cases: United States  23. C.J.S. United States § 39.]

credentials committee.A committee charged with preparing a roster of delegates entitled to be seated, examining contested claims to such entitlement, and preparing and issuing credentials to the delegates who appear so entitled. See CREDENTIAL.executive committee.The committee of principal officers and directors who directly managean organization’s affairs between board meetings. [Cases: Corporations  299.] joint committee.A legislative committee composed of members of both houses of a legislature.legislative committee.A group of legislators appointed to help a legislature conduct its business, esp. by providing careful consideration of proposals for new legislation within a particular field so that the entire body can handle its work efficiently without wasting time and effort on unmeritorious submissions. [Cases: States  34. C.J.S. States §§ 55–58.] membership committee.A committee charged with recruiting and keeping members and getting them involved.nominating committee.A committee charged with identifying (and perhaps recruiting) and recommending a suitable candidate or candidates for election by a deliberative assembly. — Also termed screening committee.ordinary committee.A committee other than a committee of the whole.parent committee.A committee that refers business to a subcommittee. • The parent committee is so called only when considered in relation to the subcommittee. See subcommittee. permanent committee.See standing committee.platform committee.A committee charged with developing a comprehensive statement of an organization’s, usu. a political party’s, public policies and principles.program committee.The committee that plans a convention’s program, usu. including both itsformal business and its educational and social events.quasi committee of the whole.A committee of the whole over which the deliberative assembly’s regular chair presides.reference committee.See resolutions committee. resolutions committee.A committee charged with screening the original main motions offered for a convention’s consideration. — Also termed reference committee; screening committee. rules committee.A committee charged with drafting rules and an agenda for the orderly conduct of a deliberative assembly’s business, particularly that of a legislative body or a convention.search committee.A committee charged with finding a suitable choice from several options,such as candidates for employment or places for a meeting.screening committee. 1. See nominating committee. 2. See resolutions committee. select committee.See special committee.special committee.A committee established for a particular purpose or a limited time. • A legislature will ordinarily establish a special committee for a nonlegislative purpose, such as writing memorials, procuring chaplains, determining the qualifications of members, and settling election disputes. — Also termed ad hoc committee; select committee; temporary committee.[Cases: States  34. C.J.S. States §§ 55–58.] standing committee.A committee that is established for ongoing business, that continues to exist from session to session, and that is usu. charged with considering business of a certain recurring kind. • A legislature will ordinarily establish a standing committee concerned with a specific field of legislation. A legislative standing committee usu. considers basic questions of legislative policy, holds hearings on legislation, eliminates unwanted bills, and prepares favored measures for passage. — Also termed permanent committee. [Cases: United States  23. C.J.S.United States § 39.]subcommittee. A group within a committee to which the committee may refer business, standing in the same relation to its parent committee as the committee stands to the deliberative assembly. See parent committee.

tellers committee.A committee that helps the chair administer an election or other vote by handing out and picking up ballots if necessary, counting the votes or canvassing the ballots, and reporting the result to the chair for an-nouncement. See CANVASS(2).temporary committee.See special committee.

2. (k<<schwa>>m-i-tee) A person who is civilly committed, usu. to a psychiatric hospital <the board determined that the committee was dangerous and should not be released>. [Cases: Mental Health  36. C.J.S. Insane Persons§§ 49–52.] 3. (k<<schwa>>m-i-tee) The guardian for the person so committed <the patient’s lawyer objected to the appointment of the committee>. [Cases: Mental Health  116. C.J.S. Insane Persons §§ 123–125, 129.] [Blacks Law 8th]