Connecticut § 2-46 - Investigations by the General Assembly; powers; procedure. Witness' rights.

§ 2-46. Investigations by the General Assembly; powers; procedure. Witness' rights.

Sec. 2-46. Investigations by the General Assembly; powers; procedure. Witness' rights. (a) The president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, or a chairman of the whole, or of any committee of either house, of the General Assembly, shall have the power to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses by subpoena and capias issued by any of them, require the production of any necessary books, papers or other documents and administer oaths to witnesses in any case under their examination. Any person, summoned as a witness by the authority of either house of the General Assembly to give testimony or to produce books, papers or other documents upon any matter under inquiry before either house, or any committee of either house, of the General Assembly, or a joint committee of both houses, who wilfully makes default or, having appeared, refuses to be sworn or to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

(b) Any individual who is subpoenaed to appear and testify before a committee of the General Assembly shall have the right to review a copy of the transcript of his or her testimony and a reasonable amount of time to question its accuracy prior to the public release of such transcript or its permanent filing.

(1949 Rev., S. 51; 1957, P.A. 231; P.A. 73-397; P.A. 75-388, S. 8; P.A. 93-250, S. 2, 5; P.A. 12-80, S. 159; P.A. 17-60, S. 3.)

History: P.A. 73-397 added Subsec. (b) giving those who testify before committees in executive session the right to review testimony; P.A. 75-388 included the chairmen of the legislative program review and investigations committee among those with subpoena power; P.A. 93-250 amended Subsec. (a) to extend the power to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses by subpoena and capias to include any program review or investigation, as defined in Sec. 2-53d, effective June 23, 1993; P.A. 12-80 amended Subsec. (a) to change penalty from a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and imprisonment of not less than 1 month nor more than 12 months to a class A misdemeanor; P.A. 17-60 deleted references to Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 2017.