State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title46a > Chap813a > Sec46a-13kSec. 46a-13k. Office of the Child Advocate established. (a) There is established an Office of the Child Advocate. The Governor, with the approval of the General Assembly, shall appoint a person with knowledge of the child welfare system and the legal system to fill the Office of the Child Advocate. Such person shall be qualified by training and experience to perform the duties of the office as set forth in section 46a-13l. The appointment shall be made from a list of at least three persons prepared and submitted by the advisory committee established pursuant to section 46a-13q. Upon any vacancy in the position of Child Advocate, the advisory committee shall meet to consider and interview successor candidates and shall submit to the Governor a list of no less than five and no more than seven of the most outstanding candidates, not later than sixty days after the occurrence of said vacancy. Such list shall rank the candidates in the order of committee preference. Upon receipt of the list of candidates from the advisory committee, the Governor shall designate a candidate for Child Advocate from among the choices within eight weeks of receipt of such list. If at any time any of the candidates withdraw from consideration prior to confirmation by the General Assembly, the designation shall be made from the remaining candidates on the list submitted to the Governor. If a candidate has not been designated by the Governor within the eight-week time period, the candidate ranked first shall receive the designation and be referred to the General Assembly for confirmation. If the General Assembly is not in session, the designated candidate shall serve as acting Child Advocate and be entitled to the compensation, privileges and powers of the Child Advocate until the General Assembly meets to take action on said appointment. The person appointed Child Advocate shall serve for a term of four years and may be reappointed or shall continue to hold office until such person's successor is appointed and qualified. Upon any vacancy in the position of Child Advocate and until such time as a candidate has been confirmed by the General Assembly or, if the General Assembly is not in session, has been designated by the Governor, the Associate Child Advocate shall serve as the acting Child Advocate and be entitled to the compensation, privileges and powers of the Child Advocate.
(b) The Office of the Child Advocate shall be in the Department of Administrative Services for administrative purposes only.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, the Child Advocate shall act independently of any state department in the performance of his duties.
(d) The Child Advocate may, within available funds, appoint such staff as may be deemed necessary provided, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997, such staff shall not exceed one and one-half full-time positions or the equivalent thereof. The duties of the staff may include the duties and powers of the Child Advocate if performed under the direction of the Child Advocate.
(e) The General Assembly shall annually appropriate such sums as necessary for the payment of the salaries of the staff and for the payment of office expenses and other actual expenses incurred by the Child Advocate in the performance of his duties. Any legal or court fees obtained by the state in actions brought by the Child Advocate shall be deposited in the General Fund.
(f) The Child Advocate shall annually submit to the Governor and the General Assembly a detailed report analyzing the work of the Office of the Child Advocate.
(P.A. 95-242, S. 1-6; P.A. 96-155, S. 2; P.A. 97-319, S. 1, 2, 6, 22; P.A. 00-49, S. 4, 7; P.A. 01-195, S. 34, 181; P.A. 05-287, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 96-155 amended Subsec. (a) by adding a procedure for filling a vacancy in the position of Child Advocate; P.A. 97-319 amended Subsec. (b) to transfer the Office of the Child Advocate from the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities to the Freedom of Information Commission, effective July 1, 1997, amended Subsec. (d) by specifying that staff appointments be within available funds and amended Subsec. (e) to replace provision requiring dedication to the Office of the Child Advocate of fees obtained by the state in actions brought by the Child Advocate with provision requiring deposit in the General Fund; P.A. 00-49 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision that Associate Child Advocate shall serve as acting Child Advocate until successor has been confirmed by the General Assembly, or designated by the Governor to fill vacancy in position of Child Advocate and made technical change for purposes of gender neutrality, effective May 16, 2000; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 05-287 amended Subsec. (b) to change the administrative location of the Office of the Child Advocate from the Freedom of Information Commission to the Department of Administrative Services, effective July 1, 2005.
See Sec. 4-38f for definition of "administrative purposes only".
