Connecticut General Assembly - Subpoena Power

Subpoena Power

The General Assembly has subpoena power under Connecticut General Statutes §2-46. Recent decisions by the Connecticut Supreme Court, the state supreme court, have clarified and limited this power.

§2-46 vests the Connecticut General Assembly with broad subpoena power. The power to compel documents and testimony is vested in the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, or either of the chairman of any committee (Connecticut has joint Committees, with a chairman from each house of the General Assembly). Once subpoenaed, a person refusing to comply may be fined between $100 and $1000, and imprisoned for between one month and one year.

The legislature has the power to subpoena the sitting governor of Connecticut in limited circumstances. The Connecticut Supreme Court clarified these circumstances, during the John G. Rowland impeachment, in Office of the Legislature v. The Select Committee On Inquiry, 271 Conn. 540 (2004), holding that the legislature can issue subpoenas only in conjunction with its mandate under the state constitution. Impeachment is a constitutional power of the legislature under Article IX of the Connecticut Constitution, and therefore the legislature can compel the testimony of the governor in conjunction with impeachment proceedings.

The ability of the legislature to subpoena judges of the state court has also been clarified in court. During the controversy surrounding the retirement of the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, William "Taco" Sullivan, the Connecticut General Assembly subpoenaed the testimony of Sullivan, who was still sitting on the Court. Sullivan challenged the subpoena in Connecticut Superior Court. The court ruled, in Sullivan v. McDonald (WL 2054052 2006), that the legislature could only subpoena a sitting Justice in an impeachment proceeding. On appeal, the entire Connecticut Supreme Court recused itself, and the argument was made before the judges of the Connecticut Court of Appeals sitting as the Supreme Court. The Judiciary Committee, who issued the subpoenas, argued that they could also issue subpoenas in conjunction with their constitutional confirmation power. Sullivan voluntarily testified before a ruling was issued.