Clerk (legislature) explained

The clerk, chief clerk, secretary, or secretary general of a legislative chamber is the senior administrative officer responsible for ensuring that its business runs smoothly. This may encompass keeping custody of documents lain before the house, received, or produced; making records of proceedings; allocating office space; enrolling of members, and administering an oath of office. During the first sitting of a newly elected legislature, or when the current presiding officer steps down, they may act as the presiding officer in the election of a new presiding officer such as the speaker or president. The clerk in some cases has a ceremonial role. A clerk may also advise the speaker or members on parliamentary procedure, acting in American parlance as a "parliamentarian".

In the English speaking world, a parliamentary, legislative or congressional clerk is often used to refer to other officials who are involved with administrative operations within a legislature.

Appointment

In the Westminster system, the clerk is usually an apolitical civil servant, and typically attains the position through promotion and retains it until retirement. In the UK the Clerks of both houses are appointed by letters patent from the Sovereign.

In the United States, while clerks are usually nonpartisan, they are often elected by the assembly members at the beginning of each term. At the federal level, and typically at state level, the lower house has a "(chief) clerk" while the upper house has a "secretary".

Clerks of the House by legislature

Commonwealth

Legislature	Clerk of sole or lower house	Clerk of upper house	Notes


	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Chief Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Secretary General	N/A	Unicameral. The post of Secretary General was formerly called Greffier in French.^[1]
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral
	Clerk	N/A	Unicameral

		N/A	Unicameral. The Clerk of the upper house was called the Clerk of the Parliaments prior to abolition.^[2]

— Senedd (Wales)		N/A	Unicameral
— Tynwald (Isle of Man)	Secretary	Clerk	Bicameral, however when the Houses are sitting together they become the Tynwald Court. The Clerk of Tynwald is ex-officio the Secretary of the House of Keys and the chief administrative officer for the entire Court.^[3]

North America

Clerk of sole or lower house	Clerk of upper house	Notes
Director	N/A	^[4]
Secretary General	Secretary General
		Elected every two years.
Clerk	Secretary	The deputy to the Clerk of the House is called the Chief Clerk.
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary	The Chief Clerk is appointed by the Speaker and confirmed by the House by simple majority.
		Elected every two years.
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Secretary	N/A	Federal District. Unicameral.
Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Chief Clerk
Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	N/A	Unicameral. The current sole house was the Senate before the House of Representatives was abolished in 1936.
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Chief Clerk
Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary-Parliamentarian	The Secretary-Parliamentarian acts as both the chief administrative officer and parliamentarian of the Senate.^[5] The Senate also has a Chief Clerk, who is the chief fiscal officer, and holds other miscellaneous administrative duties.^[6]
Clerk	Secretary	Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Chief Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk
Chief Clerk	Secretary
Clerk	Clerk	The House Clerk is ex-officio the Keeper of the Rolls of the Legislature.^[7]
Chief Clerk	Chief Clerk
Chief Clerk	Chief Clerk

Europe

Legislature	Clerk of sole or lower house	Clerk of upper house	Notes
	Director of the Secretariat	Director of the Secretariat
	General Secretary (Secretario General)	Senior Clerk (Letrado mayor)	The General Secretary of the Congress of Deputies is also ex officio Senior Clerk of the whole Parliament (Letrado mayor de las Cortes Generales). Both clerks are elected by the bureaus of their respective chambers, and must be civil servants from the Parliament.^[8] The regional assemblies also have this officer with the same name of Senior Clerk.

Asia

Clerk of sole or lower house	Clerk of upper house	Notes
Secretary General	N/A	Unicameral, however the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is a permanent body of the Congress which often acts as the national legislature.
	N/A	Unicameral
Secretary General	N/A	Unicameral
	N/A	Unicameral

Other officials

This is a non-exhaustive list of some types of clerks.

Name	Notes
Calendar clerk	Responsible for the planning and upkeep of the legislative calendar.
Clerk assistant	Sometimes used as the title for the deputy of the Clerk of the House. The Second clerk assistant is sometimes the title used for their deputy.
Committee clerk	Responsible for the administrative operations of a parliamentary committee. The most senior committee clerk is sometimes known as the Clerk of Committees.
Journal clerk	Responsible for the upkeep of the house's journal. The most senior journal clerk is sometimes known as the Clerk of the Journals.
Reading clerk	Usually responsible for the oral reading of bills, motions and amendments in the United States. The Reading Clerk in the House of Lords is responsible for reading letters patents and writs of summons of newly created peers, as well as commissions granting Royal Assent, as well as recording daily attendance.^[9]

External links

American Society of Legislative Clerks & Secretaries (ASLCS) National Conference of State Legislatures
Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments
The UK Parliamentary Archives holds the records of the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table

Notes and References

Web site: Secrétaire général . Assemblee Nationale du Quebec . 12 March 2024.
Web site: Parliament's People . New Zealand History . 3 October 2023.
Web site: Roles of Members & Officers . Tynwald . 3 October 2023.
Web site: Bureau for Inatsisartut Organisationsdiagram . Inatsisartut . 3 October 2023.
Book: Rules of the Senate of Pennsylvania (2023-2024) . 3 January 2023 . Rule 6 Duties of the Secretary-Parliamentarian.
Book: Rules of the Senate of Pennsylvania (2023-2024) . 3 January 2023 . Rule 7 Duties of the Chief Clerk of the Senate.
Book: Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Delegates . Rule 18 Record of Enrolled Bills.
Agreement of March 27, 2006, adopted by the Bureaus of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate in a joint meeting, approving the Staff Statute of the Cortes Generales. . Boletín Oficial del Estado (Official State Gazette) . 2006-04-05 . article 6 . 17 July 2024.
Book: Erskine May's treatise on the law, privileges, proceedings and usage of Parliament . 2019 . Part 1, Paragraph 6.33 . 25th . 13 March 2024.