The Legislative Council is an eighteen member legislative committee. Six members of the Senate are appointed to the council by the President and six members of the House are appointed to the council by the Speaker.
Appointments are subject to the approval of the respective houses.
The President of the Senate and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate as well as the Speaker of the House and majority and minority leaders of the House serve as ex officio members of the council. The Legislative Council was created in 1953 to collect data, consider important issues of public policy and to prepare reports, bills, and other documents for presentation to the General Assembly. The information-gathering function of the Legislative Council created a need for a permanent research staff to work for the General Assembly. To fulfill this function, the Legislative Council hires a Director of Research who appoints professional, employees to perform the functions assigned. The staff of the Legislative Council responds to approximately 2,000 research inquiries a year.