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A few weeks ago, I wrote about the powers and duties of the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Another important duty that the Speaker is charged with is to appoint a House Parliamentarian, one of the most important people that the Speaker relies on to help perform his duties and keep order in the House.
Due to the complexity of the procedures of the House and the Senate, each have a parliamentarian to help guide the presiding officers through the daily activities of the chambers and to provide expert advice on questions relating to the chambers' rules, operating procedures and precedents. In each chamber, the presiding officer has the final say on a ruling, but often relies heavily upon the advice and information provided by the parliamentarian.
Although the parliamentarian is most visibly at the service of the presiding officer, the office of parliamentarian is non-partisan and exists to provide access for all members of the legislature to expertise to help them understand the intricacies of the legislative process. The parliamentarians make their authoritative knowledge available to all members on the floor during sessions and from their offices at all other times.
A couple of weeks ago, the House Parliamentarian who served during the recent 78th Legislative Session, Steve Collins, announced his retirement. Although Mr. Collins had a rather short tenure as parliamentarian, during which time he served as excellent counsel to the members of the House, he had a 27 year career with the Texas Legislative Council where he finally served as Executive Director and Chief Legislative Counsel. The Texas Legislative Council provides drafting, computing, research, and publishing services to the Texas Legislature and legislative agencies.
Following Mr. Collins' retirement announcement, the Speaker appointed Denise Davis to the position of House Parliamentarian, a position she is quite familiar with, having served as Assistant Parliamentarian during the 78th Legislative Session. Prior to holding that position, Ms. Davis served as an attorney for the legal division of the Texas Legislative Council and helped to revise the Texas Juvenile Justice Code before staffing the Senate Jurisprudence Committee. As director/counsel to the Texas Judicial Council, Davis worked under the direction of Chief Justice Tom Phillips and the Texas Supreme Court. She also served as general counsel for the Lieutenant Governor's office.
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