Office of Research and Drafting
The Office of Research and Drafting is organized into divisions by subject matter – for example, Human Services, Education, and Judiciary – and each division is supervised by a division chief. Each attorney or research associate is assigned to one of LSC’s several divisions and has responsibility for staffing at least one of the General Assembly's standing committees or subcommittees.
Duties
LSC attorneys' and research associates' responsibilities include:
- Drafting and analyzing legislation
- Conducting research on legislative matters
- Staffing legislative committees
- Promptly responding to General Assembly members' requests, being available when needed, meeting all deadlines, preparing high quality documents, and conducting one's self in a professional manner.
Qualifications
Major qualifications for employment for attorneys and research associates include:
- A J.D. or graduate degree
- A strong interest in public service
- An ability to provide nonbiased, accurate information to all members of the General Assembly on a timely basis
- A willingness to work more than 40 hours per week when necessary and the ability to adjust personal schedules to changing legislative priorities
- An ability to work with a variety of personalities
- An ability to work under pressure and perform multiple tasks
- Superior analytical, writing, and research skills
- An ability to communicate in a concise and effective manner
Careers
LSC attorneys and research associates have the opportunity to develop unique and specialized careers in public service. They interact directly with legislators and the General Assembly’s partisan legislative staff. New staff members receive training conducted by senior staff members and work with a mentor to learn the nuances of working in a legislative environment.
During their tenure at LSC, attorneys and research associates develop research and technical bill drafting skills needed to translate legislators’ bill ideas into clearly written legislation that may become law. Successful staff members become experts in specific subject areas of Ohio law and are given assignments with increasing levels of complexity. In time, attorneys and research associates may be asked to review the work of less experienced staff.
Staff promotions to higher responsibility levels and salary grades are based on performance. When openings occur, senior staff members may apply for supervisory or project coordinator positions that require coordinating and reviewing the work of several staff members. Senior staff members who are not interested in pursuing a management role may mentor less experienced staff members, advise group leaders, and serve as in-house experts on a variety of subject areas. When positions become available, staff may transfer to another division within the office.
Application
Persons seeking employment with the LSC Office of Research and Drafting must complete the application on the State of Ohio employment website and must provide a cover letter, résumé, college transcripts, and a research paper as a writing sample.
More information about LSC's application procedure is available here.
The role of a resolution drafter is to serve the General Assembly by drafting descriptive and emotive language appropriate for letters of commendations, letters of condolence, and resolutions. A resolution drafting staff member works under the direction and supervision of the Resolution Drafting Administrator.
Duties
LSC resolution drafters' responsibilities include the following, as well as other duties that a drafter may be requested to perform when the need arises:
- Drafting, modifying, and peer-editing descriptive and emotive language appropriate for letters of commendations, letters of condolence, and resolutions requested by members of the General Assembly
- Writing and editing all products using office preferences for style and format
- Evaluating the eligibility of requests against established standards and processing accordingly, including computer data entry in a web-based application
- Analyzing the intent of each request to ensure each final product responds to the request specifically and uniquely, and, if necessary, contacting legislative offices and conducting internet research
- Attending to multiple details to ensure the accuracy of each final product
- Working independently and as a team member in a nonpartisan, research-oriented office setting
- Establishing and maintaining professional rapport with peers, supervisors, legislative aides, and members of the General Assembly
- Adhering to a standard work week and overtime as required by the demands of the General Assembly
Qualifications
Major qualifications for employment for resolution drafters include the ability and willingness to do the following:
- Carry out detailed written and oral instructions
- Provide excellent customer service when communicating orally and in writing with legislative offices about complex, detailed, and relationally sensitive matters related to requests
- Process, write, edit, and proofread, proficiently and flexibly, hundreds of documents each week in a fast-paced setting with multiple, changeable priorities and with multiple, often tight, deadlines
- Conduct oneself in a nonpartisan manner during work and outside of work
The librarians and staff of the LSC Library provide information and research services to the members of the General Assembly and their staff using a collection of Ohio and federal legal and legislative materials. The library acts as the repository for an extensive archive of state legislative documents, state and federal agency reports, and periodicals and books on subjects of legislative interest. Through the Legislative Information Line, staff responds to inquiries from legislative constituents who call with bill status or scheduling questions, or who seek to leave messages for their legislators.