GSB bill may clarify future impeachment hearings
April 17, 1996
A bill will be voted on at tonight’s Government of the Student Body meeting that could clarify the impeachment proceedings against elected officials and officers of the Supreme Court.
Ginger Cowger, vice chair of the GSB and proposer of the bill, said she was in a very difficult position earlier this semester when she was asked, as vice chair, to bring impeachment proceedings against GSB President Dan Mangan.
“When I had to do it, it was terrible. I didn’t have much guidance in the bylaws to tell me what to do,” Cowger said.
Cowger said the new bill will help clarify the impeachment process and make it easier for the vice chair to know what to do for the proceedings.
“Hopefully, this bill will provide more guidance as to what needs to be done,” Cowger said.
If passed, the bill will require the Senate Judiciary Committee to write special rules of order for impeachment to be presented to the GSB Senate for a vote no later than October 15, 1996.
She said the bill revisions will clarify the process by adding specific details as to how the process will continue after the impeachment reaches the trial stage.
Adam Obrecht, agriculture senator and another proposer of the bill, said the bill will put more definition into the impeachment proceedings by stating who will chair the impeachment meetings, how the impeachment bill will be proposed and whether to call a special session. He said these are things that were never explained and had to be implied by the individuals before the bill.
“It’s going to make things clearer and ensure a fair process for both parties involved,” Obrecht said.
He said the process will remain basically the same, but just fill in some missing gaps involving the time after the impeachment proceeding bill has been proposed.
An impeachment may be brought against elected GSB officials with the exception of senators and against the Supreme Court of the student body. Only GSB senators or organizations registered with ISU are eligible to file an impeachment request. Students who wish to file a request are able to do so through one of their GSB senators.
The impeachment process has five independent steps: impeachment initiative, impeachment hearing, pretrial conference, impeachment trial and hearing on sanctions.
Obrecht and Cowger said they do not anticipate any opposition to the bill and said it is very important that the bill is passed.