(a) Appointments to the Legislative Ethics Committee shall be made immediately after the convening of the regular session of the General Assembly in odd-numbered years. The term of office for members of the Legislative Ethics Committee shall be four years from the date of the convening of the General Assembly in which the member is appointed to the Committee. Members shall not serve two consecutive full terms.

(b) A vacancy occurs on the Legislative Ethics Committee when a member resigns or is no longer a member of the General Assembly. A vacancy occurring for any reason during a term shall be filled for the unexpired term by the authority making the appointment which caused the vacancy, and the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall, if possible, be a member of the same political party as the member who caused the vacancy, from a list of two nominees submitted by that party’s leader.

(c) In the event a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee is unable to act on a specific matter before the Legislative Ethics Committee, and so indicates in writing to the appointing officer and the Legislative Ethics Committee, the appointing officer may appoint another member of the respective chamber from a list of two members submitted by the majority leader or minority leader who nominated the member who is unable to act on the matter to serve as a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee for the specific matter only. If on any specific matter, the number of members of the Legislative Ethics Committee who are unable to act on a specific matter exceeds four members, the appropriate appointing officer shall appoint other members of the General Assembly to serve as members of the Legislative Ethics Committee for that specific matter only. (1975, c. 564, s. 1; 1995, c. 180, s. 2; 2004-199, s. 31(e); 2009-10, s. 2.)