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Rules committee authorizes limited use of oaths in investigatory hearings
Summary
The committee amended rules to let the Government Audit & Oversight Committee and the full board, by oral motion, direct the clerk to administer oaths to witnesses (excluding general public comment) so testimony in investigatory hearings can be taken under penalty of perjury.
The Rules Committee approved amendments on Feb. 8 to allow committees with investigatory authority and the full board to administer oaths to witnesses by oral motion and majority vote.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who introduced the amendment, said the change was designed to allow the board to exact sworn testimony in extraordinary investigatory circumstances — for example, in oversight hearings such as those conducted on the Millennium Tower. "These are powers and duties that are administered by the United States Congress in the course of their investigatory duties as well as by the state legislature," Peskin said, adding that the power would be used "seldomly and rarely, in very extraordinary cases."
Clerk Angela Calvillo told the committee that clerks will have an oath form available and that the measure would exclude administering oaths to members of the general public offering comment.
The committee approved the amendments and moved the item to the full board with a positive recommendation.
