(a) The office of the Commissioner shall be a public office, and the records, books, and papers thereof on file therein shall be public records of the District, except as the Commissioner for good reason may decide otherwise, or except as it may be provided otherwise herein.

(b) The Commissioner may, in accordance with § 2-505, promulgate reasonable rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter.

(Oct. 9, 1940, 54 Stat. 1066, ch. 792, ch. II, § 1; May 21, 1997, D.C. Law 11-268, § 10(r)(2), 44 DCR 1730; Apr. 5, 2005, D.C. Law 15-292, § 2, 52 DCR 1463; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 53, 53 DCR 6794.)

1981 Ed., § 35-1504.

1973 Ed., § 35-1304.

D.C. Law 15-292 rewrote subsec. (b) which had read:

“(b) The Council of the District of Columbia shall have authority to make, and the Commissioner shall have the authority to enforce, such reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary in making effective the provisions of this chapter, but such rules and regulations shall not be contrary to nor inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.”

D.C. Law 16-191 validated a previously made technical correction in (b).

Department of Insurance abolished: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 31-2501.03.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 402(277) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided in § 406 of the Plan. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.