1985  INTRODUCTION

     Upon the institution of constitutional government in Kosrae on January 11, 1984 the State's substantive statutory law consisted of a mix of Legislature session laws and the two volume Trust Territory Code.  With Legislature Resolution 3046 the Third Kosrae State Legislature set in motion a process of codification of State statutory law whereby this disparate body of law might be brought within the covers of a single volume.  This Code is the outcome of that process.

     The effort to put the State's laws in order began in earnest with the introduction of word processing equipment at the Legislature and the Legislature's creation of a Kosrae Code Project Working Group in December 1984.  The Working Group of nine persons drawn from the Legislature's and Executive's staffs was the Code Project's administrative and drafting arm.

     Through six ordered Project phases the Legislature's standing committees, in consultation with the Executive and certain State Government agencies, systematically reviewed all existing statutory law.  At the completion of their respective reviews of their jurisdictional segments of State law the committees reported to the Legislature their recommendations for the repeal of obsolete and other law and, in some instances, the adoption of new provisions.  In the process every line of remaining law was reviewed and rewritten for style.  The Code Project culminated on August 8, 1985 with the Legislature's adoption and the Governor's approval of the Kosrae State Code of Laws which appears in this volume.

     The Working Group's membership was:  Attorney General Rob Ciandella, and Aliksa Aliksa and Robinhood Noda of his staff; Legislature Committee Aides Albert Welly, Kalis Obet and Sterkis Abraham; the Legislature's Deputy Clerk, Clanry Likiaksa, and Chief Page, Ersila Mongkeya; and Legislature Counsel and Group Supervisor Al Snyder.  The Working Group was under the general supervision of Senator Hiteo Shrew, Project Coordinator.