Ordinance on the Government and Administrative Organisation Act (Organisationsverordnung, OrV) - Business Planning and Business Control (DSK)

1. The Cantonal Chancellery conducts the business planning of the Council of Ministers and a business oversight which records the receipt and referral of all matters. It periodically prepares lists of pending matters.

2. The departmental secretariats, chancellery services, and organizational units maintain business oversight for their respective matters.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery invites the departments biannually to report on the matters completed since the last reporting and on any new pending matters.

2. The Cantonal Chancellery informs the Government Council.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery maintains the schedule of the Government Council.

1. The government program sets priorities and fundamental objectives for government and administrative activities. It is enacted at the beginning of the term of office.

2. The progress of implementation and target achievement is reported annually in the accountability report.

3. The final report contains a retrospective overall assessment of the government program. It is presented to the cantonal council at the end of the term of office.

1. The meetings of the Council of Ministers are generally held in the Government Building in Herisau.

2. The meetings are not public.

1. The Executive Council usually convenes for its weekly meeting on Tuesday.

2. It determines the dates of the regular meetings for each calendar year.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery provides the service of ushers.

1. Submissions to the Executive Council shall be forwarded by the Cantonal Chancellery to the competent department for reporting and submitting proposals to the Executive Council or for independent disposition. Exceptions include matters that

a) can be handled by the Cantonal Chancellery without further action, or

b) do not require further clarification and can be submitted directly to the Executive Council for consideration.

2. If the competent member of the Executive Council is recused, the matter shall be transferred to the deputy.

3. Submissions concerning the Executive Council received by the departments shall be forwarded to the Cantonal Chancellery.

1. The department submitting the application is responsible for the instruction of appeals and complaints. It exercises all procedural powers that the Government Council can delegate according to the applicable procedural law.

2. In the case of appeals or complaints against departments, instruction and submission are carried out by the Cantonal Chancellery.

1. The Reporting and Submission of Proposals to the Government Council (Proposal) is to be conducted in the form of a draft resolution. Members of the Government Council, as well as the Secretary or the Recorder, are entitled to submit proposals.

2. The proposals should be confined to the essentials. They include

a) a presentation of the initial situation;

b) the factual and legal considerations;

c) * the financial, personnel, and organizational impacts, and the financing;

d) the results of the accompanying reports;

e) the resolution.

3. The Cantonal Chancellery may issue directives and declare electronic templates as binding.

1. The Co-Report Procedure aims to coordinate the preparation of government council affairs at the department and cantonal chancellery level, as well as to facilitate the formation of opinions and decision-making by the government council.

1. The entity responsible for conducting the procedure is the applicant authority.

2. The interested departments or the cantonal chancellery shall be invited to comment within an appropriate time frame.

3. An entity is considered interested if it has a professional connection to the matter.

1. The co-report shall be concise and clear. It must contain a proposal.

2. Any differences shall be resolved as much as possible through consultation.

3. Instead of a written co-report, working groups may be established. The minutes shall replace the co-report.

1. For transactions with one-time net expenditures exceeding CHF 100,000 and those with recurring net expenditures exceeding CHF 50,000, a financial report from the Department of Finance must be obtained. For transactions conducted by the Department of Finance, the financial report is to be prepared by the deputy.

2. For the assessment of the financial implications of a transaction, the following information must be detailed in particular

a) the net result;

b) the proof of financing;

c) budget release or supplementary credit;

d) the impact on the current account, the financial plan, and the capital expenditure account.

3. For investments, recurring costs such as operating and maintenance costs, as well as depreciation, must also be presented.

4. For transactions that require additional organizational changes, the effects on the workflow organization, task fulfillment, and staffing must be described.

5. The application must be submitted to the Department of Finance at least two weeks before the submission deadline.

1. The results of the joint reporting procedure must be mentioned in the applications.

2. The joint reports or the minutes must be attached to the documents.

1. New decrees or amendments to decrees must be submitted to the Cantonal Chancellery for formal and substantive preliminary examination at least two weeks before the submission deadline.

2. Discrepancies should be resolved as much as possible through consultation.

1. The signed applications, along with enclosures, must be submitted to the Cantonal Chancellery.

2. For applications that are to be forwarded to the Cantonal Council, a draft report and application to the Cantonal Council must also be enclosed.

3. The applications, as well as those enclosures that are delivered to the members of the Cantonal Executive Council, must simultaneously be transmitted to the Cantonal Chancellery in electronic form.

1. Applications must be submitted in full by Thursday noon at the latest in order to be addressed at the next meeting. Excluded from this are applications that contain new, totally revised, or significantly amended cantonal decrees or matters of fundamental importance and are submitted to the government council for the first time; these applications must be submitted no later than 7 days before the intended date of consideration.

2. Applications submitted late will only be addressed at the subsequent meeting; the Landammann may allow exceptions.

**1. Applications that are not of significant importance or political consequence, but demonstrate a specific time urgency, may be submitted to the Cantonal Chancellery for consideration at the next meeting, no later than Monday noon. The same applies to the determination of delegations or appointments.**

**2. Agendas of specialist or directors' conferences, as well as other representations of the government council, must be included in the desk folder.**

**3. The applications and all attachments are to be submitted in a single copy.**

1. The secretary of the council may refer applications with formal defects back to the applicant.

1. The Landammann, in conjunction with the Cantonal Chancellery, determines the agenda for the meeting (order of business). The following order is observed

a) * Individually scheduled proposals, including

1. Decisions on fundamental and strategic issues;

2. Fundamental plans and concepts;

3. Submissions to the Cantonal Council;

4. Expenditure decisions and regulations within the competence of the Government Council;

5. Conduct of cantonal consultation procedures;

6. Contracts;

7. Elections and appointments.

b) * Consolidation of proposals as block items, including

1. Federal consultation procedures;

2. Approvals of plans, enactments, foundations of corporations, etc.;

3. Resolutions of determination;

4. Appeal, complaint, and objection decisions;

5. Consultations with legal remedies instances or courts;

6. Inspection reports;

7. Business reports;

8. Naturalizations, adoptions.

c) Desk folder;

d) * Communications from the departments and the cantonal chancellery;

e) General survey.

2. Other items of business are placed in the agenda at his discretion.

1. The service of applications, for block transactions with the main annexes, and the agenda to the members of the Government Council shall be carried out by the Cantonal Chancellery by Thursday evening.

1. Documents of general interest may be submitted to the Cantonal Chancellery. They are compiled in a reading folder depending on the occasion and circulated among the members of the Government Council.

1. The members of the Government Council and the clerk or the clerkess are obligated to participate in the meetings of the Government Council. In the event of incapacity, the Landammann must be informed.

1. Properly submitted motions are called, handled, and resolved by the Landammann through a decision. In this process,

a) the individually tabled items and the motions in the table folder are individually discussed and decided upon, and

b) the motions of the block items are only discussed and decided upon individually if a corresponding motion is made. Otherwise, they are considered as decided.

2. Motions from an absent applicant will only be addressed if he or she agrees.

1. Entry shall be deemed resolved if no motion for non-entry is made. Entry is mandatory in the cases outlined in Article 39 of the Rules of Procedure of the Cantonal Council.

2. A motion can be deliberated on an article-by-article, section-by-section, or an overall basis.

3. The floor is first given to the applicant, insofar as it is necessary to supplement the written motion. Subsequently, the presiding officer grants the floor according to the order of registration.

1. The applicant is entitled to withdraw the submitted application as long as the government council has not yet made a decision.

2. The government council may refer applications back to the submitting entity and may issue directives if necessary.

1. If a transaction is undisputed, the proposal is deemed accepted without a vote.

2. Disputed transactions shall be put to a vote. The voting is conducted openly and by show of hands. The order is to be in accordance with the relevant provisions of the procedural rules of the Cantonal Council.

1. Elections are conducted openly and by a show of hands.

2. Unless a member of the governing council requests otherwise, the collective confirmation of existing members is permissible. The President, however, is elected individually in any case.

1. The governing council may decide, upon request of a member, to relieve that member from representing a decision. The relief must be recorded in the meeting minutes. The relieved member must refrain from making any statements about the decision.

1. The Clerk conducts a session journal during the proceedings, which includes the names of those present, the titles of the matters discussed, the resolutions, and any remarks pertaining to the proceedings. The session journal is accessible only to the members of the Government Council.

2. Decisions of non-admittance, the withdrawal of matters, and remittals including any possible directives are noted in the session journal.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery clarifies the draft resolutions. The collection of the clarified draft resolutions (resolutions) serves as the minutes.

2. The minutes are numbered consecutively by year and registered. They are kept in the Cantonal Chancellery, including the associated files.

3. They are also archived in electronic form.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery promulgates the resolutions no later than one week after the meeting by means of a protocol excerpt or, exceptionally, through a special notification.

2. A dissenting opinion recorded in the minutes according to Art. 15 para. 3 OrG is not promulgated.

1. The government council informs the public about decisions of general interest through press releases, press conferences, or using electronic means.

1bis. It establishes the principles of its information and communication.

2. The departments are authorized to issue press releases and conduct press conferences within their area of responsibility, or to inform the public through electronic means. The cantonal chancellery must be informed in advance.

3. The government council may conduct special events for the information of the cantonal council. For matters within the jurisdiction of the cantonal council, consultation with the office of the cantonal council is required.

1. If a member of the government council has lodged a protest against a decision, they have the right to express the protest externally, including a brief explanation.

1. In the consultation process, cantonal authorities, municipalities, political parties, and other interested groups are heard regarding politically significant proposals.

1. The Cantonal Chancellery maintains a list of planned consultation procedures and updates it semi-annually. It informs the municipalities, political parties, and the media about the update. The list is published on the internet.

1. The government council decides on the implementation.

2. It determines in particular

a) the group of invitees;

b) the deadline, which should only be under two months in exceptional cases;

c) the documents to be submitted.

1. The implementation is the responsibility of the competent department or the cantonal chancellery.

2. The initiation of a consultation procedure must be published in the Official Gazette as well as on the Internet.

1. Statements must be submitted in paper form or electronically.

2. The Government Council may invite parties to a conference hearing instead of a written procedure. A record of the hearing shall be kept.

1. The consultation documents are made available to the invited circle in electronic form or, upon request, in paper form and are also published on the Internet.

2. Organizations and individuals who are not part of the invited circle will be provided with the desired consultation documents upon request. They may also submit a statement.

3. The submission of a statement does not entitle one to a response or additional hearing.

1. The authority responsible for implementation evaluates the statements received in a timely manner and prepares an evaluation report for the attention of the government council.

2. The results of the consultation procedure are made public in an appropriate manner.

1. In the preliminary proceedings, the departments and the cantonal chancellery may consult interested parties even outside of a formal consultation procedure.

2. The outcome of the consultation must be presented in an appropriate form in the proposal to the government council.

1. When appointing the permanent advisory and special commissions, appropriate consideration must be given to interest groups, age groups, and genders.

1. Commission members are entitled to daily allowances. Exempt from this are members of the Council of State, as well as employees of the canton and its autonomous and non-autonomous institutions, who serve on a commission as part of their official duties.

2. The following daily allowances are granted

a) * Full day CHF 250

b) * Half day CHF 125

2bis If the inclusion of external experts in a commission is necessary, the Council of State may approve higher daily allowances for these individuals.

3. Those who hold a presidency position and are entitled to daily allowances receive an additional CHF 50 per meeting.

4. The reimbursement of expenses is governed by the regulation on the compensation for inconveniences, expenses, on-call duty, and extraordinary working hours.

1. The functions of the organizational units are determined by the substantive legislation and the annex to this regulation.

1. The Executive Council regularly reviews the responsibilities of the canton and their execution, as well as the organization of the cantonal administration, to assess their necessity and compliance with the objectives derived from the constitution and law.

1. The departments and the cantonal chancellery ensure the secure and systematically organized storage of documents.

2. The cantonal chancellery may issue directives.

1. Departments and the Cantonal Chancellery specify in their organizational regulations who is authorized to represent them before cantonal and federal courts and appellate authorities. In individual cases, other organizational units or persons may also be authorized to represent.

2. In departmental matters, the acceptance of a settlement or the declaration of withdrawal from a dispute requires the approval of the head of the department, unless otherwise specified in an individual case.

1. The Departments and the Cantonal Chancellery have financial authority, provided a credit is approved in the budget and there is no specific regulation, for

a) new expenditures, once-off up to CHF 100,000 and recurring up to CHF 50,000;

b) fixed expenditures up to the amount of the budget credit.

2. The Departments can fully or partially delegate the financial authorities outlined in Section 1 to the subordinate offices.

1. The organization of the departments and the cantonal chancellery is based on the annex to this regulation.

1. The departments and the cantonal chancellery shall establish organizational regulations. These regulations shall govern, in accordance with legislative and government council directives, in particular

a) the detailed organization;

b) the allocation of individual areas of responsibility;

c) the authorization to sign and the expenditure competencies.

2. The organizational regulations shall be submitted to the government council for acknowledgment.

1. Each organizational unit has a responsible management.

2. The heads of departments, as well as the municipal clerk, designate a substitute for each management.

1. Correspondence issued by the departments shall be signed by the head of the department. In cases of absence, the department secretary is authorized to sign these documents on behalf of the head of the department.

2. Correspondence issued by the cantonal chancellery shall be signed by the chancellor.

1. Outgoing correspondence from the organizational units shall be signed by the respective head.

2. The department heads and the chancellor shall establish further signing authorities in the organizational regulations.

1. Authorized to sign on behalf of the permanent advisory and special committees are the chairperson together with the secretary.

1. The departments ensure contact points within their departmental secretariats for the following topics and cross-functional tasks

a) Coordination of departmental activities;

b) Legal matters;

c) Personnel;

d) Controlling;

e) Finances;

f) Information technology;

g) Premises and furnishings;

h) Document management and archiving.

1. The Department Secretary manages the Department Secretariat.

2. He or she represents the Head of the Department within the department in accordance with the organizational regulations and is authorized to issue directives to the office heads to that extent.

3. Each Department Secretary has a deputy. This deputy supports and relieves him or her of duties in all functions and assumes representation in all functions in the event of the Secretary's absence.

1. The departmental secretaries and the head of chancery services participate in the DSK.

2. The departmental secretaries may, in exceptional cases, be represented at DSK meetings by their deputies or be accompanied in consultation with the council clerk.

3. The Cantonal Chancellery maintains the records.

**1. The DSK fulfills the following tasks:**

a) * Coordination of resource and business planning of the departments, as well as cross-departmental businesses and tasks;

b) * Coordination and determination of IT planning;

c) * Management of significant cross-departmental IT applications;

d) * Mutual exchange of information on cross-departmental topics;

e) * Development of guidelines and work aids in organizational and administrative matters, insofar as no other authorities are responsible;

f) * Advising on matters brought forward by the members.

**2. The fulfillment of the tasks under paragraph 1 takes place in cooperation with the lead agencies.**

**3. The DSK fulfills further tasks assigned to it by the Government Council within the framework of special mandates, in particular:**

a) Preliminary consultation on important cross-departmental matters of the Government Council;

b) Preparation, management, and execution of significant cross-departmental projects.

1. The administrative investigation is a special procedure of oversight used to determine whether there is a situation that requires intervention by the authorities in the public interest.

2. The administrative investigation is not directed against specific individuals. Disciplinary investigations pursuant to the Personnel Act as well as criminal proceedings are reserved.

3. An administrative investigation must not hinder criminal investigations or investigations by parliamentary oversight bodies.

1. Administrative investigations are ordered by the Government Council. It issues a written mandate to the investigating body and informs the affected organizational units of the initiation of the administrative investigation, including its reason, purpose, and the investigating body.

2. The Government Council issues the necessary directives regarding access and inspection rights of the investigating bodies, as well as the duty of affected employees to provide information. Employees of the canton involved in the administrative investigation are obliged to cooperate in establishing the facts of the case.

3. Persons outside the cantonal administration may be commissioned with the investigation.

1. For the determination of the facts, the investigative body shall use the evidence as provided in the Administrative Procedure Act. Testimony of witnesses, however, is excluded.

2. The investigative body shall inform the persons to be questioned that they may refuse to testify if their testimony would incriminate themselves in relation to a disciplinary or criminal proceeding. It shall inform persons outside of the cantonal administration who are to be questioned that providing information is on a voluntary basis.

3. Persons involved in the administrative investigation shall have the opportunity to review and comment on all records that pertain to them. They are entitled to a right to be heard and may be represented and advised by counsel.

4. If, during the course of the administrative investigation, it becomes apparent that information subject to confidentiality obligations from other departments or from the cantonal chancellery is necessary, the investigative body must first obtain the consent of the head of the department or the chief magistrate.

1. The investigating body shall submit all investigation files and a report to the ordering authority.

2. It shall outline in the report the procedure and the results of the investigation and present suggestions for further action.

3. The governing council shall inform the authorities and individuals involved in the administrative investigation about the results and decide on the consequences of the administrative investigation.

4. The results of an administrative investigation may serve as the basis for initiating other proceedings, particularly those related to personnel law.

1. This Regulation shall enter into force with the Government and Administrative Organization Act.