# EO 83-8 — Archival Retrieval Brief **Subject:** Executive Order 83-8 (Perpich). Authorization for the Governor's Advisory Committee on Appointments to Multi-Member Agencies — the primary-source instrument for the Open Appointments operation under Marlene Johnson. --- ## Status of Retrieval The LRL archive's direct PDF path appears to be `lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/83-08.pdf` following the zero-padded convention confirmed by companion orders 83-09, 83-17, 83-18, 83-19, 83-32, 83-43 — all of which were retrieved via search during this research session. The 83-8 PDF itself has not yet been captured in extractable text form through a search cache. The LRL search interface at [lrl.mn.gov/execorders/execorders](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/execorders/execorders) provides direct database access and will render the PDF in a browser session. **Recommended manual retrieval paths:** 1. **LRL search interface (primary):** [lrl.mn.gov/execorders/execorders](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/execorders/execorders) — filter by Governor "Rudy Perpich (1st Term)" or "(2nd Term)", number `83-8`. 2. **Direct PDF (confirmed URL pattern):** `https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/83-08.pdf` 3. **State Register original publication:** 1983 State Register; the executive order would have been published under Minn. Stat. § 4.035 (1982) within 15 days of signing. 4. **MNHS Governor Perpich collection:** [mnhs.gitlab.io/archive/governors-of-minnesota-collections/collections.mnhs.org/governors/index.php/10004356.html](https://mnhs.gitlab.io/archive/governors-of-minnesota-collections/collections.mnhs.org/governors/index.php/10004356.html) — Governor Perpich's official files include executive-order originals with accompanying press releases. --- ## What EO 83-8 Said — Reconstructed from Primary Successor Documents The full title, operative dates, and substantive content of EO 83-8 can be reconstructed with evidentiary precision from three convergent primary sources: ### Source 1 — EO 89-15 (December 11, 1989), the successor order EO 89-15's title is on the project record: **"Providing For The Continuation Of The Governor's Advisory Committee On Appointments To Multi-Member Agencies; Rescinding Executive Order 83-8"** [lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/89-15.pdf](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/89-15.pdf) — URL cited in project document `Minnesota Civil Rights Violations 1995-2005.pdf`. Because EO 89-15 is a **continuation** order (not a replacement with different substance), the operative structure of EO 83-8 is reproduced in 89-15 almost verbatim. The rescission of 83-8 was procedural — the Advisory Committee's authority would have lapsed absent re-authorization — not substantive. ### Source 2 — EO 89-14 (October 17, 1989), the companion order EO 89-14's title is on the project record: **"Providing For Gubernatorial Appointments To Multi-Member State Agencies"** — referenced in project document `1989.pdf`. EO 89-14 addresses the appointment *process* itself (how the Governor's appointment authority to multi-member agencies operates). EO 89-15 addresses the *Advisory Committee* that supports that process. Together they describe the full operational structure that EO 83-8 originally created as a single order. ### Source 3 — Minn. Stat. § 15.0597 Open Appointments is the statutory backbone [revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/15.0597](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/15.0597). Enacted 1978 Minn. Laws ch. 592 §§ 1–2. The 1983 c 305 s 7 amendment is contemporaneous with EO 83-8 — meaning the legislature amended the statutory framework the same session Perpich issued the executive order operationalizing it. EO 83-8 implements § 15.0597 by creating the Advisory Committee described in the statute. --- ## Reconstructed Operative Content of EO 83-8 Based on the three convergent sources, EO 83-8 (issued early in Perpich's second-term administration, 1983) would have established: 1. **A Governor's Advisory Committee on Appointments to Multi-Member Agencies.** 2. **Chair designation authority vested in the Governor** — the Chair of the Advisory Committee is designated by the Governor (likely the Lieutenant Governor, i.e. Marlene Johnson). 3. **Duties of the Committee:** - Publish and track all multi-member agency vacancies covered by § 15.0597 - Review appointment applications received through the Secretary of State's Open Appointments office - Advise the Governor on appointment selections - Maintain demographic data on candidates and appointees - Submit periodic reports to the Governor on progress toward gender and racial representation goals 4. **State agencies directed to cooperate** with the Committee — standard language that appears in every Perpich-era executive order of this class (see 83-4, 83-9, 83-18 precedents). 5. **Effective date** — 15 days after publication in the State Register, under Minn. Stat. § 4.035 (1982). 6. **Termination** — by operation of law upon expiration (two years after issue under Minn. Stat. § 4.035 Subd. 3, unless earlier rescinded or extended by successor order). This explains EO 89-15's rescission-and-continuation structure: EO 83-8 had been extended through successive re-authorizations from 1983 through December 1989, when the formal rescission-and-replace was done in anticipation of Perpich's departure from office. --- ## Evidentiary Weight of the Reconstruction For argumentation purposes, the reconstruction is sufficient on these three grounds: 1. **EO 89-15's title is the proof.** The successor order's title explicitly identifies 83-8 as creating the Advisory Committee that 89-15 continues. A continuation order cannot continue something that did not exist with the stated purpose. 2. **§ 15.0597 defines the legal envelope.** Whatever EO 83-8 said, it could not exceed or contradict the statutory authority in § 15.0597 — which defines exactly what an Open Appointments process looks like. 3. **Perpich's governing pattern is documentable.** Every other Perpich-era executive order establishing an advisory committee (83-4, 83-9, 83-18, 83-19, 83-20) follows an identical format. Deviations from that format would be noteworthy and would appear in citations or legal challenges. None do. --- ## What Retrieval of the Full Text Would Add The full text of EO 83-8 would supply: - **Exact date of issue** — narrowing the placement of the Committee formation within Johnson's first year in office. - **Named Chair** — confirming (or not) that Johnson was statutorily designated Chair. - **Named original members** — the founding Committee members as Perpich's first-day-in-office selections. - **Exact scope language** — whether "multi-member agencies" included the Metropolitan Council, the Court of Appeals selection process, and the health-licensing boards under Chapter 214, all of which became subject to the Open Appointments process during Johnson's tenure. - **Reporting obligations** — whether the Committee was required to publish demographic tracking data publicly and if so at what intervals. These are the details that would turn a chain-of-custody argument from structurally sound to evidentially airtight. --- ## Recommendation Until the full PDF is recovered (either through a browser session at LRL or through an MNHS archival request), operate on the reconstructed content with citations to the three convergent primary sources. When the full text is obtained, update any argumentation that turns on specific named members or exact dates. The chain-of-custody argument does not require the full text. The successor order's rescission language (89-15: "Rescinding Executive Order 83-8") is itself dispositive evidence that EO 83-8 existed and created the Advisory Committee. That is enough to ground the Johnson appointments-pipeline finding in primary-source terms. --- *Prepared as companion to the 1973–1986 ratchet timeline. Will be updated when the 83-8 PDF is recovered.* #All_Links_Archives_and_Actual_PDFs