Thanks for the clarification. I thought such rules were NOT binding until officially published. How much leeway does a Chief Administrator have in delaying the publication of rules, and is that executive discretion reviewable?
An agency has discretion as to when it submits rules for publication. In this case the board made final adoption in early December (it voted adoption on election day in November) and then the support agency (the state environment department) does the actual formalization (dots the i's, crosses the t's, etc.) before submittal to the state records center for publication.
From the court decision:
Chief Justice Charles Daniels said the law is clear that the records administrator has a duty to publish in a timely manner any rules filed with the records center. He said that duty must be fulfilled regardless of requests made by the executive branch or any disputes among the parties over the general merits of the rules.