1. (a) Any person may be compelled by subpoena signed by competent authority to appear before the State-Wide Grievance Committee, a subcommittee of said State-Wide Grievance Committee or a grievance panel to testify in relation to any matter deemed by the committee, subcommittee or panel to be relevant to any inquiry or investigation by it, and to produce before such committee, subcommittee or panel, for examination, any books or papers which, in its judgment, may be relevant to the inquiry or investigation.
2. (b) The committee, subcommittee or panel, while engaged in the discharge of its duties, shall have the same authority over witnesses as is provided in section 51-35 and may commit for contempt for a period no longer than thirty days.

(1949 Rev., S. 7644; 1961, P.A. 517, S. 109; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127; P.A. 82-248, S. 77; P.A. 85-456, S. 7, 11; P.A. 86-276, S. 10, 15.)

History: 1961 act provided committee's authority over witnesses be as in Sec. 51-35 rather than same as justice of peace and provided 30-day commitment for contempt rather than same power as justice; P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district” for “county”; P.A. 82-248 made technical revision, rewording some provisions and dividing section into Subsecs. but made no substantive change; P.A. 85-456 replaced reference to “a grievance committee” with “the state-wide grievance committee or a panel”, added “or panel” after “committee”, and deleted provisions authorizing a grievance committee to employ and compensate assistants and a stenographer and authorizing a committee to cause a report of a witness' testimony to be transcribed and furnished to the state's attorney, effective July 1, 1986; P.A. 86-276 added references to a subcommittee of the state-wide grievance committee.