Legislative committee appointments were assigned last night by Minority Leader Judy Jacobs, who also added three new committees to the roster, bringing the total number of legislative committees to 13.

Jacobs, who will be moving into the presiding officer position after the first of the year, said making the assignments from among the incumbent Democrats and five newly elected legislators, was a pleasure.

"With these new committee assignments we have taken a giant leap into the world of the majority," said Jacobs. "Our legislators have a wealth of talent, diversity and expertise which made it a very pleasant task in choosing, yet difficult because so many people were so well qualified for so many positions."

The three new committees formed are the Judiciary, a committee that will provide a forum for the review of judicial nominatons and oversight into issues of contracting with outside law firms; the Economic and Community Development and Labor Committee, a committee that will have, as part of its mission, the review of the effectiveness of programs such as Operation Downtown and the consideration of other initiatives for community revitalization. It will also be a forum for investigating the policy of the county contracting out work and will also look into complaints from the county work force about unsafe working conditions; and the Procedures Committee, which will review the workings of the Legislature and the county charter.

The county's charter allows for the formation of new committees. The new committees will be funded out of current available resources, according to Jacobs.

"These new committees will allow the Legislature to give greater focus to issues important to county residents," she added.

The committee assignments are as follows:

Legislative Budget Review-chair; rules - vice chair; health and social services; planning, development and environment; towns, village and cities; economic community development and labor; procedures-vice chair. Finance - chair; health; towns, villages and cities; public safety; judiciary; community and economic development and labor - vice chair. Rules - chair; budget review; procedures - chair; planning - vice chair; minority affairs; public safety. Towns, villages and cities - chair; finance; government services; health - vice chair; planning; minority affairs; public works. Planning - chair; public works - vice chair; rules; economic and community development and labor; judiciary; procedures. Economic and community development and labor - chair; public safety; government services - vice chair; finance; minority affairs - chair; planning. Health - chair, minority affairs - vice chair; budget review - vice chair; finance; economic and community development and labor; procedures; public works. Public Works - chair; judiciary - chair; finance - vice chair; government services; public safety; procedures. Public safety - chair; rules; government services; village, towns and cities - vice chair; judiciary; minority affairs. Government Services - chair; rules; judiciary - vice chair; public works; village, towns and cities; health.