|
The Office of State Ethics promotes integrity in government by providing legal advice, guidance and education to public officials, state employees and lobbyists; by sensibly interpreting and, when necessary, fairly and impartially enforcing applicable laws; by administering the lobbyist and financial disclosure filing systems; and by providing the public with access to non-exempt information.
|
Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board
|
|
Legal Division
Legal Advice, Legislation and Regulations |
The Legal Division provides advice and opinions regarding the Codes of Ethics to the regulated community, which includes approximately 50,000 public officials and state employees, nearly 2,000 lobbyists, and all state contractors. The Division consists of a General Counsel, who also serves as counsel to the CEAB, a Deputy General Counsel, two Staff Attorneys and a Paralegal.
Advisory Opinions
In 2011, the OSE received approximately 1,000 requests for advice about the application of the Codes of Ethics. The CEAB issued 5 Advisory Opinions and 2 Declaratory Rulings. The Legal Division staff issued 387 written staff opinions in 2011, in addition to handling 608 other requests for advice over the telephone or in face-to-face meetings.
The Enforcement Division investigates and prosecutes violations of the Codes of Ethics. The Division consists of an Ethics Enforcement Officer, two Assistant Ethics Enforcement Officers, a Legal Investigator, and a Paralegal.
Enforcement Actions
In 2011, the Division opened and closed 42 matters under the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) regarding failure to timely file financial reports or other required filings, and opened 44 confidential evaluations and filed or received 45 complaints regarding alleged violations of the Ethics Codes committed by public officials, state employees, lobbyists or contractors.
Audits
The Enforcement Division performs audits of lobbyist filings, as required by statute, and performs analyses of lobbyist and public official filings incident to its enforcement function.
|
Financial Disclosure Statements
Lobbyist Filings and Statements of Financial Interests | The Office of State Ethics is also statutorily obligated to receive, process, and maintain records of all lobbyist filings along with public official and state employee Statements of Financial Interests (SFIs).
Lobbyist Filing System
Statements of Financial Interests (SFIs)
Education and Training activities are performed by the Director of Education. The education component of the Office of State Ethics is often the most visible aspect of the agency’s work to public officials, state employees and the public. In 2011, the Office of State Ethics held 31education sessions. These sessions included trainings for newly-elected legislators as well as sessions for new commissioners, deputy commissioners and appointed officials.
The Office of State Ethics does not have jurisdiction over municipal or local ethics issues. We do, however, offer the following resource for those municipalities interested in strengthening their own ethics commissions or policies.
municipalities across the country in developing more effective ethics programs.
(The OSE neither promotes nor endorses any information contained in this link.)
Content Last Modified on 9/14/2012 3:20:11 PM
Printable Version
|
