- Our local park official hired her step-son to work as a life guard for the summer. Isn’t this called nepotism? Isn’t this against the law?
- How can I find out the financial interests and the property owned by a local elected official?
- What can we do if a local official is about to commit an ethical violation? Can we stop him?
"The underlying principle – for all functions of the Ethics Law – is to uphold straight-forward standards of conduct that maintain integrity and propriety in connection with decisions and policy involving public funds. Particularly, the Law prohibits conflict of interest or personal gain in making and implementing public decisions. " Source of quote.
Why do public officials violate Ohio Ethics Laws?
This continues to puzzle me. The information on Ohio Ethics laws is so easy to find and yet we read story after story of violations. Here are just a few local stories from the last few weeks! How can there be so many problems? For federal ethical issues …don’t even get me started.
- •Local mosquito district gets closer look: Ethics Commission reviewing potential conflict (July 8, 2009)
- •Township Official spared jail time in ethics sentence (May 15, 2009)
- •Hearing date set for trustee (Ethics Commission and prosecutor involved) (July 7, 2009)
- •Missing funds in local County (case being reviewed by Ethics Commission) (July 5, 2009)
(Some of the above links may not work because they point to archived articles.)
If you have been following my blog posts you already know that Ohio Law is easily available on the web. You also know that I often use the Ohio Government web site to conduct legal research. The Ohio web site has a useful search box in the top right corner. Type in the word “ethics” and it immediately directs you to the Ohio Ethics Commission home page. Both of these web pages would be a logical place to start researching about our state’s ethics law. Heck, even searching “Ohio Ethics” on Google leads right to the Ohio Ethics Commission web site!
Today, we will take a closer look at the Ohio Ethics Commission web site to see what we can learn.
What is the Ohio Ethics Commission?
“The Ohio Ethics Commission is one of three state ethics agencies, within the three branches of government that oversee and administer the Ethics Law:
- The Joint Legislative Ethics Commission (JLEC) for members and employees of the General Assembly;
- The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline for judges and court employees, and;
- The Ethics Commission for the entire Executive branch and all other state and local public officials and employees.”
Source of quote.
At the top of the Commission’s web page are navigational links. The second link takes you to Ohio’s Ethics Law and the Administrative Rules governing the Commission itself. Very easy!
For help in understanding the ethics law, the Commission provides explanatory materials under the Education & Public Information link. Some of the informational materials include:
- •Ethics is Everybody’s Business (gives a nice overview of possible violations)
- •Financial Disclosure Fact Sheet
- •Restrictions on Hiring Family Members
- •Reminder About Summer Jobs and Restrictions on Nepotism
- •Local Official or Employee Selling Goods or Services to Local Agency
- •Accepting Gifts, Meals, Entertainment, or Other Things of Value
- •Property Matters Affecting Public Official or Employee
Advisory Opinions
We next see a link for Advice. This takes you to the Commission’s Advisory Opinions. “The purpose of an advisory opinion is to provide guidance in writing to an official or employee before the official or employee engages in an action that may be prohibited by the law.” A wise official can request an advisory opinion from the commission to help guide them away from a violation. Interestingly, the Commission will only provide this service for the official. Concerned citizens cannot request an advisory opinion on an anticipated action. Although, read on for another option later in this post.
Sometimes we can find an answer to an ethical dilemma by reading an Advisory Opinion previously issued for someone else. There are hundreds of issued Advisory Opinions available on the Commission’s site going back to 1974. We can search these Opinions by topic here.
Penalties?
There are no penalties for asking for and then following the advisory opinion. “A public official or employee who fails to follow an opinion of the Commission is subject to potential civil and criminal action, and removal from office, for violating the Ethics Law.” Source of quote.
Financial Disclosure
We next see a link to Financial Disclosure. The law requires certain individuals who hold state, county, city elected positions or school board members (in school districts of more than 12,000 students) to file an annual financial disclosure statement. Here is the list of officials that are required to file. This web page also lists what financial information they must disclose. Some items they need to disclose are: all source of income, all businesses they are an officer or board member, all Ohio real estate investments and all investments worth more than $1000. Make sure to read the entire web page because there are exceptions.
There are also exceptions as to who needs to file the statements. “Village and township elected officers, board of education members in districts with fewer than 12,000 students, and most state and local public employees are not required to file.” Ohio Ethics Laws still applies to this group; they are just not required to file the annual statement.
Anyone can request a copy of these financial disclosure filings for FREE. Instructions are found here. You must mail in your request or do so in person at the Commission offices in Columbus. Note: the dates of availability on the web page are not current but the page was last revised in January 2006, so I suspect the 2006-2008 financial disclosure statements are also available from the commission.
Ethics Commission Investigation
Investigation is another link listed on the Commission’s page. Once an official commits an unethical act, then it is time for citizens to involve the Ethics Commission. Any citizen can contact the Ohio Ethics Commission at (614) 466-7090 to start the investigation process. An Allegation Form is mailed to the caller. The Commission staff conducts a confidential investigation and reports their findings to the entire Ethics Commission. Go here for a detailed description of the investigation process. The Commission determines if there was a violation of ethics law and then turns over the findings to the local prosecutor for criminal prosecution. For a listing of recent investigation activities see the press releases.
What are the penalties for a violation?
There are serious penalties for violating Ohio Ethics Laws. They include fines, jail time and disqualification from holding public office or a position of trust for up to seven years.
Why do public officials violate Ohio Ethics Laws?
I cannot answer this question, but with the information so easily available on the Ohio web site, the informed citizens of this state now know where to find and how use the Ohio Ethics Laws and the Ohio Ethics Commission web site.
Answers to the above questions:
1. Our local park official hired her step-son to work as a life guard for the summer. Isn’t this called nepotism? Doesn’t this violate Ohio Ethics Laws?
Answer: Yes. See this bulletin on restrictions against hiring family members.
2. How can I find out the financial interests and the property owned by a local elected official?
Answer: Follow these instructions for requesting a Financial Disclosure Statement.
3. What can we do if a local official is about to commit an ethical violation? Can we stop him?
Answer: As a citizen, you cannot request an Advisory Opinion from the Ethics Commission before the alleged event takes place. You can suggest to the official that they request an Advisory Opinion. After the alleged violation takes place, call the Ohio Ethics Commission at (614) 466-7090 to begin the Investigation process.
