Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-81

Current with legislation from the 2024 Regular and Special Sessions.

Section 1-81 - Duties of the board, Office of State Ethics. Employment of executive director, general counsel, ethics enforcement officer. Legal and enforcement divisions of the Office of State Ethics. Regulations. State personnel training in ethics

(a) The board and general counsel and staff of the Office of State Ethics shall:

(1) Compile and maintain an index of all reports, advisory opinions, informal staff letters, memoranda issued in accordance with subsection (b) of section 1-82 and statements filed by and with the Office of State Ethics to facilitate public access to such reports and advisory opinions, informal staff letters, memoranda statements as provided by this part;

(2) Preserve advisory opinions and informal staff letters, permanently; preserve memoranda issued in accordance with subsection (b) of section 1-82 and statements and reports filed by and with the board for a period of five years from the date of receipt;

(3) Upon the concurring vote of a majority of the board present and voting, issue advisory opinions with regard to the requirements of this part or part IV of this chapter, upon the request of any person subject to the provisions of this part or part IV of this chapter, and publish such advisory opinions in the Connecticut Law Journal. Advisory opinions rendered by the board, until amended or revoked, shall be binding on the board and shall be deemed to be final decisions of the board for purposes of appeal to the superior court, in accordance with the provisions of section 4-175 or 4-183. Any advisory opinion concerning the person who requested the opinion and who acted in reliance thereon, in good faith, shall be binding upon the board, and it shall be an absolute defense in any criminal action brought under the provisions of this part or part IV of this chapter, that the accused acted in reliance upon such advisory opinion;

(4) Respond to inquiries and provide advice regarding the code of ethics either verbally or through informal letters;

(5) Provide yearly training to all state employees regarding the code of ethics;

(6) Make legislative recommendations to the General Assembly and report annually, not later than February fifteenth, to the Governor summarizing the activities of the Office of State Ethics; and

(7) Meet not less than once per month with the office's executive director and ethics enforcement officer.

(b) The Office of State Ethics may enter into such contractual agreements as may be necessary for the discharge of its duties, within the limits of its appropriated funds and in accordance with established procedures.

(c) The Office of State Ethics shall employ an executive director, general counsel and ethics enforcement officer, each of whom shall be exempt from classified state service. The ethics enforcement officer shall be a member of the bar of this state. The salary for the executive director, general counsel and the ethics enforcement officer shall be determined by the Commissioner of Administrative Services in accordance with accepted personnel practices. No one person may serve in more than one of the positions described in this subsection. The Office of State Ethics may employ necessary staff within available appropriations. Such necessary staff of the Office of State Ethics shall be in classified state service.

(d) The executive director, described in subsection (c) of this section, shall be appointed by the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board for an open-ended term. Such appointment shall not be made until all the initial board members appointed to terms commencing on October 1, 2005, are appointed by their respective appointing authorities, pursuant to subsection (a) of section 1-80. The board shall annually evaluate the performance of the executive director, in writing, and may remove the executive director, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 67.

(e) The general counsel and ethics enforcement officer described in subsection (c) of this section, and other staff of the Office of State Ethics shall be appointed by the executive director of the Office of State Ethics. The executive director shall annually evaluate the performance of the general counsel, ethics enforcement officer and such other staff, in writing, and may remove the general counsel or ethics enforcement officer, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 67, or such other staff, in accordance with any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

(f) There shall be a legal division within the Office of State Ethics. The legal division shall provide the board with legal advice on matters before said board and shall represent the board in all matters in which the board is a party, without the assistance of the Attorney General unless the board requests such assistance. The legal division shall, under the direction of the general counsel, provide information and written and verbal opinions to persons subject to the code and to the general public. The general counsel, described in subsection (c) of this section, shall supervise such division. The investigation or instigation of a complaint may not occur solely because of information received by the legal division.

(g) There shall be an enforcement division within the Office of State Ethics. The enforcement division shall be responsible for investigating complaints brought to or by the board. The ethics enforcement officer, described in subsection (c) of this section, shall supervise the enforcement division. The ethics enforcement officer may represent the Office of State Ethics before the Superior Court in an appeal of any ruling or finding pursuant to, or any matter arising under, section 1-82, 1-93, or 1-101nn, provided the board is not a party in such appeal. The enforcement division shall employ such attorneys and investigators, as necessary, within available appropriations, and may refer matters to the office of the Chief State's Attorney, as appropriate.

(h) The Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this part. Such regulations shall not be deemed to govern the conduct of any judge trial referee in the performance of such judge trial referee's duties pursuant to this chapter.

(i) The general counsel shall, in consultation with the executive director of the Office of State Ethics, oversee yearly training of all state personnel in the code of ethics, provide training on the code of ethics to other individuals or entities subject to the code and shall make recommendations as to public education regarding ethics.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-81

(P.A. 77-600, S. 3, 15; 77-605, S. 15, 21; P.A. 79-493, S. 3, 9; P.A. 83-249, S. 4, 14; 83-493, S. 1, 5; P.A. 84-52, S. 6; P.A. 86-403, S. 94, 132; P.A. 89-97, S. 1, 7; 89-369, S. 2; P.A. 92-149 , S. 10 , 12 ; P.A. 94-172 ; P.A. 95-291 ; P.A. 99-55 ; P.A. 02-89 , S. 2 ; P.A. 04-204 , S. 3 ; P.A. 05-183 , S. 3 ; 05-287 , S. 31 ; 05-288 , S. 211 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 , S. 106 , 108 ; P.A. 06-196 , S. 5 , 6 ; P.A. 13-244 , S. 6 ; 13-264 , S. 2 .)

Amended by P.A. 21-0164, SS.  4 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Regular Session, 5 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Regular Session eff. 10/1/2021.