HomeMy WebLinkAbout81-563 SmithJames Smith
Staff Development Specialist
Board of Probation and Parole
Box 1661
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Mr. Smith:
STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
308 FINANCE BUILDING
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120
April 28, 1981
ADVICE OF COUNSEL
RE: Conflict of Interest, Part -Time Employment
81-563
This responds to your letter of April 7, 1981 and the
information you provided in our phone conversation of April
27, 1981.
Issue: You requested advice as to whether it is a conflict
of interest for an employee of the State Parole Board to
participate in and to conduct workshops sponsored by entities
other than the State Parole Board.
Facts: You currently serve as a Staff Development Specialist
for the State Parole Board. In this capacity one of your
functions is to develop training programs for probation and
parole staff. These programs are generally related to
criminal justice topics but, may include stress management
programs.
You have been asked to conduct a Relaxation and Stress
Awareness Workshop for County and privately funded drug and
alcohol abuse counselors. In addition, you have been asked
to conduct lectures on criminal justice and participate in
group discussions in relation to seminars conducted by
County drug and alcohol program groups. None of the entities
conducting these workshops or seminars have any connection
with the State Parole Board, either through funding, regula-
tion, or otherwise.
James Smith
April 28, 1981
Page 2
Discussion: The Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 402 defines "public
employee" as any person employed by the Commonwealth who is
responsible for taking or recommending official action of a
non- minist.eria l nature with 72ogard to contracting, admini-
stering of grants or taking any other action where the
official action has an economic impact of greater than de
minimus nature on the interest of any person. As a Staff
Development Specialist for the State Parole Board there has
been no question raised that you are a "public employee"
within the meaning of this definition.
Even though you are a "public employee ", the Ethics Act .
does not preclude you from providing the services or conducting
the seminars described above. The Act does not prevent a
public employee from engaging in "outside" employment. The
Act does impose some restrictions on your conduct, however.
You may not, for example, use your public employment with
the State Parole Board or any confidential information
rained through that employment to obtain financial gain
(oche=:: than the reimbursement allowed by law) for yourself,
your immediate family, or a business with which you are
associ=ated. Thus, you may not use your public employment or
cr,.f. idential information received as a public employee to
obtain consulting or any other work.
Nc ane may offer you :anything of value, including the
promise of future employment, , based on the understanding
that your official actions e a public employee would be
influenced thereby. See SS P.S. 403 (h) . This means that no
one could offer you work as a consultant based on any under -
standing that your actions as a public employee would be
affected `hereby. This, obviously, is not the situation
described above.
Section 3(c) of the Act states that no public employee
may enter into any contract valued at greater than $500 with
a governmental body unless the contract has been awarded in
an open and public process. See 65 P.S. 403(c). The
Commission has interpreted the phrase "governmental body" to
mean the governmental body w:'_th which ycu are associated.
The governmental body with which you are associated is the
State Parole Board. Therefore, you may contract with the
County and privately funded drug and alcohol programs to
conduct the seminars and lectures in question, in general,
without reference to the open and public process: require-
ments of Section 3(c) of the Ethics Act.
James Smith
April 28, 1981
Page 3
Conclusion: You are a public employee subject to the Ethics
Act. This does not mean that you are precluded from serving
as a lecturer or participating in the workshops which you
describe. The governmental body with which you are associated
is the State Parole Board. Accordingly, you may contract
with other governmental bodies such as the County and
privately funded drug and alcohol programs without reference
to the open and public process requirements of Section 3(c)
of the Ethics Act.
In other respects, your conduct as an employee should
be guided by the general outlines contained in this letter.
Pursuant to Section 7(9)(ii), this Advice is a complete
defense in any enforcement proceeding initiated by the
Commission, and evidence of good faith conduct in any other
civil or criminal proceeding, providing the requestor has
disclosed truthfully all the material facts and committed
the acts complained of in reliance on the Advice given.
This letter is a public record and will be made available
as such.
Finally, if you disagree with this Advice or if ycu
have any reason to challenge same, you may request that the
full Commission review this Advice. A personal appearance
before the Commission may be scheduled and a formal Opinion
from the Commission will be issued. You should make such a
request or indicate your disapproval of this Advice within
the next 30 days.
SSC /rdp
Sincerely,
Sandra S . Ch tianson
General Coyhsel