Sec. 1-80. Office of State Ethics. Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board. Members; appointment; qualifications; vacancies; compensation; restrictions. Hearings. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 1-80. Office of State Ethics. Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board. Members; appointment; qualifications; vacancies; compensation; restrictions. Hearings. (a) There shall be an Office of State Ethics that shall be an independent state agency and shall constitute a successor agency to the State Ethics Commission, in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-38d and 4-39. Said office shall consist of an executive director, general counsel, ethics enforcement officer and such other staff as hired by the executive director. Within the Office of State Ethics, there shall be the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board that shall consist of nine members, appointed as follows: One member shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one member by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one member by the majority leader of the Senate, one member by the minority leader of the Senate, one member by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, one member by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and three members by the Governor. Members of the board shall serve for four-year terms which shall commence on October 1, 2005, except that members first appointed shall have the following terms: The Governor shall appoint two members for a term of three years and one member for a term of four years; the majority leader of the House of Representatives, minority leader of the House of Representatives and the speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint one member for a term of two years; the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate shall each appoint one member for a term of four years. No individual shall be appointed to more than one four-year term as a member of the board, provided, members may not continue in office once their term has expired and members first appointed may not be reappointed. No more than five members shall be members of the same political party. The members appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and the majority leader of the House of Representatives shall be selected from a list of nominees proposed by a citizen group having an interest in ethical government. The majority leader of the Senate and the majority leader of the House of Representatives shall each determine the citizen group from which each will accept such nominations. One member appointed by the Governor shall be selected from a list of nominees proposed by a citizen group having an interest in ethical government. The Governor shall determine the citizen group from which the Governor will accept such nominations.

      (b) All members shall be electors of the state. No member shall be a state employee. No member or employee of such board shall (1) hold or campaign for any public office; (2) have held public office or have been a candidate for public office for a three-year period prior to appointment; (3) hold office in any political party or political committee or be a member of any organization or association organized primarily for the purpose of influencing legislation or decisions of public agencies; or (4) be an individual who is a registrant as defined in subsection (q) of section 1-91.

      (c) Any vacancy on the board shall be filled by the appointing authority having the power to make the original appointment. An individual selected by the appointing authority to fill a vacancy shall be eligible for appointment to one full four-year term thereafter. Any vacancy occurring on the board shall be filled within thirty days.

      (d) The board shall elect a chairperson who shall, except as provided in subsection (b) of section 1-82 and subsection (b) of section 1-93, preside at meetings of the board and a vice-chairperson to preside in the absence of the chairperson. Six members of the board shall constitute a quorum. Except as provided in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 1-81, subsections (a) and (b) of section 1-82, subsection (b) of section 1-88, subdivision (5) of section 1-92, subsections (a) and (b) of section 1-93 and subsection (b) of section 1-99, a majority vote of the members shall be required for action of the board. The chairperson or any three members may call a meeting.

      (e) Any matter before the board, except hearings held pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of section 1-82 or subsection (b) of section 1-93, may be assigned by the board to two of its members to conduct an investigation or hearing, as the case may be, to ascertain the facts and report thereon to the board with a recommendation for action.

      (f) Members of the board shall be compensated at the rate of two hundred dollars per day for each day they attend a meeting or hearing and shall receive reimbursement for their necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties.

      (g) The board shall not be construed to be a board or commission within the meaning of section 4-9a.

      (h) The members and employees of the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board and the Office of State Ethics shall adhere to the following code of ethics under which the members and employees shall: (1) Observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board and the Office of State Ethics may be preserved; (2) respect and comply with the law and conduct themselves at all times in a manner which promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the board and the Office of State Ethics; (3) be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in the law; (4) be unswayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism; (5) maintain order and decorum in proceedings of the board and Office of State Ethics; (6) be patient, dignified and courteous to all persons who appear in board or Office of State Ethics proceedings and with other persons with whom the members and employees deal in their official capacities; (7) refrain from making any statement outside of a board or Office of State Ethics proceeding, which would have a likelihood of prejudicing a board or Office of State Ethics proceeding; (8) refrain from making any statement outside of a board or Office of State Ethics proceeding that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication if the member or employee should know that such statement would have a likelihood of materially prejudicing or embarrassing a complainant or a respondent; (9) preserve confidences of complainants and respondents; (10) exercise independent professional judgment on behalf of the board and Office of State Ethics; and (11) represent the board and Office of State Ethics competently.

      (i) No member or employee of the board or Office of State Ethics may make a contribution, as defined in section 9-601a, to any person subject to the provisions of this part.

      (j) Members of the board shall recuse themselves from participating in any proceeding or matter undertaken pursuant to this chapter that involves the person who appointed such member to the board.

      (k) No member of the board may represent any business or person, other than himself or herself, before the board for a period of one year following the end of such member's service on the board. No business or person that appears before the board shall employ or otherwise engage the services of a former member of the board for a period of one year following the end of such former member's service on the board.

      (l) No member of the board may hold any other position in state employment for a period of one year following the end of such member's service on the board, including, but not limited to, service as a member on a state board or commission, service as a judge of the Superior Court or service as a state agency commissioner.

      (m) Upon request of any aggrieved party, the board shall delay the effect of any decision rendered by the board for a period not to exceed more than seven days following the rendering of such decision.

      (P.A. 77-600, S. 2, 15; 77-605, S. 2, 21; P.A. 79-493, S. 2, 9; P.A. 83-249, S. 2, 3, 14; 83-586, S. 1, 14; P.A. 84-52, S. 5; 84-334, S. 1, 3; P.A. 86-390, S. 3, 4; 86-403, S. 93, 132; P.A. 88-139, S. 4; P.A. 92-149, S. 9, 12; P.A. 03-19, S. 1; P.A. 04-204, S. 1, 2; P.A. 05-183, S. 2; P.A. 06-187, S. 68; 06-196, S. 1-3.)

      History: P.A. 77-605 changed method for making initial appointments and qualifications for members and placed commission in the office of secretary of the state for administrative purposes only; P.A. 79-493 changed provisions concerning quorum, introduced provisions for fact-finding investigations and hearings and excluded commission from Sec. 4-9a; P.A. 83-249 amended Subsec. (a) to clarify that terms commence on October first and that members may continue in office until successors are appointed and qualify and made technical changes in Subsec. (d); P.A. 83-586 added Subsec. (h) allowing appointment of executive director and general counsel upon concurring vote of five members and dismissal upon concurring vote of four members; P.A. 84-52 made technical changes in Subsecs. (d) and (e) to reflect relettering of subsections in Secs. 1-82 and 1-93; P.A. 84-334 increased members' compensation from $25 to $50 per day; P.A. 86-390 deleted provision in Subsec. (a) placing commission within the office of the secretary of the state for administrative purposes only; P.A. 86-403 made technical change in Subsec. (d); P.A. 88-139, S. 4 which was codified as Subsec. (i) established a code of ethics for members and employees of the ethics commission; P.A. 92-149 amended Subsec. (d) to make technical corrections, deleted Subsec. (h) re appointment of executive director and general counsel, but see Sec. 1-81(b), and relettered remaining Subsec. accordingly; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (d), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 04-204 amended Subsec. (a) to increase members from seven to nine, one appointed each by majority leaders of House and Senate, specify terms of initial appointees, add method of selection for such additional members, add method of selection for one member appointed by Governor on and after October 1, 2004, and increase limit on members from same political party from four to five, and amended Subsec. (d) to increase quorum from five to six members and number of members necessary to call a meeting from four to five, effective June 3, 2004; P.A. 05-183 amended Subsec. (a) to replace State Ethics Commission with Office of State Ethics and Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board, amended Subsec. (b) to prohibit any member from being a state employee, made technical changes in Subsec. (c), amended Subsec. (d) to make technical changes, authorize a majority vote of members, rather than quorum, to conduct business and enable any three members, rather than any five members, to call a meeting, amended Subsecs. (e) to (h) to make technical changes, added Subsec. (i) re prohibited contributions by members of the board or employees of the Office of State Ethics, added Subsec. (j) re recusal in certain matters by members of the board, added Subsec. (k) re representation before the board by any member of the board within one year of the end of such member's service on the board, added Subsec. (l) re member prohibition on holding any other position in state employment for a period of one year from the end of such member's service on the board and added Subsec. (m) re request for delay of the effect of any decision rendered by the board, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-187 amended Subsec. (f) to change rate of compensation for board members from $50 to $200 per day for attending a meeting or hearing, effective May 26, 2006; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a), (k) and (m), effective June 7, 2006.