Ethics for Local Government Officials

overview

In 2009 the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that requires governing boards to adopt codes of ethics and requires board members to receive ethics training. Both of these requirements are discussed below.

Codes of Ethics Now Required

Session Law 2009-403 enacts a new statute, G.S. 160A-83, which requires all North Carolina cities, counties, local boards of education, unified governments, sanitary districts, and consolidated city-counties to adopt a resolution or policy containing a code of ethics to guide actions by the governing board members in the performance of their official duties as members of that governing board. It must be adopted on or before January 1, 2011.

The resolution or policy is required to address at least five key responsibilities of board members, responsibilities that reflect concern for ethical principles as well as for the effects of the board members’ decisions on others.

The five areas to be addressed follow. (Emphases and comments added by Professor A. Fleming Bell, II.)

1. The need to obey all applicable laws regarding official actions taken as a board member.
   Comment: For example, the member must honor his or her oath of office, in which the member swore to uphold the constitution and laws.


2. The need to uphold the integrity and independence of the board member's office.
   Comment: Among other things, this principle requires board members to make decisions that are based on the public good and not on their desires or considerations of special interest.


3. The need to avoid impropriety in the exercise of the board member's official duties.
   Comment: Recall that board members are to act as “especially responsible citizens,” who are to honor the public trust” as they carry out their duties. Their official actions should be above reproach.


4. The need to faithfully perform the duties of the office.
   Comment: A public official who acts faithfully is one whom others can trust and respect.


5. The need to conduct the affairs of the governing board in an open and public manner, including complying with all applicable laws governing open meetings and public records.
   Comment: A public official who is honest, fair, and caring, and honors the public trust will honor the spirit as well as the letter of the law. He or she will see openness or transparency is an important part of that responsibility.

The statute leaves local boards a good deal of leeway in deciding what their codes will contain, as long as the code addresses the five topics. It may be very detailed, or it may be very general. It may state aspirations towards which the board is striving, or it may purport to prohibit certain board actions. The board may look to model local government codes of ethics for guidance in developing the resolution or policy.

Ethics Education Requirements

S.L. 2009-403 also enacts new G.S. 160A-84, which requires all members of the local governing boards covered by G.S. 160A-83 to receive a minimum of two clock hours of ethics education within 12 months after initial election or appointment to office and again within 12 months after each subsequent election or appointment to office. (For school board members, the ethics education may be included in the 12 clock hours of education that they are required to received annually. G.S. 115C-50(a))

The ethics education is to cover laws and principles that govern conflicts of interest and ethical standards of conduct at the local government level. It may be provided by the N.C. League of Municipalities, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, the UNC School of Government, or other qualified sources of the board’s choosing.

The clerk to each governing board must maintain a record verifying receipt of the ethics education by each board member.

The code of ethics requirements become effective January 1, 2011, and all members of governing boards covered by the act are to receive their initial training to comply with G.S. 160A-84 by that same date. Finally, the act also contains conforming provisions amending the statutes applicable to each of the boards covered by the act.