2023-1006 - Laserfiche WebLink

the public servant"and"his agency"when used in reference to the agency of a public servant shall mean for public servants in the twenty principal departments of the executive branch of state government, the office in which such public servant carries out his primary responsibilities; ...except that in the case of public servants who are members or employees of a board or commission or who provide staff assistance to a board or commission, it shall mean the board or commission. Your agency for purposes of the Code is the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board pursuant to La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a)(vi). ANALYSIS&CONCLUSIONS Based on your status as a public servant and on the facts provided above, the Board of Ethics concluded as follows: (1) Does the Code prohibit the Promotion Board from accepting from the USA Rice Council the payment of legal fees for its defense in lawsuit in which the Promotion Board is a defendant while the USA Rice Council has a contractual relationship with the Promotion Board for unrelated services? The Board concluded, and instructed me to inform you, that the Code does not prohibit the Promotion Board from receiving the payment from the USA Rice Council for legal fees while it has a contractual relationship with the USA Rice Council since the legal fees are not to cover legal expenses for the individual members of the Promotion Board. (2) Does the Code prohibit members of the Promotion Board from serving on the board of the USA Rice Council while the USA Rice Council maintains a contractual relationship with the Promotion Board? La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are neither performed for nor compensated by: (1) any person who has or is seeking to have a contractual, business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency; (2) any person who conducts operations or activities that are regulated by the public employees'agency;(3)any person who has a substantial economic interest which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's office duty. The Board concluded, and instructed me to inform you, that La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) prohibits a Promotion Board member from receiving any thing of economic value for services rendered to the USA Rice Council while it has a contractual relationship with the Promotion Board. Therefore, as long as the Promotion Board member does not receive any compensation for their service as a board member or committee member of the USA Rice Council,they would not be prohibited from serving in such capacities while a member of the Promotion Board and the Promotion Board contracts with the USA Rice Council. Page 2 of 5 (BD 2023-1006)