| Advisory opinion request by Carolyn Eagan regarding whether she can provide realtor services to the person who supervises her in her position as a part-time clerk with the City of Kenner Clerk of Court. |
|
|
Carolyn Eagan has been a realtor assisting people in selling and purchasing houses for forty-four years. She has been employed by the City of Kenner Court as a part-time clerk for the last five years. In this position, she answers public inquiries and inputs traffic tickets and crash reports into the court management system. She has been helping Luis Rodriguez with real estate advice. Mr. Rodriguez was recently promoted as the Director of Clerk of Court, which is the agency head position of the City of Kenner Clerk of Court. Subsequent to this promotion, Ms. Eagan drafted an offer for him to purchase a home. However, this offer is now null and void.
|
|
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 any person from whom such public servant would be prohibited by R.S. 42:1115A(1) or (B) from receiving a gift.
La. R.S. 42:1115B(2) provides that no public employee shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, anything of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public employee knows or reasonably should know that such person has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
La. R.S. 42:1102(21) provides that a "substantial economic interest" means an economic interest which is of greater benefit to the public servant or other person than to a general class or group of persons, except: (a) The interest that the public servant has in his position, office, rank, salary, per diem, or other matter arising solely from his public employment or office.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
Brett Robinson |
|
|