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Ethics Board Docket No. 2024-113 <br /> Page 8 of 12 <br /> V. <br /> OPINION: <br /> It is the opinion ofthe BOE that Ergon Asphalt&Emulsions,Inc.violated La.R.S.42:1117 <br /> by virtue of giving Tommy Durrett, the Public Works Director for the Union Parish Police Jury, <br /> complimentary hotel accommodations for three nights in Nashville, Tennessee, a thing of <br /> economic value, which Tommy Durrett was prohibited from receiving by La. R.S. 42:1ll5A(1) <br /> because at that time Ergon Asphalt& Emulsions, Inc. had or was seeking to obtain a contractual <br /> or other business or financial relationship with Tommy Durrett's agency,the Union Parish Police <br /> Jury. <br /> The Union Parish Police Jury is the governing authority of Union Parish as defined by La. <br /> R.S. 42:1102(11), and Union Parish is a governmental entity as defined by La. R.S. 42:1102(12). <br /> As the Public Works Director for the Union Parish Police Jury, Tommy Durrett was a public <br /> employee and a public servant as defined by La. R.S. 42:1102(18) and (19), respectively. His <br /> agency, as defined by La. R.S. 42:1102(a)(vi),was the Union Parish Police Jury. <br /> Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc. is a person as defined by La. R.S. 42:1102(16). At all <br /> times pertinent herein, Mark Hartman was an employee of Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., <br /> Tommy Durrett was an employee of the Union Parish Police Jury, and Ergon Asphalt & <br /> Emulsions,Inc.had or was seeking to obtain a contractual,other business,or financial relationship <br /> with the Union Parish Police Jury. <br /> La. R.S. 42:1115A(1) prohibited Tommy Durrett from accepting any thing of economic <br /> value, including complimentary hotel accommodations for three nights in Nashville, Tennessee, <br /> as a gift from Mark Hartman, an employee of Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., at a time when <br />