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pF Lop STATE OF LOUISIANA <br /> �4`°N• �STcsr DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE <br /> LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS <br /> P.O.BOX 4368 <br /> BATON ROUGE,LA 70821 <br /> °ONrioeN`� (225)219-5600 <br /> FAX:(225)381-7271 <br /> 1-800-842-6630 <br /> www.ethics.Ia.gov <br /> May 7, 2024 <br /> Joseph E. Townsend <br /> 304 Steeplechase Dr. <br /> Abita Springs, Louisiana 70420 <br /> Re: Docket No. 2024-197 <br /> Advisory Opinion <br /> Dear Mr. Townsend: <br /> The Louisiana Board of Ethics, at its meeting on May 3, 2024, considered your advisory opinion <br /> request as to whether the Code of Governmental Ethics (`Code")permits you to provide a seminar <br /> to the Board of Examiners of Nursing Facility Administrators ("LABENFA")after your retirement <br /> as Executive Director of LABENFA. <br /> FACTS PROVIDED <br /> You currently serve as the Executive Director of LABENFA. You were appointed as interim <br /> Executive Director in September of 2022 and then appointed as permanent Executive Director at <br /> the beginning of 2023. <br /> Prior to accepting the position as interim Executive Director, you provided consulting work for <br /> LABENFA for at least two decades. You presented a board-required two-day seminar to all <br /> administrators-in-training. You wrote the book containing the seminar information, and you own <br /> the program. You currently present these programs as an employee of LABENFA, as it is part of <br /> your job. The programs are offered quarterly. <br /> You plan to retire prior to the end of the calendar year. You ask whether you can continue to <br /> conduct the training program for two years after your retirement. <br /> LAw <br /> La. R.S. 42:1121A(1)No former agency head or elected official shall, for a period of two years <br /> following the termination of his public service as the head of such agency or as an elected public <br /> official serving in such agency, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an <br /> appearance in connection with a transaction, involving that agency or render any service on a <br /> contractual basis to or for such agency. <br /> La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a) defines "agency" to mean a department, office, division, agency, <br /> commission, board, committee, or other organizational unit of a governmental entity. <br /> Page 1 of 3 (BD 2024-197) <br /> AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br />