| Advisory opinion regarding the application of the Code of Governmental Ethics post-employment provisions to a former employee with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). |
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Melissa Lantz worked at the Department of Environmental Quality until her retirement in August of 2024. Following her retirement, she continued in the same position as an Environmental Scientist DCL-B (TS-317, Job Code 164910) in the Air Permits Division as a classified WAE. In this position, she serves as the primary contact for air permit-related data needs, supports the Air Permits Division Staff in using air permit-processing software, trains staff on air permitting screens, tests software changes to air permitting screens, and pulls air permit-related data for quality assurance/ control, validation, and reporting.
Ms. Lantz is interested in, after first terminating her current employment with DEQ, either soliciting a contract or contracting with a firm to provide project management services to DEQ, which services would not involve air permits in any way, as a different contractor has been or will be assigned to the project management services related to air permits. Ms. Lantz's project management services would include planning and developing project scopes; mapping objectives to tasks, resources, timelines, and deliverables; monitoring project progress; identifying and mitigating risk; communicating with stakeholders; maintaining project documentation; and ensuring stakeholder satisfaction.
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La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) provides no former public employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or for a period of two years following termination of his public employment, render, any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
Ethics Board Docket No. 2026-211: The Code does not prohibit a former public employee from providing through his company C207 LLC services to SwyftFyber that were not provided to his previous agency, ConnectLA.
Ethics Board Docket No. 2025-796: R.S. 42:1121B(1) does not prohibit the former reserve deputy from rendering on a contractual basis, within two years of his termination of service, new services to the Marshal's Office that he has not previously rendered to, for, or on behalf of the Marshal's Office.
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Adopt proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Kelsey Simmons |
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