(a) Soliciting or making gifts.
(1) An employee may not solicit any gift.
(2) A lobbyist described in subsection (b)(4) may not knowingly make a gift, directly or indirectly, to an employee whom the lobbyist knows or has reason to know is in violation of this section.
(3) An employee may not directly solicit or facilitate the solicitation of a gift from a lobbyist on behalf of another person.
(b) Accepting gifts. Except as provided in subsection (c), an employee may not knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from any person whom the employee knows or has reason to know:
(1) does or seeks to do business of any kind, regardless of amount, with the County;
(2) engages in an activity that is regulated or controlled by the employee's governmental unit;
(3) has a financial interest that may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of the employee’s official duties;
(4) is a lobbyist with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the employee; or
(5) is an association or an entity acting on behalf of an association that is engaged only in representing counties or municipal corporations.
(c) Exceptions.
(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), an employee may accept a gift specified in subsection (c)(2) unless:
(i) the gift would tend to impair the impartiality and independent judgment of the employee; or
(ii) as to a gift of significant value, the gift would give the appearance of impairing the impartiality and independent judgment of the employee, or the employee believes or has reason to believe that the gift is designed to impair the impartiality and independent judgment of the employee.
(2) Subject to subsection (c)(1), subsection (b) does not apply to:
(i) occasional meals and beverages of $25 or less consumed in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity;
(ii) ceremonial gifts or awards of insignificant monetary value;
(iii) unsolicited gifts that do not exceed $20 in cost;
(iv) trivial gifts of informational value;
(v) in return for participation on a panel or a speaking engagement at a meeting, reasonable expenses for food, travel, lodging, or scheduled entertainment of the employee if the expenses are associated with the meeting, except that, if the expenses are to be paid by a lobbyist and are anticipated to exceed $500, the employee shall notify the Ethics Commission before attending the meeting;
(vi) tickets or free admission extended to an elected employee from the person sponsoring or conducting a charitable, cultural, or political event, as a courtesy or ceremony to the office to attend the event;
(vii) a specific gift or class of gifts exempted from subsection (b) by the Ethics Commission upon a written finding that acceptance of the gift or class of gifts would not be detrimental to the impartial conduct of government and would be purely personal and private in nature;
(viii) a gift from an individual related to the employee by blood or marriage, or a gift from any other individual who is a member of the household of the employee; or
(ix) to the extent provided in subsection (d), honoraria.
(d) Honorarium.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (c)(2)(vi), a County Councilmember may not accept an honorarium.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (d)(1) and subject to subsection (c)(1), an employee may accept an honorarium if:
(i) the honorarium is limited to reasonable expenses for the employee's food, travel, lodging, and reasonable and verifiable expenses for care of a child or dependent adult that are actually incurred; or
(ii) the honorarium consists of gifts described in subsection (c)(2)(ii) through (iv).
(3) Other than as allowed by subsection (d)(2), an honorarium may not be accepted, even if permitted by subsection (c)(1), if:
(i) the payor of the honorarium has an interest that may be affected substantially and materially, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of the employee's official duties; and
(ii) the offering of the honorarium is related in any way to the employee's official position.
(e) Additional exemptions. The Ethics Commission may define further exemptions from this section by opinion or regulation.
(1985 Code, Art. 9, § 5-106) (Bill No. 95-94; Bill No. 101-97; Bill No. 38-03; Bill No. 70-12; Bill No. 80-18; Bill No. 16-23)
State Code reference – General Provisions Article, § 5-505.