(A) An official or employee will not:
(1) Solicit any gift;
(2) Solicit or facilitate the solicitation of a gift on behalf of another person;
(3) Knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from any person that the official or employee knows or has reason to know:
(a) Is doing business or seeking to do business with the county;
(b) 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 official’s or employee’s duties;
(c) Is engaged in an activity regulated or controlled by the county;
(d) Is a lobbyist with respect to matters within the official’s or employee’s jurisdiction; or
(e) Is an association, or entity acting on behalf of an association that is engaged only in representing counties or municipal corporations.
(4) This section does not apply to:
(a) Meals and beverages consumed in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity;
(b) Ceremonial gifts or awards which have insignificant monetary value;
(c) Unsolicited gifts of nominal value that do not exceed $20 or trivial items of informational value;
(d) Reasonable expenses for food, travel, lodging, and scheduled entertainment of the official or the employee for a meeting which is given in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement at the meeting;
(e) Gifts of tickets or free admission extended to an official or employee from the person sponsoring or conducting the event to attend, charitable, cultural, or political events if the purpose of the gift or admission is to enhance and promote the county as a courtesy or ceremony extended to the office;
(f) A specific gift or class of gifts which the Ethics Commission exempts from this section after finding in writing that accepting the gift or class of gifts is not detrimental to the impartial conduct of the business of a county agency;
(g) Gifts from a family member; or
(h) Honoraria for speaking to or participating in a meeting, provided that the offering of the honorarium is not related in any way to the official’s or employee’s official position.
(B) The exceptions listed in § 34.10(A)(4) do not apply to a gift:
(1) That would tend to impair the impartiality and the independence of judgment of the official or employee receiving the gift;
(2) Of significant value that would give the appearance of impairing the impartiality and independence of judgment of the official or employee; or
(3) Of significant value that the recipient official or employee believes or has reason to believe is designed to impair the impartiality and independence of judgment of the official or employee.
(C) If any gifts are received, all county officials and employees must file monthly a statement with the Ethics Commission by the end of each month disclosing those gifts received during that month from any person or entity. The statement must identify the donor of the gift and its approximate retail value at the time of receipt.
(2004 Code, § 18-9) (Ord. 03-14, passed 7-2-2003; Ord. 06-04, passed 5-2-2006; Ord. 2018-02, passed 3-13-2018; Ord. 2021-03, passed 3-11-2021; Ord. 2022-16, passed 11-10-2022)