(A) The Ethics Enforcement Officer may render advisory opinions concerning matters under his or her jurisdiction, based upon real or hypothetical facts and circumstances, upon his or her own initiative, or when requested by any officer or employee of the city or a city agency who is covered by this article.
(B) An advisory opinion shall be requested in writing and shall state relevant facts and ask specific questions. The request for an advisory opinion shall remain confidential unless confidentiality is waived, in writing, by the requestor.
(C) The Ethics Enforcement Officer may adopt regulations, consistent with the State Open Records Law, to establish criteria under which it will issue confidential advisory opinions. All other advisory opinions shall be public documents; except that, before an advisory opinion is made public, it shall be modified so that the identity of any person associated with the opinion shall not be revealed.
(D) A written advisory opinion issued by the Ethics Enforcement Officer shall be binding on the Ethics Enforcement Officer in any subsequent proceeding concerning the facts and circumstances of the particular case if no intervening facts or circumstances arise which would change the opinion of the Ethics Enforcement Officer if they had existed at the time the opinion was rendered. However, if any fact determined by the Ethics Enforcement Officer to be material was omitted or misstated in the request for an opinion, the Ethics Enforcement Officer shall not be bound by the opinion.
(1977 Code, § 2-127) (Ord. 94-16, passed 11-14-1994)