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(A) A lobbyist or employer shall register under § 21.41.
(B) A lobbyist or employer shall keep all receipts and maintain all records which § 21.42 requires the person to keep or maintain.
(C) A lobbyist or employer shall file a statement of spending on lobbying under § 21.42.
(D) A lobbyist or employer shall file a statement of financial transactions under § 21.43.
(E) (1) Except as provided in (E)(2) of this section, a lobbyist or employer shall not offer, give, or agree to give any thing or service valued at more than $50 to a Metro Officer, a candidate, the immediate family member of a Metro Officer or candidate, or members of his or her staff, unless such thing or service is available to the general public on the same terms.
(2) For events to which all Metro Council members are invited along with any other Metro Officers, a lobbyist or employer may provide the officers with the cost of attendance or participation at the event, including food and beverage consumed, that is valued at more than $50 so long as the value does not exceed $300 per individual officer;
(3) Nothing herein shall be construed to apply to the solicitation or acceptance of contributions to the campaign of an announced candidate for elective public office as governed by applicable provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
(F) For Metro Officers as that term is defined in LMCO § 21.01(1) through (2)(j) and excluding Metro Officers as defined in LMCO § 21.01(2)(k) and (l): Those officers shall not accept any engagement, and no employer shall engage those officers, for the purposes of lobbying any Metro Officer or any member of the staff of any Metro Officer until at least one year has elapsed from the date when the lobbyist vacated his or her office.
(G) No employer shall engage any person to lobby in exchange for compensation that is contingent in any way upon any executive action or the passage, modification, or defeat of any legislation. No lobbyist shall accept any engagement to lobby in exchange for compensation that is contingent in any way upon any executive action or the passage, modification, or defeat of any legislation.
(Lou. Metro Ord. No. 168, approved 11-16-2022)
(A) If a member of the Ethics Commission or any other person believes a required registration or statement under §§ 21.41, 21.42, or 21.43 was intentionally not filed by a lobbyist or employer, intentionally contains false information, or intentionally omits required information, any investigation by the Ethics Commission shall require a written complaint and follow the procedures of § 21.06.
(B) Beginning 150 days after the effective date of this section, the Ethics Commission shall draft and make public its rules and regulations for the administration of §§ 21.40 to 21.45. The Ethics Commission shall include changes to its rules, operations, or procedures regarding §§ 21.40 to 21.45 in the annual report submitted to the Louisville Metro Council as required by § 21.05(D).
(C) (1) The Ethics Commission shall be the official custodian of the registrations and statements required by §§ 21.41, 21.42, and 21.43. The registrations and statements shall be maintained by the Commission, or the administrative official designated by the Commission as the "custodian" of public documents, and shall be available for public inspection immediately upon filing via open records requests under KRS 61.870 et. seq.
(2) The Ethics Commission shall endeavor to make all registrations and statements available online in order to make those documents available to the public without an open records request, and shall report to Metro Council on progress toward that goal 150 days after the effective date of this section.
(E) On or before the fifteenth day of February of each year, the commission shall, in a manner and form it determines, publish a report containing statistical information on the registration statements filed with it under § 21.41 during the preceding year.
(Lou. Metro Ord. No. 168, approved 11-16-2022; Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 27-2023, approved 3-24-2023)
(A) (1) Upon a determination by the Ethics Commission of a violation of any of the provisions of §§ 21.02, 21.03, 21.04, 21.08, or 21.09 by a Metro Officer, or a violation of § 21.03 by a candidate seeking to become an elected Metro Officer, or a violation of the provisions of §§ 21.41 to 21.44 by a lobbyist or employer, the Ethics Commission shall impose one or more of the following penalties:
(a) For any unintentional violation which has been voluntarily corrected by the officer prior to any action by the Ethics Commission, a notice of mootness shall be issued by the Ethics Commission;
(b) For any violation which is determined by the Ethics Commission to have been unintentional or the result of a good faith misinterpretation of the requirements of §§ 21.02, 21.03, 21.04, 21.08, 21.09 or §§ 21.41 to 21.44, a letter of technical violation or a letter of reprimand shall be issued by the Ethics Commission as the Ethics Commission deems appropriate;
(c) For any intentional violation which is acknowledged and rectified by the officer, candidate, employer, or lobbyist prior to any action by the Ethics Commission, a letter of public reprimand may be issued by the Ethics Commission;
(d) For any intentional violation, a letter of formal censure may be issued by the Ethics Commission;
(e) For any intentional violation by a Metro Officer, a written recommendation may be made by the Ethics Commission to the Metro Council, the Mayor, or other appointing authority of removal, training, or remediation.
(2) In addition to any of the penalties set forth under subsection (A)(1), an intentional violation of §§ 21.02, 21.03, 21.04, 21.08, 21.09 or §§ 21.41 to 21.44 shall be subject to a civil fine for which a Metro Officer, candidate, employer, or lobbyist may be fined by the Ethics Commission a sum not less than $25 nor more than $500.
(a) In the case of a non-elected Metro Officer, be grounds for other sanctions or actions by his or her appointing authority; or
(b) In the case of an elected Metro Officer, be grounds for removal under KRS 67C.143; or
(c) In the case of a Metro Council member, be grounds for other sanctions or actions by the Metro Council under its rules, or otherwise.
(B) Upon a determination by the Ethics Commission of a violation of any of the provision of § 21.07 by a Metro Officer or a supervisor, the Ethics Commission shall do one of the following:
(1) If a violation has been voluntarily corrected by the Metro Officer or supervisor, a notice of mootness shall be issued by the Ethics Commission;
(2) If a violation has not been voluntarily corrected, the Ethics Commission shall issue a written recommendation to the Metro Council, the Mayor, or other appointing authority of removal, training, or other appropriate remediation with respect to the supervisor who is the subject of the complaint and/or hearing.
(C) (1) Any housing authority officer or employee who violates any provision of §§ 21.30 through 21.33 shall be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with procedures established by the Ethics Commission. Any such disciplinary action by the Ethics Commission shall not foreclose any action that the public housing authority may take with respect to the officer or employee's employment status.
(2) After written notice of a failure to timely file a statement of financial disclosure, any housing authority officer who fails to file within ten business days of such notice may be fined by the Ethics Commission a sum not less than $25 nor more than $500.
(Lou. Metro Ord. No. 71-2003, approved 4-16-2003; Lou. Metro Ord. No. 72-2003, approved 4-16-2003; Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 52-2010, approved 3-25-2010; Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 88-2012, approved 5-11-2012; Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 213-2014, approved 1-2-2015; Lou. Metro Am. Ord. No. 7-2020, approved 2-21-2020, eff. 5-21-2020; Am. Ord. No. 168-2022, approved 11-16-2022)