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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 4, 2006 <br />Action Agenda _ <br />Item No. _~~r, _ <br />SUBJECT: Ethics and Conduct for County Public Servant Policy ' <br />DEPARTMENT: County Attorney PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. Draft Policy <br />2. Title VII, Chapter 460, 1987 Session <br />Laws <br />3. G.S. § 153A-44 <br />4. March 13, 2006 letter to the Board of <br />County Commissioners from County <br />Attorney <br />5. Excerpt of March 15, 2006 BOCC <br />Meeting <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Geof Gledhill, 919-732-2196 <br />PURPOSE: To consider an Orange County policy establishing ethics and conduct for County <br />public servants. <br />BACKGROUND: The Board has considered from time to time the adoption of a policy <br />regarding ethics and conduct. During the Board's March 15, 2006 meeting, the Board received <br />and discussed information provided by the County Attorney. The Board directed the County <br />Attorney to continue researching codes of ethics and conduct and to report back to the Board <br />with a policy for its consideration. The County Attorney has done so. Also, since March 2006, <br />the North Carolina General Assembly has concluded amulti-year project looking at State <br />government ethics and has adopted Session Law 2006-201, The State.Government Ethics Act. <br />The conclusion reached by the County Attorney is that the work done by the General Assembly <br />in its work with State government ethics., with significant abridgement, provides the most <br />comprehensive and well-thought-out substance fora County policy. The policy for consideration <br />by the Board of County Commissioners that is attached is modeled from the State Government <br />Ethics Act (The Act). Significantly, it differs from the Act in not including (1) an Ethics <br />Commission, a new State agency under the Act charged with policing the Act and (2) a <br />comprehensive enforcement mechanism. Orange County is limited in its ability to adopt laws <br />permitting the policing and investigation of ethics issues and the enforcement of an ethics policy. <br />The policy's instruction on conduct is also limited by other North Carolina laws. Where this is <br />so, the policy identifies those limiting laws. <br />Consideration of this Policy at the November 14,.2006 Board of County Commissioners meeting <br />was tabled to give Board members more time to consider it. During the Board's brief discussion <br />of the Policy, Commissioner Carey stated that he also wanted the opportunity to review <br />legislation adopted by the General Assembly this year related to ethics for background in <br />considering the Ethics and Conduct Policy presented to the Board for consideration. Session <br />