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WEBB CREEK
UTILITY DISTRICT
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) “Board of Commissioners” means the governing
board of a utility district.
(2) “Officials and employees” means and includes
any official, whether elected or appointed, officer, employee or servant
(whether compensated or not) of the utility district.
(3) For the purpose of the disclosure of
personal interests in accordance with this Code of Ethics, “personal
interest” means a financial interest of the official or employee, or a
financial interest of the official’s or employee’s spouse or child living in
the same household, in the matter to be voted upon, regulated, supervised,
or otherwise acted upon in an official capacity.
Section 2. Disclosure of
personal interest in voting matters. An official or employee
with the responsibility to vote on a measure shall disclose during the
meeting at which the vote takes place, before the vote and to be included in
the minutes, any personal interest that affects or that would lead a
reasonable person to infer that it affects the official’s or employee’s vote
on the measure. In addition, the official or employee may, to the extent
allowed by law, recuse himself or herself from voting on the measure.
Section 3. Disclosure of
personal interest in non-voting matters. An official or
employee who must exercise discretion relative to any matter other than
casting a vote and who has a personal interest in the matter that affects or
that would lead a reasonable person to infer that it affects the exercise of
the discretion shall disclose, before the exercise of the discretion when
possible, the interest on the attached disclosure form and file the
disclosure form with the Board of Commissioners. In addition, the official
or employee may, to the extent allowed by law, recuse himself or herself
from the exercise of discretion in the matter.
Section 4. Acceptance of
gifts and other things of value. An official or employee, or an
official’s or employee’s spouse or child living in the same household, may
not accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, money, gratuity, or other
consideration or favor of any kind from anyone other than the utility:
(1) For the performance
of an act, or refraining from performance of an act, that he would be
expected to perform, or refrain from performing, in the regular course of
his duties; or
(2) That a reasonable person would understand
was intended to influence the vote, official action or judgment of the
official or employee in executing utility business.
Section 5. Ethics
Complaints. Questions and complaints regarding violations of
this Code of Ethics or of any violation of state law governing ethical
conduct should be directed to the President of the Board of Commissioners of
the utility district. If a question or complaint involves the President of
the utility district’s Board, the question or complaint should be directed
to the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners. Complaints shall be in
writing and signed by the person lodging the complaint and shall set forth
in reasonable detail the facts upon which the complaint is based.
The President or Secretary of the Board of
Commissioners shall direct the utility district’s retained attorney to
investigate any credible complaint against an official or employee charging
any violation of this Code of Ethics and may request a legal opinion or
recommendation for action. The utility district’s attorney may request the
Board of Commissioners to hire another attorney to conduct the investigation
or to give a legal opinion or recommendation when he or she has or will have
a conflict of interest on a particular complaint. The investigating
attorney shall report the results of his or her investigation and any legal
opinion or recommendation requested to the utility district’s Board of
Commissioners. If a member of the Board of Commissioners is the subject of
a complaint, such member shall recuse himself or herself from all
proceedings involving such a complaint. The Board of Commissioners may:
(1) in the case of a member of the Board of
Commissioners, publicly censure such member if the Board of Commissioners
finds such action warranted;
(2) in the case of a member of the Board of
Commissioners, report the complaint and actions taken by the Board to the
Utility Management Review Board;
(3) in the case of an employee, refer the matter
to the official responsible for supervision of the employee for possible
disciplinary action if the official finds discipline warranted; or
(4) in a case involving possible violation of
state statutes, refer the matter to the district attorney for possible
ouster or criminal prosecution.
The interpretation of reasonable person in the
circumstances shall be used in interpreting and enforcing this Code of
Ethics. When a violation of this Code of Ethics constitutes a violation of
a utility district’s personnel policy, the violation shall be dealt with as
a violation of the personnel policy rather than as a violation of this Code
of Ethics.
Section 6. Applicable State
Laws. In addition to the ethical principles set out in this
Code of Ethics, state laws also provide a framework for the ethical behavior
of utility district officials and employees in the performance of their
duties. Officials and employees should familiarize themselves with the
state laws applicable to their office or position and the performance of
their duties. To the extent that an issue is addressed by state law (law of
general application, public law of local application, local option law, or
private act), the provisions of that state law, to the extent they are more
restrictive, shall control. Following is a brief summary of selected state
laws concerning ethics for utility district officers and employees. For the
full text of these statutes, see the Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.)
sections indicated.
Campaign finance—T.C.A. Title 2, Chapter 10. Part One
(campaign financial disclosure) requires candidates for public office to
disclose contributions and contributors to their campaigns. Part Three
(campaign contribution limits) limits the total amount of campaign
contributions a candidate may receive from an individual and sets limits on
the amount a candidate may receive in cash.
Conflict of interest—T.C.A. §12-4-101 is the general
conflict of interest statute that applies in all counties. It prohibits
anyone who votes for, lets out, or in any manner supervises any work or
contract from having a direct financial interest in that contract, purchase
or work, and it requires disclosures of indirect financial interests by
public acknowledgement.
Conflict of interest disclosure statements—T.C.A.
§8-50-501 and the following sections require candidates and appointees to
local public offices who are elected to file a disclosure statement with the
state ethics commission listing major sources of income, investments,
lobbying activities, professional services provided, bankruptcies, certain
loans, and other information, and to keep these statements up to date.
Honoraria—T.C.A. §2-10-116 prohibits elected officials
from accepting an honorarium (including money or anything of value, but not
including reimbursement for actual expenses) for an appearance, speech, or
article in their official capacity.
Crimes involving public officials—T.C.A. § 39-16-101
and the following sections prohibit bribery, soliciting unlawful
compensation, and buying and selling in regard to offices.
Official misconduct—T.C.A. §39-16-402 applies to public
servants and candidates for office and prohibits unauthorized exercise of
official power, acting in an official capacity exceeding the servant’s
power, refusal to perform a duty imposed by law, violating a law relating to
the servant’s office or employment, and receiving a benefit not provided by
law.
Official oppression—T.C.A. §29-16-403 prohibits abuse
of power by a public servant.
Bribery for votes—T.C.A. §§2-19-121, 2-19-126, and
2-19-127 prohibit bribery of voters in elections.
Misuse of official information—T.C.A. §39-16-404
prohibits a public servant from attaining a benefit or aiding another person
in attaining a benefit from information which was obtained in an official
capacity and is not available to the public.
Ouster law—T.C.A. §8-47-101 sets out conduct that is
punishable by ouster from office, including misconduct in office and neglect
of duty.
Personnel not to benefit from water service agreements
- T.C.A. § 7-82-310 prohibits utility district commissioners and employees
from receiving money or other goods or services of value for the
installation of water service within the utility district or the sale of
materials to be installed within the utility district
WEBB CREEK
UTILITY DISTRICT CODE OF ETHICS
CONFLICT OF
INTEREST DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Instructions: This form is for reporting
personal interests required to be disclosed under Section 3 of the Code of
Ethics of this utility district. Officials and employees are required to
disclose personal interests in matters that affect or would lead a
reasonable person to infer that it would affect the exercise of discretion
of an official or employee.
1. Date of disclosure:
________________________________________________________________________
2. Name of official or employee:
________________________________________________________________________
3. Office and position:
________________________________________________________________________
4. Description of personal interest (describe
below in detail):
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Signature of official or employee
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