Ethics Committee Procedures
(1) To receive complaints or charges from any citizen of this State or member of the Senate against members, officers and employees of the Senate concerning conduct alleged to be unethical. Only sworn written complaints or charges may be considered.
(2) To investigate such complaints and charges and, if warranted, to report the results of such investigation to the Senate with recommendations for further appropriate action as authorized by law.
(3) Upon request of any member, officer, or employee of the Senate to render advisory opinions with regard to legislative ethics when, in their judgment, such opinions would serve the public interest.
(4) To make available annually to the Senate a compilation of the principles set forth in advisory opinions rendered.
(b) All papers, documents, complaints, charges, requests for advisory opinions, and any other material required to be filed with or received by the committee, and all such documents or materials are to repose in the office of the Clerk of the Senate and as necessary or appropriate are to be handled by the Clerk as strictly confidential unless made public by the committee in a report to the Senate.
All proceedings of the Ethics Committee are strictly confidential and only those actions or decisions of the committee which it authorizes may be disclosed or made public. Provided, that the committee may vote to disclose certain confidential information to the membership of the Senate in Executive Session and the committee must disclose in Executive Session, any confidential final determination or action of the committee as is necessary for the members to make a fully informed vote on any matter before the Senate. If a member or former member of the Senate is appointed to an office which is subject to confirmation by the Senate and an ethics complaint has been filed against such member or former member before the receipt or during the pendency of the appointment, then the Senate may not consider the appointment until the Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee notifies the Senate and any appropriate Standing Committee, in Executive Session, of the existence and nature of the pending complaint if the committee after a preliminary investigation finds that probable cause exists to support an alleged violation.
The rules of the Ethics Committee shall provide as a matter of right that a certified copy of the sworn statement of charges against a member must be given to him or her within ten days of the time the statement of charges is received by the Chairman of the Ethics Committee and that the accused member has the right to face and cross-examine his or her accusers and the witnesses against him or her at any hearing called by the Ethics Committee. Any hearing on the merits of a complaint is confidential and must be held in Executive Session unless the person charged requests a public hearing in writing. The Ethics Committee must call a hearing if a majority of the Ethics Committee feels that the charges have merit or if the accused formally requests a hearing.
(c) In conjunction with the proceedings specified in Rule 44.1 of the Rules of the Senate, the President Pro Tempore, and the Senate Ethics Committee on behalf of the entire Senate, may receive:
(1) certified copies of any indictment or information for a felony or offense against the election laws filed or returned against any member of the Senate;
(2) certified copies of any plea of guilty or nolo contendere to the felony entered by any member of the Senate;
(3) certified copies of any conviction of a member for the felony;
(4) certified copies of any opinion, order, or judgment of any court, state or federal, trial or appellate, relating to any of the aforementioned matters;
(d) no member may vote on the question of his or her expulsion from the Senate.
Last Updated: 1/12/05 4:27 PM