In Your State - Delaware
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2001 — The Center interviewed ethics agency officials, scoured ethics agency Web sites and combed through pages of state statutes to conduct this survey of state ethics agencies. Below is a snapshot of answers for this state. See how this state ethics agency compares on staff and budget, oversight and enforcement power, among other topics surveyed. Find out what other type of ethics oversight this state has. Go to the methodology for an explanation of how the survey was conducted and what exact questions were asked.
Oversight Summary
Oversight Survey
Delaware is one of 27 states in which no outside agency oversees ethical conduct of state legislators. It is one of 9 of those states where an outside ethics agency does oversee disclosure for members of the legislature, in this case only personal financial disclosure.
Delaware is one of 9 states that waited until the 1980s or the 1990s to established outside oversight of ethical conduct and/or disclosure requirements of legislators; the Delaware State Public Integrity Commission, in place in 1994, is the most recent ethics agency to be setup.
Of the 32 states that have outside oversight of ethical conduct and/or disclosure requirements for legislators — 23 that cover ethics and disclosure, plus nine that cover disclosure only — Delaware is one of 17 where the legislature has some involvement in choosing commission members. Only three states — California, Hawaii and Massachusetts — have members picked without the input of the legislature.
Budget
Delaware is among 10 states that did not approve a budget for its ethics agency
exceeding the rate of inflation, or 7 percent, between 1997 and 2000. Those
states include Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana,
Oklahoma, Oregon and West Virginia. Two state ethics agency budgets — in
Missouri and Montana — actually decreased during this time period.
Investigation
Of the 32 two states with outside ethics and/or disclosure oversight, only two
ethics agencies — in Florida and West Virginia — cannot initiate an
investigation or investigate an anonymous complaint. Only one agency, Alabama's,
cannot issue subpoenas.
Enforcement
Only Nebraska's ethics agency can directly prosecute criminal cases against
legislators; 25 more agencies can recommend criminal prosecution to the
appropriate authority, including Delaware's ethics agency. Only Rhode Island's
ethics agency has the power to remove legislators from office; another 11 state
agencies can recommend removal as part of punishment, including Delaware's
ethics agency.
Opinions and Investigative Findings
All 32 outside agencies that oversee some ethics and/or disclosure requirements
for legislators can issue advisory opinions. Delaware is one of 18 states that
does publish legislator names within the advisory opinion reports, which can be
found on the agency's Web site. However, Delaware's ethics agency, like five
other states, does not have the power to make its investigative findings
binding.
Actual Findings
Just three states — Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — have not
issued a finding against a legislator for violating disclosure-filing
requirements in the past five years.
Meetings
Delaware is among the 18 state agencies, of 32 with oversight of ethics and/or
disclosure laws for the legislature, that have at least one public meeting per
month, however minutes for those meetings are not on the Web site. Copies can be
requested from the state agency.
More Info
Since the agency does not oversee legislators' conduct, is legislative
oversight defined in statute?
Yes. Delaware has the House Ethics Committee and the Senate Ethics Committee,
which are enabled by Delaware Code Title 29, Part 2, Chapter 10, Section 1003.
http://198.187.128.12/delaware/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0
Are there state statutes that address ethical conduct for legislators?
Yes. Delaware Code Title 29, Part 5, Chapter 58, "Laws Regulating the
Conduct of Officers and Employees of the State," has provisions that apply
to legislators, in addition to s.29-2-10-1002, "Restrictions relating to
personal or private interest."
http://198.187.128.12/delaware/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0
Note: Some information provided by the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws' "Ethics Update" 2000. For more information or to purchase the reference, visit www.cogel.org.