In Your State - Kentucky
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
Kentucky is one of 23 states in which an outside ethics agency oversees ethical conduct of state legislators. It is one of 13 of those states where the ethics agency also oversees personal financial disclosure for members of the legislature.
Kentucky 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.
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 — Kentucky is one of 12 where the legislature appoints at least one commission member. Only three states — California, Hawaii and Massachusetts — have members picked without the input of the legislature.
Budget
Kentucky is among 22 states that did approve a budget for its ethics agency
exceeding the rate of inflation, or 7 percent, between 1997 and 2000. Those
states include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia,
Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Tennessee,
Washington and Wisconsin. Six state ethics agency budgets — in Arkansas,
Georgia, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey and Washington — at least doubled during this
time period.
Conduct
To identify the extent of outside oversight applied to state legislators, the
Center included six categories of conduct often found in ethics law in the
survey of state ethics agencies: conflicts of interest, improper use of
office/abuse of power, nepotism, acceptance of honorarium and gifts and
post-term employment restrictions. Of the 23 states in which there is outside
oversight of ethical conduct, all have a provision dealing with lawmakers'
possible conflicts of interest. Kentucky's ethics agency also oversees the other
five categories of conduct for legislators.
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 Kentucky'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 Kentucky'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. Kentucky is one of 14 states that
does not publish legislator names within the advisory opinion reports, which can
be found on the agency's Web site.
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. However, out of the 23 agencies that
oversee some aspect of legislative conduct, Kentucky's is one of 10 state ethics
agencies that has issued a finding against a legislator for violating conduct
laws in the past five years.
Meetings
Kentucky 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; minutes for those meetings are on the Web site.
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.