Advisory Opinion No. 2008-42 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2008-42 Re: Ashbel T. Wall, II QUESTION PRESENTED: The petitioner, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (“DOC”), a state appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from appointing the son of his step-first cousin to the position of probation and parole officer within the DOC. RESPONSE: It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the petitioner, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (“DOC”), a state appointed position, is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from appointing the son of his step-first cousin to the position of probation and parole officer within the DOC. The petitioner is the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. He represents that the DOC is a full-service correctional agency with jurisdiction over every adult under correctional supervision in the state, including those persons in pretrial detention, those sentenced to incarceration, probation or home confinement, and those released under parole supervision. The petitioner states that the DOC recently posted a job vacancy notice, seeking applicants for the position of probation and parole officer. The petitioner states that one of the applicants was the son of his step-first cousin. More descriptively, the applicant is the son of the step-son of the petitioner's aunt. The petitioner states that applicants for nine (9) vacant positions went through a merit selection process involving testing and panel review. The panel identified eleven (11) finalists, and referred them for further review to an Assistant Director of the DOC. The Assistant Director interviewed the finalists, and then recommended to the petitioner that he hire nine (9) of them, including the son of the petitioner's step-first cousin. The petitioner expressly represents that he had no role in the hiring process other than as the ultimate decision-maker. He further notes that he did not inform the hiring personnel that he was somehow related to any of the applicants. The petitioner accepted the hiring recommendation as to the other eight (8) applicants, but awaits advice from the Ethics Commission before taking any action on the last applicant. Accordingly, the petitioner now requests an advisory opinion as to whether the Code of Ethics prohibits him from appointing his step-first cousin's son as a probation and parole officer. Commission Regulation 36-14-5004, entitled “Nepotism,” specifically prohibits persons subject to the Code of Ethics from participating in “the supervision, evaluation, appointment, classification, promotion, transfer or discipline of any person within his or her family or a household member, in the state or municipal agency in which the official or employee is serving or over which he or she exercises fiscal or jurisdictional control.” Regulation 5004(b)(2)(A). The phrase “any person within his or her family” is defined in Regulation 5004 as follows: “Any person within his or her family” means, in addition to any other definition, any person who is related to any public official or public employee, whether by blood, marriage or adoption, as any of the following: spouse, father, step-father, father-in-law, mother, step-mother, mother-in-law, son, step-son, son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother, brother-in-law, sister, step-sister, sister-in-law, grandfather, step-grandfather, grandfather-in-law, grandmother, step-grandmother, grandmother-in-law, grandson, step-grandson, grandson-in-law, granddaughter, step-granddaughter, granddaughter-in-law, uncle, step-uncle, uncle-in-law, aunt, step-aunt, aunt-in-law, niece, step-niece, niece-in-law, nephew, step-nephew, nephew-in-law, first cousin, step-first cousin and first-cousin-in-law. Regulation 5004(a)(1). Included among the enumerated familial relations listed are "first cousin" and “step-first cousin.” The petitioner identifies the applicant in question as his step-first cousin’s son, a familial relationship not enumerated in the pertinent subsection of Regulation 5004. Black’s Law Dictionary provides that “a child of one's cousin" is defined as a "cousin once removed."[1] Alternatively, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines this same relative as one's “second cousin.”[2] Neither of these terms is included within the Code of Ethics' definition of "any person within his or her family." Thus, it is the opinion of this Commission that the applicant is not included as a person within the petitioner’s family for purposes of Regulation 5004, and accordingly, the petitioner is not prohibited from appointing the applicant to fill the vacancy in question, as the applicant is not a “person within his or her family” for purposes of Regulation 5004. Code Citations: Regulation 5004 Keywords: Family Member: Public Employment Nepotism [1] Black’s Law Dictionary 369 (7th ed. 1999). [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 1630 (3d ed. 1996).