Advisory Opinion No. 96-115

Re: Timothy R.E. Keeney

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, Director of the Department of Environmental Management ("DEM"), a state appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may accept payment for travel expenses to London, England, related to a speaking engagement at an annual international symposium regarding maritime safety and oil spill issues.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that it does not violate the provisions of the Code of Ethics for the petitioner, Director of the Department of Environmental Management ("DEM"), a state appointed position, to accept payment for travel expenses related to a speaking engagement at an annual international symposium regarding maritime safety and oil spill issues. The petitioner has specifically advised the Commission that the party providing payment for travel expenses does not have any matters pending before DEM. Therefore, no potential currently exists for the petitioner to take action in his appointed position that might impact the party that is paying for his trip to London. However, if in the future, the party paying for his travel expenses appear before him in his position as Director, he must recuse himself from participation in accordance with Section 6 of the Code of Ethics. Finally, the petitioner should list the travel as a "gift or contribution" from the law firm on his next financial disclosure statement. The receipt of the travel expenses should be identified as a "gift or contribution," pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-17(4) for, among others, the following reasons: a) the travel to the international symposium is not required as part of the petitioner's employment responsibilities; b) the travel expenses, rather than being reimbursed by the State, are being paid by the private third party; c) the travel to London clearly confers a benefit on the petitioner, and d) the petitioner, who was under no obligation to attend the symposium, had the option of whether to accept the "gift or contribution." This opinion is based on the potential for conflict if the petitioner were required to make decisions which involved the vendor. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a), (g).

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(g)

36-14-6

36-14-17(b)(4)

Related Advisory Opinions:

GCA-12

Keywords:

travel