Advisory Opinion No. 97-60

Re: Mark N. Brown, Ph.D.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a member of the Rhode Island Historical Records Advisory Board, a state appointed position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he must file a personal financial disclosure statement.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a member of the Rhode Island Historical Records Advisory Board ("Board"), a state appointed position, is required to file a personal financial statement under the Code of Ethics. The Board was established in 1976 by Executive Order and its members are appointed by the Governor to three year terms. The Petitioner represents that the Board reviews grant applications from public and private institutions and makes recommendations to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission ("Commission") as to whether these applications should be funded. While the Board's function clearly includes an advisory component, and it does not have final decision-making authority, its role in reviewing and recommending actions to the Commission constitutes sufficient subjective involvement in the policy-making area to warrant the categories of disclosure mandated by the General Assembly in the Code of Ethics. Therefore, given the appointment process and appointing authority, and the nature of the Board's responsibilities, the Rhode Island Historical Records Advisory Board is a state agency as defined by R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-2(4) and the Petitioner is a state appointed official and must file a personal financial disclosure statement with the Ethics Commission.

Code Citations:

36-14-2

36-14-16

Keywords:

financial disclosure