Advisory Opinion No. 98-38

Re: John P. Pierson

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, a Captain with the North Kingstown Fire Department, a municipal employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether, in his private employment as a licensed fire alarm technician, he may test a friend’s fire alarm system in a building located in North Kingstown.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a Captain with the North Kingstown Fire Department (NKFD), a municipal employee position, in his private employment as a licensed fire alarm technician, may test his friend’s fire alarm system in a building located in North Kingstown.

Under the Code of Ethics, a municipal employee may not accept other employment which will impair his independence of judgment as to his official duties. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(b). The Petitioner represents that his official duties as a fire captain are limited to fire suppression and in no way involve the testing and/or regulation of fire alarm systems. He advises that any deficiencies or malfunctions of alarm systems observed in response to fire alarm calls are referred to the North Kingstown Superintendent of Fire Alarms or the Fire Department Inspector, both of whom are under the jurisdiction of the NKFD and its Chief. The Petitioner exercises no supervisory authority over either official.

Given the limited circumstances of this request in that it involves a single building owned by a friend and the necessity for a significant independent, intervening act (i.e., a fire) in order for the Petitioner to be in a position to possibly observe deficiencies in the system he would have tested, the Commission concludes that the Petitioner may, in his private employment, test the fire alarm at the referenced building. This advisory opinion does not authorize the Petitioner, however, to conduct his private alarm testing business for locations in the Town of North Kingstown as a matter of routine. If the Petitioner in the future wishes to conduct his private business in North Kingstown beyond this isolated instance, he should seek additional guidance from this Commission.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(b)

Related Advisory Opinions:

94-1

94-4

96-43

97-39

97-89

Keywords:

Private employment