The Oklahoma Bar Journal December 2024

O NE OF THE MANY RESPONSIBILITIES OF A MUNICIPAL ATTORNEY is advis ing local boards and commissions. While boards and commissions can vary widely in terms of their authority and impact, some – especially in the land-use realm – can make very consequential and highly visible decisions. It becomes very important, then, that the members of these boards and commissions understand their ethical responsibilities and that municipal attorneys are able to identify and address ethical issues as they come up.

River Dam Authority , though the court found that the plaintiff’s case against the Grand River Dam Authority was technically moot, it chastised the GRDA officials for accepting extravagant vacations and gifts disguised as “advertis ing” and an opportunity for them to tour and assess the vendor’s facilities. 5 Here, the court empha sized that it “protest[ed] the use of such functions to extend benefits and gratuities to state employees and their families” and gave the following admonishment: power to implement the public will, and as such, are subject to the highest levels of scru tiny by the people whom they serve. Government officials and employees must exercise great care to avoid even the appear ance of impropriety in their Government agencies are uniquely endowed with the

and provides for oversight by an ethics advisory committee. 2 There are also rules applicable to specific public bodies. For example, the Tulsa Zoning Code has a specific conflict of interest provision for the Preservation Commission, 3 and the Board of Adjustment’s “General Policies and Rules of Procedure” document includes a code of ethics. 4 Ultimately, a municipal attorney or outside counsel hired to support a public body must be aware of which eth ical rules apply to the particular public body they are advising. Though the exact rules in place for state agencies may differ from the rules applicable to a particular municipality or public body, there are still interesting cautionary tales stemming from agency action in Oklahoma. In Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Grand CASE LAW

Many public and government agencies have developed formal, structured policies with guide lines for ethical conduct for public officials and members of public bodies. For example, Oklahoma Statutes Title 74, Chapter 62, Appendix 1, Rule 4 governs con flicts of interest for state agencies in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Ethics Commission, in turn, pro vides extensive guidance with its Officers and Employees Guide . 1 The commission reminds us, how ever, that these statutory ethics rules only apply to state officers and employees, and there may be differing and sometimes more restrictive requirements for local government entities. For example, the city of Tulsa has an ethics code that sets out when a city official is prohibited from participating in a matter, outlines a process of disclosing any known conflicts of interest

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL