| 2000 Advisory Opinions |
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Advisory Opinion |
Subject |
Question |
RCW and /
or WAC |
Cross
Reference |
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• Employment after public service
• Ownership of stock
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1. Does a former state employee's ownership of stock in his or her post-state employer create a beneficial interest in that employer's contracts with the former employee's agency?
Yes / See Opinion
2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, does RCW 42.52.080(2) or any other provision of chapter 42.52 RCW prohibit the former employee from owning any of the company's stock during the two-year period following termination of the former employee's state service?
No / See Opinion
3. Does the answer to question 2 change if the former employee's interactions with the company included participation in the agency's decision to award contracts to the company?
Yes / See Opinion
4. If the answer to question 2 is yes, then would it be permissible for the company to provide stock options to the former employee, provided the former employee could not exercise the options within the two-year period following the termination of state service?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
5. Are there any precautions a company can follow prior to and during the employment of a former state employee to assure compliance with RCW 42.52.080?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
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• Compensation for outside activities; employment after public service
• Financial benefits on administered grant program
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1. Are there any circumstances under which a state employee may financially benefit or otherwise perform work, whether or not for compensation, on projects funded by a grant program the employee administers?
No / See Opinion
2. Can a state employee work or volunteer on projects that are funded from sources other than the state, or that are state-funded, but not within the official responsibilities of the employee?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
3. Can a state employee form his or her own business and offer services to state agencies or other persons that are related to the work the employee performed in a previous state position, but unrelated to the employee's current state position?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
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• Use of state resources
• Cell phones
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1. If a state employee is issued a cellular phone for official business, can the state employee modify the phone to establish a personal line for calls that will be paid for by the employee?
See Opinion
2. Can a personal line be installed if a state-purchased cellular phone is issued to replace a personal cell phone?
Yes / See Opinion
3. Can a state employee remedy any conflict of interest created by installing a personal line on a state-owned cellular phone by reimbursing the state for the cost of the cell phone?
No / See Opinion
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• Use of persons, money, or property for private gain;
• Use of state resources
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This opinion supplements Advisory Opinion 00-03.
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• Compensation for outside activities
• Private timber company regulated by employing agency
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1. Whether an archaeologist has a potential conflict of interest if the archaeologist holds outside employment with a private timber company regulated by the archaeologist's employing agency?
Quailfied No / See Opinion
2. Does a state employee have a conflict of interest if the outside duties performed by the employee could affect whether the outside employer's interests are regulated by the agency?
No / See Opinion
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• Compensation for official duties or nonperformance; gifts; limitations on gifts
• $100 Cash award
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1. Can a state employee accept a $100 cash award from the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO) for team excellence?
Qualified No / See Opinion
2. If a state employee cannot receive a $100 cash award for Team Excellence from WASHTO, can a state employee accept a $50 cash award from WASHTO for the same purpose?
Yes / See Opinion
3. Can the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) accept funds from WASHTO to use in a recognition program under RCW 41.60.150, where the agency determines eligibility and award criteria and provides the cash award?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
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• Gifts
• Receipt of cash awards
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1. Can a state employee accept a cash prize in recognition for engineering achievement under the academic and scientific achievement exemption under RCW 42.52.010(10)(j)?
Yes / See Opinion
2. Can a state employee accept payment of travel expenses for himself or herself and a spouse to receive the award?
Qualified Yes / See Opinion
3. Can a state employee accept a plaque as recognition for outstanding achievement to a highway development program?
Yes / See Opinion
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Can a former state employee provide consulting services to his former state agency when the consulting services are similar to work previously performed under a grant that funded the former employee's state work?
Yes / See Opinion
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• Use of state resources
• Political campaigns
• officer or employee title
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Is there a violation of RCW 42.52.180(1) if a state officer or employee uses his or her title when supporting or opposing a candidate for office or a ballot proposition?
No / See Opinion
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• Use of persons, money, or property for private gain
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Does the use of state resources such as employee time, equipment, and supplies for the Combined Fund Drive violate RCW 42.51.160(1)?
Qualified No / See Opinion
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• Use of persons, money, or property for private gain
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Is there a violation of RCW 42.52.160(1) when an employee of one agency uses the computer of that agency to send e-mail as part of his volunteer activities for the Hunter Education Programs, which is conducted by another agency?
See Opinion
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• Use of state facilities for voluntary benefits
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Does an employee violate RCW 42.52.160(1) by permitting a business to use state facilities to provide employees with information about insurance products that may qualify for voluntary employee payroll deductions pursuant to RCW 41.04.020?
Qualified No / See Opinion
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• Compensation for performing official duties; tips
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1. Does the acceptance of a tip by a student employed as a waiter in a college restaurant violate the prohibition in RCW 42.52.110 against receiving additional compensation for performing official duties?
No / See Opinion
2. Does the acceptance of a tip by a student employed as a waiter in a college restaurant violate the prohibition in RCW 42.52.110 against using state employment to grant special privileges to another person?
No / See Opinion
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• Employment after public service
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May a former state employee, who was as a "project leader" with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, assist a new employer to complete the project under a new contract
Yes / See Opinion
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1. Is it a violation of the Ethics in Public Service Act for a state agency Program Director, or Acting Program Director, who sits on an agency decision making body that awards and administers funding, to participate in agency decisions that affect an organization on whose board the employee sits?
Yes / See Opinion
2. Is it a violation of the Ethics in Public Service Act for a state agency Program Director, or Acting Program Director, who sits on an agency board that awards and administers funding, to participate in agency decisions that affect "direct competitors" of an organization on whose board the employee sits?
Yes / See Opinion
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