AN ACT relating to the executive branch code of ethics.
     Amend KRS 11A.010 to remove and add certain positions and boards and commissions from the definition of "officer"; clarify that "all employees in the executive branch" includes former employees who, within six months of their termination, return to state service on contract to fill a full-time position, and KRS Chapter 16 employees; amend KRS 11A.020 to expand on the term "advantage"; amend KRS 11A.040 to prohibit a public servant from negotiating for employment with a person or business that does business with, or is regulated by, the agency for which he works if he is directly involved in matters regarding the prospective employer; establish procedures for abstention from such an involvement; direct that the commission is not prohibited from authorizing exemptions to current post-employment provisions; direct that the existing prohibition against a former public servant representing a person or business before a state agency in a matter in which the former public servant was directly involved during his tenure, shall not prohibit a former public servant from performing certain ministerial functions; require an appointing authority's report of employees approved for outside employment to be filed annually on July 15, rather than quarterly; specify that the report cover the previous fiscal year; amend KRS 11A.045 to clarify language relating to acceptance of gifts; amend KRS 11A.050, relating to financial disclosure statements, to extend from 30 days to 90 days after termination the deadline for an officer or public servant who does not remain in his position the entire calendar year to file his disclosure statement; require statement to include the "nature" of a business, rather than just the name and address of it; amend KRS 11A.060 to require, beginning with the term of the commission member whose appointment expires July 14, 2003, commission members to be appointed on a rotating basis by the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Auditor of Public Accounts, rather than all appointed by the Governor; direct that removal for cause be by the original appointing authority, rather than by the Governor alone; amend KRS 11A.080 to direct that all commission proceedings and records relating to a preliminary investigation be confidential until probable cause of a violation is found and an initiating order is issued, rather than until a final determination is made; change "state" agency to "public" agency in the existing provision relating to agency referrals to the commission of matters to be investigated; permit the commission to publicly confirm the initiation of an investigation, or the termination of an investigation, if the alleged violations were referred to the commission from another public agency; clarify that the commission may initiate an administrative proceeding to determine whether there has been a violation, notwithstanding KRS 16.140; amend KRS 11A.100 to direct that venue for appeals of all final orders of the commission lie with the Franklin Circuit Court; amend KRS 11A.990 to direct that the penalty of forfeiture of employment or office for certain violations be applied, notwithstanding the provisions of KRS Chapter 16; direct that the salary withholding penalty for failure to file statement of disclosure by the statutory deadline be computed from the sixteenth day of noncompliance rather than the first day of noncompliance.

     Feb 21-introduced in Senate
     Feb 26-to State and Local Government (S)