This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The Commission approved this opinion on May12, 2000, basing its approval solely on the facts and circumstances stated herein.
 

May the brother of a school board member be employed by the school district and the half-brother of a school board member remain employed by the school district?
 

State law restricts the Mississippi Ethics Commission to interpreting and issuing opinions on Sections 25-4-101 through 25-4-119, 1972 Mississippi Code Annotated and Article IV, Section 109, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Therefore, this opinion does not address the Mississippi laws outside the Commission's jurisdiction nor the governmental entity's internal rules and regulations.
 

The pertinent conflict of interest laws to be considered here are:
 

Code Section 25-4-101 states:
 

"The legislature declares that elective and public office and employment is a public trust and any effort to realize personal gain through official conduct, other than as provided by law, or as a natural consequence of the employment or position, is a violation of that trust. Therefore, public servants shall endeavor to pursue a course of conduct which will not raise suspicion among the public that they are likely to be engaged in acts that are in violation of this trust and which will not reflect unfavorably upon the state and local governments."
 

Code Section 25-4-103(f)(i)(ii), (g)(iii), (h), (l), (p)(i)(ii)(iii) and (q) states:
 

"(f) 'Contract' means:
 

(i) Any agreement to which the government is a party; or
 

(ii) Any agreement on behalf of the government which involves the payment of public funds.
 

(g) 'Governmental' means the state and all political entities thereof, both collectively and separately, including but not limited to:
 

(iii) All school districts.
 

(h) 'Governmental entity' means the state, a county, a municipality or any other separate political subdivision authorized by law to exercise a part of the sovereign power of the state.
 

(l) 'Pecuniary benefit' means benefit in the form of money, property, commercial interests or anything else the primary significance of which is economic gain. Expenses associated with social occasions afforded public servants shall not be deemed a pecuniary benefit.
 

(p) 'Public servant' means:
 

(i) Any elected or appointed official of the government;
 

(ii) Any officer, director, commissioner, supervisor, chief, head, agent or employee of the government or any agency thereof, or of any public entity created by or under the laws of the State of Mississippi or created by an agency or governmental entity thereof, any of which is funded by public funds or which expends, authorizes or recommends the use of public funds; or
 

(iii) Any individual who receives a salary, per diem or expenses paid in whole or in part out of funds authorized to be expended by the government.
 

(q) 'Relative' means the spouse, child or parent."
 

Code Section 25-4-105(1) states:
 

"(1) No public servant shall use his official position to obtain pecuniary benefit for himself other than that compensation provided for by law, or to obtain pecuniary benefit for any relative or any business with which he is associated."
 

Pertinent facts and circumstances in the form of the requestor's letter, absent identifying data, are attached hereto and considered a part of this opinion.
 

Based solely on the facts and circumstances presented by the requestor, the Commission's opinion is as follows.
 

Code Section 25-4-105(1), cited above, prohibits a public servant, including a school board member, from using his official position to obtain a pecuniary benefit for himself, a relative or a business in which he is associated.
 

Code Section 25-4-103(q), cited above, defines "relative" as a spouse, child or parent.
 

Therefore, Code Section 25-4-105(1) would not prohibit a school board member's involvement in the employment by the school district of his brother or half-brother as neither would be considered a relative for purposes of the state conflict of interest laws.
 

Should the school board member receive a personal and/or pecuniary interest by way of the school district's employment of his brother or half-brother, then this opinion is no longer applicable and the requestor is advised to seek another opinion from the Commission disclosing all the facts and circumstances concerning the school board member's personal and/or pecuniary interest.
 

The issue presented by the requestor also must be viewed as it relates to Code Section 25-4-101, set forth above. This code section sets the tone for the conflict of interest laws as the Legislature's "Declaration of Public Policy." This public policy can be summarized as any circumstance having the potential of creating suspicion among the public and reflecting unfavorably upon the state or local government should be closely reviewed by public servants with the intent to reduce or eliminate any suspicion on the part of the public which detracts from the public's trust in state or local government.
 

Clearly, a school district's employment of the brother and half-brother of one of its board members has the potential of creating suspicion among the public and reflecting unfavorably upon the school district.
 

Therefore, the requestor is cautioned to advise the school board member to totally and completely recuse himself from any matter coming before the school board concerning the employment and/or re-employment of his brother or half-brother and their respective compensation and benefits in order to fully comply with the public policy mandate set forth in Code Section 25-4-101.
 

An abstention is a vote with the majority of the governing entity's board and therefore does not qualify as a recusal.
 

A total and complete recusal requires that the public servant not only avoid debating, discussing or taking action on the subject matter during the official meeting, but also avoid discussing the subject matter with other board members, staff or any other person prior to and after the official meeting. This includes casual comments, as well as detailed discussions, made in person, by telephone or by any other means.
 

Also to properly recuse oneself from a matter, the public servant must leave the room or area where such discussions, considerations and/or actions take place. The minutes of the governing entity's board should state the public servant left the meeting by showing him or her absent for that matter.
 

The requestor is advised that the state nepotism laws may prohibit the school district's employment of a school board member's brother or half-brother. The state nepotism laws are within the jurisdiction and authority of the State Attorney General's Office to interpret by official opinion.
 

Therefore, the requestor is advised to also present this opinion request to the State Attorney General's Office regarding the application of the state nepotism laws.
 

Ronald E. Crowe

Executive Director