Mec 1996 December Adv Opi no 96-141-E

OFFICIAL ADVISORY OPINION NO. 96-141-E December 6, 1996 This Advisory Opinion concerns the following issue as formulated from facts and/or circumstances furnished by a requestor. The Commission approved this opinion on December 6, 1996, basing its approval solely on the facts and circumstances stated herein.

May a city building inspector act as a contractor in other cities and outside his

city but within the county where his city is located?

Your opinion request to the Office of the Attorney General dated November 7, 1996, was referred by that Office to the Mississippi Ethics Commission on November 12, 1996, as your request involves the above issues that concern the Mississippi conflict of interest laws.

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 25-4-103(f)(i)(ii), (g)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v), (h) and ~)(i)(ii)(iii) 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:
(i) Counties;
(ii) Municipalities;

(iii) All school districts;

(iv) Ml courts; and

(v) Any department, agency, board, commission, institution, instrumentality, or legislative or administrative body of the state, counties or municipalities created by statute, ordinance or executive order including all units that expend public funds.

(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.

(1)) '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."

Pertinent facts and circumstances provided by the requestor, absent identifying data, are set forth as follows and considered a part of this opinion.

This letter is written on behalf of the City. We request an opinion from your office regarding the job of Building Inspector. Our questions are the following:

(1) May the City Building Inspector act as contractor in other Cities within Mississippi, or is there a conflict of interest?

(2) May the City Building Inspector act as contractor outside the City but with the County?

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

The state conflict of interest laws do not prohibit a city building inspector from being a contractor in other cities within the state and outside his city but within the county where his city is located.

Ronald E. Crowe Executive Director