State Officials and Employees Ethics Act
Fact Sheet
In 2003, the General Assembly and the Governor enacted a sweeping ethics reform package intended to ensure that public officers and employees adhere to the highest ethical standards. Under the provisions of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (enacted by Public Acts 93-615 and 93-617), all units of local government and school districts are required to adopt regulations governing political activities, and the solicitation and acceptance of gifts of public officers and employees that are "no less restrictive" than those contained in that Act.. The legislation will affect all levels of Illinois government, including the State Library, library systems and local libraries.
A Model Ethics Ordinance and a Guide to the Implementation of the Model Ethics Ordinance have been prepared by the Illinois Attorney General to assist local governmental bodies comply with the requirements of the Act.
All state officials and employees, units of local government, school districts, library systems, library districts and local libraries must comply with the requirements of the Act by adopting the Model Ethics Ordinance or Model Ethics Resolution.
Adopt the Model Ethics Ordinance or Model Ethics Resolution for your library by May 19, 2004. Article 15 of the Act requires the entity to designate an ³Ethics Advisor². Article 20 of the Act requires creation of an ³Ethics Commission².
Entities that are a corporate authority should adopt this in the form of an ordinance. This includes school districts, library districts, municipalities, units of local government.
Entities that are not a corporate authority do not have the power to adopt ordinances, and therefore should adopt this in the form of a resolution. This includes library systems and city, village, and township libraries.
Is every Article in the Model Ethics Ordinance required to be included in the library¹s ordinance (or resolution)?
The Act requires inclusion of Articles 1, 5, 10, and 25. Articles 15 and 20 are not explicitly required but are strongly recommended.
http://www.ag.state.il.us/government/ethics_ordinance.html
http://www.ag.state.il.us/government/model_ethics_ordinance.pdf
http://www.ag.state.il.us/government/ethics_ordinance_guide.pdf