BACKGROUND

Standards of conduct for legislators and all State officers and employees in the executive and legislative branches are delineated in the "New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law" (N.J.S.A. 52:13D-12 et seq.). In addition, legislators and legislative officers and employees are subject to the provisions and procedural requirements of the Legislative Code of Ethics, which is adopted anew by the Legislature for each two-year session. The 1982-83 Code of Ethics has been temporarily adopted through the organizational resolution of the Houses. At present it has not been updated to comply with the more recent amendments to the Conflicts Law. Additionally Joint Rule 19 of the Houses allows inquiry into any conduct of a legislator or legislative employee which reflects upon the good name, integrity, and reputation of the Legislature or any member thereof. The New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law and the Legislative Code of Ethics regulate three classifications of persons in the Legislative branch of State government: legislators; "State officers or employees" defined as full-time employees; and "special State officers or employees" defined as unpaid or part-time officers or employees. In some situations, there are different levels of restrictions on each classification. When reviewing provisions of the Conflicts Law and the Code of Ethics be sure to note whether the restrictions pertain to your classification. While this tutorial is intended to acquaint legislators and legislative staff with ethical restrictions, it is not intended to be all inclusive or to address the nuances that exist in the full text of the Conflicts of Interest Law and the Code of Ethics. Legislators and legislative employees are strongly advised to familiarize themselves with the complete provisions of the Conflicts of Interest Law , the Code of Ethics and Joint Rule 19 which are hyper linked to this tutorial.

The Conflicts of Interest Law and the Legislative Code of Ethics have specific application to the following general areas of conduct by legislators and/or legislative employees:

Lawyer-legislators and lawyer-legislative employees should also familiarize themselves with In the Matter of Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics Opinion 621, 128 N.J. 577 (1992), with regard to their ethical standards as lawyers and public officials.

The Legislative Code of Ethics implements the standards of the Conflicts of Interest Law; imposes additional standards of behavior with respect to involvement in casino activity by legislators, their firms or immediate families; and also requires legislators to file an annual disclosure statement with respect to sources of family income and other information. Legislators must file financial disclosure statements covering the previous calendar year with the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards by May 15. It should be noted that the Code of Ethics is divided into four chapters: Chapter 1 is the definition section; Chapter 2 regulates legislators; Chapter 3 regulates legislative staff; and Chapter 4 covers administration and enforcement.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards is currently a twelve-member bipartisan committee composed of four members of each House and four public members. Effective January 10, 2006, four additional public members will be added, bringing the total membership on the Joint Committee to 16. The Joint Committee is responsible for administering the Conflicts of Interest Law and the Code of Ethics for members of the Legislature and officers and employees in the legislative branch of government. The Joint Committee investigates, either on its own initiative or in response to a complaint, possible violations of the Law, Code, or Joint Rule 19. The Joint Committee is empowered to impose a fine up to $10,000 or suspend from office an officer or employee of the Legislature for violating the Law or Code, and it may fine a legislator up to $10,000 and recommend disciplinary action to the legislator's House.

The Joint Committee may also render confidential advisory opinions to legislators and legislative officers and employees as to whether certain proposed actions would violate the Conflicts Law, Code of Ethics or Joint Rule 19. The Legislative Counsel is secretary and counsel to the Joint Committee and offers advisory opinions on behalf of the Joint Committee. Legislators and staff should direct inquiries regarding the Law and the Code to the Legislative Counsel in the Office of Legislative Services (609-292-4625).

IMPORTANT NOTE: The hypothetical questions in the tutorial are designed to illustrate how some of the provisions of the Law and Code are applied to specific factual situations. Even minor factual changes could result in different responses. Legislators and legislative staff should not use this tutorial as a substitute for actual advice from Legislative Counsel and the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.

This tutorial covers the following areas:

In each area covered by the tutorial, the relevant Law and Code provisions are cited and hyper linked to the full text which should be reviewed prior to responding to the questions. The cited provisions are summarized, but the summaries do not cover all the fine points of the Law and Code and should not be used as a substitute for reading the entire text. There are 20 questions. Questions are presented in each of the six areas followed by YES/NO. Answer each question by pointing your cursor to your selected response and clicking once. You will be advised whether your answer is correct or incorrect and provided with an explanation.