Advisory Opinion No. 2008-65

Rhode Island Ethics Commission

Advisory Opinion No. 2008-65

Re: James F. Berard

QUESTION PRESENTED 

The Petitioner, former Assistant Director of Infrastructure and Operations in the Department of Administration, Division of Information Technology and former Associate Director of Management Information Systems in the Department of Corrections, state employee positions, requests an advisory opinion as to what restrictions are placed upon him by the Code of Ethics in his private employment after one year of separation from state service.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, former Assistant Director of Infrastructure and Operations in the Department of Administration, Division of Information Technology and former Associate Director of Management Information Systems in the Department of Corrections, state employee positions, is not, after one year of separation from state service, subject to the post-employment restrictions found in the Code of Ethics.

After 38 years of state employment, the Petitioner retired from state service on December 21, 2007.  Over the course of his tenure as a state employee, the Petitioner served in a variety of positions, including as Associate Director of Management Information Systems (“MIS”) for the Department of Corrections (“DOC”) and most recently as the Assistant Director of Operations and Infrastructure in the Department of Administration, Division of Information Technology (“DOIT”).  At the time of his retirement from state service, the Petitioner states that he was responsible for the day to day operations of the state’s wide area networks and the data and voice networks within the Executive Branch of state government. 

Currently, the Petitioner is employed as a criminal justice systems engineer at Lighthouse Computer Services (“Lighthouse”), a private technology corporation.  Based on all of the above stated facts, the Petitioner requests an advisory opinion as to what restrictions the Code of Ethics places on him as a former state employee following the period of one year after his official severance from state service; specifically, the petitioner asks if he is prohibited from giving technical presentations or providing systems analysis work to his prior agencies on behalf of his private employer.

Pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(1) and (2), the petitioner may not represent himself or any other “person” before any state or municipal agency of which he is a member or by which he is employed.  A “person” is defined as an individual or business entity.  R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-2(7). R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e)(3) further provides that the petitioner may not act as an expert witness before his agency with respect to any matter the agency’s disposition of which will, or can reasonably be expected to, directly result in an economic benefit or detriment to him, a family member, business associate or any business by which he is employed or represents.

Subsection 36-14-5(e)(4) extends these prohibitions for a period of one year after the petitioner has officially severed his position with his former agency.  The legislative intent of this “revolving door” language presumably is to minimize any potential influence the former public employee may have with his former agency.  See also Commission Regulation 36-14-5015.

It is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Code of Ethics is clear in its mandate that the post-employment provisions apply to this Petitioner only for the first year following his severance from state service.  Accordingly, prior to December 21, 2008, the Petitioner is prohibited from representing himself or others or acting as an expert witness before DOIT; however, after December 21, 2008, those restrictions no longer apply.  Specifically, this Petitioner is not prohibited from giving technical presentations or providing systems analysis work to DOIT, the DOC, or any other state agency or department after December 21, 2008.

Code Citations :

36-14-5(e)(1)

36-14-5(e)(2)

36-14-5(e)(3)

36-14-5(e)(4)

36-14-2(7)

Keywords :

Post-Employment

Revolving Door