Advisory Opinion No. 1995-15
Consultant Who Is Neither A
Family Member Nor Business
Associate Of State Servant Is
Not Subject To “Open And
Public” Requirements Of Conn.
Gen. Stat. §1-84(i)
Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84(i), a state contract may
be awarded to a member of a state employee’s immediate family or to a business
with which he or she is associated, provided the contract process is open and
public, with a prior public offer of the contract’s availability and subsequent
public disclosure of all proposals considered and the contract awarded. The term “immediate family,” as used in the
Code of Ethics for Public Officials, refers only to one’s spouse, children and
dependent relatives residing in one’s household. (See Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-79(f)). In general, the term “business with which he
is associated” refers to a business of which a state servant or an immediate
family member is a director, officer, owner, partner, beneficiary of a trust or
significant stockholder. (See
Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-79(b)). An
individual, such as the petitioner, who is neither a family member nor business
associate of a state employee, is not subject to the “open and public”
requirements of Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84(i). Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §§1-84(c), 1-85 and 1-86, a
state employee is prohibited from taking official action or otherwise using his
or her state position to influence the contract process, or any other agency
action, for his or her own financial benefit or for the financial benefit of an
“associated” business, his or her spouse, child, son- or daughter-in-law,
parent or sibling. The recusal, by the
state employee in question, from actions affecting an intimate friend’s
finances is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the Code, but is not
strictly required unless the state employee’s finances would be thereby
implicated. By order of the Commission, David T. Nassef
Chairperson