§ 18-56. Acceptance of gifts and other things of value.

(a)

An official, employee, appointee, or his or her spouse or child living in the same household, shall not accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, money, gratuity, or other consideration or favor of any kind from anyone other than the county for the performance of an act, or refraining from performance of an act, that he or she would be expected to perform, or refrain from performing, in the regular course of his or her county duties. Subject to the provisions of section 18-56 (d), nothing in this section precludes non-monetary awards, honors, or other recognition by public or quasi-public entities, community organizations, or nonprofit charitable or educational organizations, in recognition of public service.

(b)

An elected official shall not accept any entertainment, food, refreshments, meals, beverages, health screenings, amenities, or other items with a value in excess of $200.00 in a calendar year from any one prohibited source. Excepted are meals and entertainment offered as part of events sponsored by public or quasi-public entities, community organizations, or nonprofit charitable or educational organizations.

(c)

Subject to the provisions of section 18-56 (d) and notwithstanding any other provision in this code of ethics to the contrary, any official, employee, or appointee may accept any offer of items described in the previous two (2) paragraphs regardless of value, provided that the same items are offered at the same time to the public generally or to all the board of county commissioners and/or all officials, employees, or appointees in the same class.

(d)

The acceptance of money or any thing of value by an elected official in exchange for an appearance, speech, or article that is made, given, or written in his or her capacity as an elected official is prohibited. Nothing in this section precludes the elected official from accepting a payment of actual and necessary travel expenses, meals, and lodging associated with such appearance, speech, or article. Moreover, nothing in this section precludes the elected official from accepting money or any thing of value in exchange for an appearance, speech, or article that is made, given, or written by the elected official in his or her capacity as a private business person, professional, or tradesperson.

(e)

Notwithstanding any provision in this code of ethics to the contrary, this code of ethics shall not prohibit gifts between officials, employees, and appointees on any occasion on which gifts are traditionally given, exchanged or donated, if such gift is appropriate to the occasion and does not have a market value in excess of $50.00; or gifts of any value between family members at any time.

(f)

Each prohibited source shall disclose, on a quarterly calendar basis in writing to the ethics officer, all gratuities that it has given to officials, employees, and appointees, or their spouse or child living in the same household during the preceding quarter by filing the prohibited source gratuity disclosure form.

(Code 1992, § 12.5-56; Ord. No. 330, att. § 6, 6-25-2007; Ord. No. 348, 10-22-2007; Ord. No. 371, exh. A, 5-11-2009; Ord. No. 390, 3-22-2010; Ord. No. 450, exh. A, 7-21-2014)