§ 901. Conflict of interest.

(a)

Prohibitions. No officer or employee of the County, whether elected or appointed, shall in any manner whatsoever be interested in or receive any benefit of the profits or emoluments of any contract, job, work, or service for the County. No such officer or employee shall accept any service or thing of more than nominal value, directly or indirectly, from any person, firm or corporation having dealings with the County, upon more favorable terms than those granted to the public generally, nor shall he or she receive, directly or indirectly, any part of any fee, commission or other compensation paid or payable by the County, or by any person in connection with any dealings with the County, or by any person in connection with any dealings with or proceedings before any branch, office, department, board, commission or other agency of the County. No such officer or employee shall directly or indirectly be the broker or agent who procures or receives any compensation in connection with the procurement of any type of bonds for County officers, employees or persons or firms doing business with the County. No such officer or employee shall solicit or accept any compensation or gratuity in the form of money or otherwise for any act or omission in the course of his or her public work; provided, however, that the head of any department or board of the County may permit an employee to receive a reward publicly offered and paid for, for the accomplishment of a particular task.

(b)

Rules of construction; exceptions by Council. The provisions of this Section shall be broadly construed and strictly enforced for the purpose of preventing officers and employees from securing any pecuniary advantages, however indirect, from their public associations, other than their compensation provided by law.

In order, however, to guard against injustice, the Council may, by resolution, specifically authorize any County officer or employee to own stock in any corporation or to maintain a business in connection with any person, firm or corporation dealing with the County, if on full public disclosure of all pertinent facts to the County Council by such officer or employee, the Council shall determine that such stock ownership or connection does not violate the public interest.

The County Council may, by ordinance, delegate to the Howard County Ethics Commission the power to make such determinations and to authorize the ownership or connection. Any ordinance which delegates this power shall provide for procedures including a public hearing, and shall establish criteria for determining when the ownership or connection does not violate the public interest.

(c)

Penalties. Any officer or employee of the County who willfully violates any of the provisions of this Section shall forfeit his or her office, or shall suffer such other penalty as provided by law. If any person shall offer, pay, refund or rebate any part of any fee, commission, or other form of compensation to any officer or employee of the County in connection with any County business or proceeding, he or she shall, on conviction, be punishable by imprisonment for not less than one or more than six months or a fine of not less than $100.00 or more than $1,000.00, or both. Any contract made in violation of this Section may be declared void by the Executive or by resolution of the Council. The penalties in this Section shall be in addition to all other penalties provided by law.

Editor's note

An amendment to § 901(b) proposed by Res. No. 16, 1990 was approved at an election held Nov. 6, 1990, and became effective Dec. 6, 1990. Amendments proposed by Res. Nos. 122, 123, and 126, 1996 were approved at an election held Nov. 5, 1996, and became effective Dec. 5, 1996.