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STATE OF LOUISIANA <br /> pd DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE <br /> °Q�; LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS <br /> z� liii`',.,. �;,;�( P.O.BOX 4368 <br /> : BATON ROUGE,LA 70821 <br /> •>;o � (225)219-5600 <br /> FAX:(225)381-7271 <br /> 1-800-842-6630 <br /> www.ethics.la.gov <br /> July 23, 2018 • <br /> Sheriff Jerry J. Larpenter <br /> Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office <br /> Post Office Drawer 1670 <br /> Houma, Louisiana 70361 <br /> Re: Louisiana Board of Ethics Docket No.2018-670 <br /> Dear Mr.Larpenter: <br /> The Louisiana Board of Ethics, at its July 20, 2018 meeting, considered your request for an <br /> advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit your office from <br /> entering into a contract with Anthony J. Alford Insurance Company to supply health disability and death <br /> benefits while your wife, Priscilla Alford, is employed with the Insurance Company. You provided that <br /> your wife has been employed for years with Anthony J.Alford Insurance Company as an executive office <br /> administrator. You stated that she receives a flat salary. She does not receive any commissions or <br /> bonuses. You added that she does not have any ownership interest in Anthony J. Alford Insurance <br /> Company. <br /> The Board concluded, and instructed me to advise you, that generally Section 1111 C(2)(d)of the <br /> Code would prohibit your wife from providing compensated services to Anthony J. Alford Insurance <br /> Company if your agency, the Sheriff's Office, entered into a contract or has a business financial <br /> relationship with Anthony J. Alford Insurance Company. Section 1111C(2)(d)of the Code prohibits a <br /> public servant from receiving a thing of economic value for services rendered to persons who have or are <br /> seeking to have a contractual, business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency. <br /> However, Ethics Board Docket No. 82-02-D provides a limited exception to the prohibition contained in <br /> Section 1111 C(2)(d) of the Code when certain factors are met: 1) the public servant's spouse must be <br /> regularly compensated by the non-governmental employer pursuant to a uniform standard(i.e., a salaried <br /> or wage-earning employee), 2) the salary of the public servant's spouse is unaffected by the business <br /> relationship between the non-governmental employer and the agency of the public servant, 3) the public <br /> servant's spouse owns less than a controlling interest in the non-governmental employer, and 4)the public <br /> servant's spouse is neither an officer, director, trustee or partner in the non-governmental employer. <br /> Based on the information provided, it appears that your wife's employment with Anthony J. Alford <br /> Insurance Company meets the four factors set forth above and Section 1111 C(2)(d) would not prohibit <br /> her from maintaining her employment with Anthony J. Alford Insurance Company under the stated <br /> circumstances. <br /> Finally, the Board has instructed me to inform you that your wife would be required to file an <br /> annual disclosure statement in compliance with La. R.S. 42:1114 if Anthony J. Alford Insurance <br /> Company is awarded the contract. La. R.S. 42:1114 requires a public servant,and each immediate family <br /> member ,who derives a thing of economic value, directly, through any transaction, involving the agency <br /> AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br />