Ethics Hearing Board

Mission

The mission of the Ethics Hearing Board is to preserve the trust placed in the public servants of the City, to promote public confidence in government, to protect the integrity of government decision making, and to enhance government efficiency.

Departmental/Bureau Overview

The Ethics Hearing Board comprises nine members with reputations of personal integrity and honesty. An impartial arm of government, seven of the nine members are selected by community organizations. The Board’s staff includes an Executive Director. Ethics Hearing Board services include: Advice - Personalized guidance on ethics rules is a critical service in City operations. Advice informs public servants on the best way to manage conflicts of interest and avoid ethics problems. Fact-specific consultations on the Code of Conduct protect public servants and those with City dealings. Only the Ethics Hearing Board’s formal advice is a defense from penalties.

Education - Advice is only effective for the questions that are asked. Trainings and outreach equip public servants with the skills, knowledge, and resources to spot ethics issues and identify when to seek advice.

Disclosures - The Board manages several reports for transparency and accountability: campaign finance, Statement of Financial Interests (SOFI), Statement of Affiliations, Disclosure of Interests, conflicts of interest, and gift disclosures.

Enforcement - Alleged misconduct is first assessed through complaints, preliminary inquiries, investigations, panel meetings, and hearings; then orders or penalties are issued as needed.

2026 Accomplishments

• Advice: Between October 2025 and September 2026, the Board addressed an astonishing 39 advisory opinion cases, far outpacing comparable agencies. This is a record high for the agency and includes several complex and novel precedents, such as navigating how the financial interest ban applies to nonprofits and URA business programs.
• Outreach and Education: Between October 2025 and September 2026, Board staff provided one-hour ethics trainings to 277 City public servants and notified 129 former employees of ongoing ethics obligations and access to Ethics Hearing Board services. Board staff collaborated with departments on program development, introduced ethics to new hires in weekly orientations, and participated in the Civic Leadership Academy.
• Legislation: EHB staff draft updates to the Code of Conduct in response to legal and empirical developments.
• Disclosures: EHB staff directly engaged 809 City employees to file the SOFI and corrected misfiled disclosures for 181 employees, with up to five years of corrected filings per employee.
• Investigations and Enforcement: The Board and its staff continued efforts to investigate and, when applicable, prosecuted ethics complaints and enforced violations.