HB 168 — AN ACT relating to legislative ethics.

UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BRHB 310168/GA AN ACT relating to legislative ethics.

(1) A legislator, legislative agent, or the director of the Legislative Research Commission shall not intentionally engage in discrimination,discrimination harassment, or sexual harassment of any legislator, legislative agent, or employee of the legislative branch of state government.

and (2) "Harassment"(a) "Sexual harassment" means any actionsexual takenadvance, withrequest thefor intentionsexual offavors, intimidating,or harassing,other threatening,verbal or physicallyphysical orconduct verbally abusing another person at work, or incommunication of a work-relatedsexual setting;nature if:

and (3) (a) "Sexual harassment" means any sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature if:

Submission to or rejection of the advances, requests, conduct, or Page 1 of 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 communication affects decisions concerning a person's employment;

The conduct or communication has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person's ability to perform his or her Page 1 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA job functions or of creating a hostile work environment;

Demeaning,Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive comments or behavior directed at a person or in the presence of any person in a public or private setting;

The display in the workplace of sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive objects, pictures, or photographs;

Demeaning,Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive written, recorded, or electronically transmitted messages;

Other sexual conduct or communication not specifically described but which is substantially similar to the conduct or communication described in this subsection.

(c) A single incident described in this subsection may constitute sexual Pageharassment, 2if ofit 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 harassment and whether the incident is welcomedlinked by the person to whoman theemployment incidentbenefit or is directedsevere. shall be a factor in determining whether sexual harassment has occurred.

Page 2 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA If a provision of KRS 6.601 to 6.849 is designated as a misdemeanor or a felony, an alleged violation of the provision may be adjudicated by the commission as ethical misconduct.

If the commission Page 3 of 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 determines upon the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members, at either a regularly scheduled meeting, or a teleconference meeting called upon the chair's oral or written notice to all members of the Commission, that the complaint fails to state a claim of an ethics violation, the complaint shall be dismissed.

Page 3 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA (e) Within thirty (30) days of the commencement of the inquiry, the commission shall give notice of the status of the complaint and a general statement of the applicable law to the person alleged to have committed a violation.

(g) The applicable criminal statutes of limitation shall not apply to ethical misconduct under KRS 6.601 to 6.849.

(2) All commission proceedings, including the complaint and answer and other records relating to a preliminary inquiry, shall be confidentialconfidential[ until a final determination is made by the commission,commission], except:

(a) The commission may turn over to the Attorney General, the United States Attorney, Commonwealth's attorney, or county attorney of the jurisdiction in which the offense allegedly occurred, evidence which may be used in criminal proceedings;proceedings;[ and] (b) If the complainant or alleged violator publicly discloses the existence of a preliminary inquiry, the commission may publicly confirm the existence of the inquiry and, in its discretion, make public any documents which were issued to either party;

and (b)(c) IfAn theallegation complainantof discrimination or allegedsexual violatorharassment publiclyby disclosesan employee of the existencelegislative branch of astate preliminarygovernment inquiry,shall be communicated by the executive director of the commission mayor publiclyhis confirmor her designee to the existencechief human resources officer of the inquiryLegislative and,Research inCommission itsno discretion,later makethan publicone any(1) documentsbusiness whichday wereafter issuedreceipt toof eitherthe party.allegation.

Any allegation or Page 4 of 8 BR031000.100HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX JacketedGA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BRHB 310168/GA (3)complaint Thereferred commissionto shallor affordreceived aby personthe whoLegislative isResearch theCommission subjectfrom ofthe acommission preliminaryor inquirydirectly from an opportunityindividual, toand appearany inrecords responserelated to thean allegationsinquiry ininto the complaint.allegation or complaint, shall be confidential.

(3) The commission shall afford a person who is the subject of a preliminary inquiry an opportunity to appear in response to the allegations in the complaint.

The Page 5 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA proceedings leading to a confidential reprimand and the reprimand itself shall remain confidential except that, if the alleged violator publicly discloses the existence of such an action, the commission may confirm the existence of the Page 5 of 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 action and, in its discretion, make public any documents which were issued to the alleged violator;

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of KRS 61.805 to 61.850 or 61.870 to 61.884, proceedings conducted and documents created by the commission or the Legislative Research Commission under or related to Sections 1, 2, or 4 of this Act shall be confidential.

(1) The commission shall design the general curriculum of orientation courses, which shall include but not be limited to explanations and discussions of the ethics laws, Page 6 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA administrative regulations, relevant internal policies, specific technical and legal requirements, summaries of advisory opinions, underlying purposes and principles of ethics laws, examples of practical application of the laws and principles, and a question-and-answer participatory segment regarding common problems and situations.

Page 6 of 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 (a) Administer the orientation courses for legislators;

The Page 7 of 8 HB016810.100 - 310 - XXXX GA UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS HB 168/GA commission shall prepare the methods and materials necessary to implement the curriculum.

and Page 7 of 8 BR031000.100 - 310 - XXXX Jacketed UNOFFICIAL COPY 20 RS BR 310 (c) Notify legislators regarding attendance in these seminars.

Each course shall be at least two (2)[three (3)] hours in length and shall be designed for approval by the Kentucky Bar Association for continuing legal educationeducation[ ethicsethics] credits which the bar association may require.

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