Have you watched the Ethics Law video?

Ethically Speaking

Mark Boardman, Attorney, Boardman, Carr, Petelos, Watkins & Ogle, P.C.

Those who read this magazine should watch the Alabama Ethics Commission video. At the end of the video, the successful participant registers his or her successful completion of the training. The Ethics Commission maintains a record of those who are so trained.

The Alabama Ethics Commission’s video is on its website. All public officials, principals, supervisors, those who file Statements of Economic Interests, and others are required to watch it. Covered employees and public officials hired in 2011 or later are to do so within 90 days of hire.

The video is easy to find. On the Ethics Commission home page, the Ethics Commission has a tab labeled “Education.” The video was prepared to train individuals on the Ethics Act and starts and ends with an introduction from the Executive Director of the Ethics Commission. It also introduces to you the five members of the Ethics Commission. The video has several questions and, thus, is interactive because you must click on the answers and hit “Continue.” The video takes about an hour and is designed for one person a time, not a group. You can register at the end of the video as having completed it.

The Ethics Commission, on its website, warns that someone watching the video should have a strong connection to the internet and not rely on wifi. That warning is correct - - viewing the training video is best done on a desktop hard-wired computer with speakers. I tried to watch the video both on my iPad and on my phone connecting to wifi. Neither worked. Unfortunately, once you start, if the training freezes, you must start all over again from the beginning. I, too, experienced this when attempting to use my phone and tablet. However, I experienced no problems when using my desktop.

The Ethics Commission says on its website that public employees who file Statements of Economic Interest must watch the training video. But the statute, perhaps poorly written, is broader. The statute says in Alabama Code Section 36-25-4.2, “Employees hired after January 1, 2011, shall have 90 days to comply with this subsection. Evidence of completion of the educational review shall be provided to the commission via an electronic reporting system provided on the official website.”

The sentence before the above makes it clear that public employees who are required to file a Statement of Economic Interests1 have to watch the video. But the sentence quoted above, as you can see, says it applies to all “employees.” Thus a literal reading of Alabama Code Section 36-25-4.2(e) requires everyone from administrators to classroom teachers to bus drivers to custodians to CNP workers to watch it.

Don’t worry, however, if you have not watched the video. You can solve the problem by spending an hour on your desktop. The video will tell you about the Ethics Act, and because, as the old adage says, “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” you will be better protected against carelessly violating the law.

1 Those who file a Statement of Economic Interest were itemized in CLAS School Leader Spring 2024 (Volume 52, Issue 1), p.28. The difference between public officials and public employees was defined in CLAS School Leader Spring 2020 (Volume 48, Issue 2), p. 8.