Ethically Speaking & Mark Boardman
Attorney Boardman, Carr, Petelos, Watkins & Ogle & Howard, P.C.
Christy Boardman Kuklinski Attorney Balch & Bingham LLP
O u t- o f- S tat e a n d I n t e r n at i o n a l Field Trips The Alabama Ethics Act prohibits a public employee from obtaining a “thing of value” as a result of the employee’s government employment. Does this prohibition mean that an educator accepting an expense-paid trip while serving as a chaperone for students violates the Ethics Act? Fortunately, it does not in most circumstances as the Ethics Act generally allows educators to accompany students on field trips without requiring the educator to pay his or her own way. The Alabama Ethics Act defines a “thing of value” as: “Any gift, benefit, favor, service, gratuity, tickets or passes to entertainment, social or sporting event, unsecured loan, other than those loans and forbearances made in the ordinary course of business, reward, promise of future employment, or honoraria, or any other item of monetary value.”1 Based solely on this definition, an educator who accompanies students as a chaperone would 1 Alabama Code Section 36-25-1(34)(a)
36
Fall Issue 2024