Training

​​​The Commission offers ongoing training sessions for agencies, employees, groups, etc. If your agency or organization wishes to have training for a particular group of officials or employees please contact Susan Stokley Clary at the Commission to arrange a convenient date and place.

C​alendar Year of 2024

Gifts

​​An executive branch employee, spouse or dependent child may not knowingly accept gifts or gratuities totaling a value greater than $25 in a single calendar year, from any person or business that does business with, is regulated by, is seeking grants from, is involved in litigation against, or is lobbying or attempting to influence the actions of the state agency for which the employee works or from any group or association which has as its primary purpose the representation of such persons or businesses. Acceptance of such gifts may appear to be a conflict of interest and may damage public confidence.

Exceptions

As exceptions to the above prohibitions, acceptance of the following gifts is permissible:

• A campaign contribution to an employee’s own campaign if in compliance with the campaign finance laws;
• A gift from a family member;
• Door prizes, available to the public;
• A ticket for admission to a sporting event if the ticket or admission is paid for by the employee at face value.
• A gift or gratuity received by an employee working directly on an economic incentive package or seeking to bring tourism to the state which was not solicited by the employee and was accepted in performance of the employee’s official duty. Such gifts must be registered with the Commission and, if of a tangible value of more than $25, must be turned over to the appropriate agency.
• The Commission may authorize other exceptions where an appearance of impropriety will not be created.

All gifts, including those listed above, received by an elected official or officer as defined in KRS 11A.010(7) which total $200 or more annually from a single source must be disclosed on the employee’s Statement of Financial Disclosure filed annually with the Commission.​​

Leaving State Government

​​You should be aware of this information!

• If you are leaving state government, we provide a "Leaving State Government" brochure of applicable laws located on the right side of this page.
• You may need to file a Statement of Financial Disclosure. Each officer and each public servant listed in KRS 11A.010(9)(a) to (g) who occupied his position for a portion of a calendar year prior to December 31, shall file the statement within 30 days of his/her termination date.

In case of doubt, the law permits you to request an advisory opinion from the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, 1025 Capital Center Drive, Ste. 104, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 (502) 564-7954, FAX (502) 695-5939.

Kentucky Employees Charitable Campaign

Executive Branch Code of Ethics​

The Executive Branch Code of Ethics, which applies to all employees of the executive branch of state government, generally prohibits employees from soliciting and/or accepting gifts or donations from persons or businesses that do business with, are regulated by, are seeking grants from, are involved in litigation against or are lobbying or attempting to influence the actions of, the agency for which the employee works.  However, the legislature created an exception to this general rule in 2002 which allows employees, and their agencies, to raise funds for charitable nonprofit organizations granted a tax exemption by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501c of the Internal Revenue Code.  See KRS 11A.055(1).  The Kentucky Employees Charitable Campaign is such an organization.

According to the Code of Ethics, raising funds for such charitable purposes shall include but not be limited to holding events for the benefit of the charitable organization, contacting potential donors, providing prizes, and engaging in other forms of fundraising and providing the funds thus raised to the charitable organization.

What this means for KECC purposes is that employees of the executive branch may solicit donations from any person or business regardless of that person’s or business’s relationship to the employee’s agency.  It does not matter whether the person or business is doing business with or is regulated by their agency.

When soliciting funds for KECC, employees should keep in mind that:

• All funds donated as a result of such solicitation must be provided directly to KECC.
• Public acknowledgment of a corporate donor to KECC is not permissible if the acknowledgment appears to be an endorsement of the donor by the state.
• No “active” acknowledgments, such as public statements in the newspaper or television, are permitted.
• No acknowledgments that would favor one KECC donor over another are permitted.
• “Static” acknowledgments of a donation, for example, the placement of a sign or marker at an event, the printing of co-sponsors of an event on the back of t-shirts, are permissible, so long as they merely acknowledge the sponsorship (that is, the acknowledgments must be such that they do not serve as advertisements on behalf of the donors).
• The appearance of impropriety may still exist even if the Code of Ethics permits such solicitation.  Agencies and employees should remain mindful of conflicts of interest when conducting fundraising activities for KECC.

Any questions regarding the Executive Branch Code of Ethics and fundraising activities on behalf of KECC should be directed to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission at 502-564-7954.  You may also contact the Commission’s Executive Director directly at  susan.clary@ky.gov.  Additional information is available on our Advisory Opinions page.

Related Documents

• Acceptance of Gifts Guidelines - July 2022​
  
• Ethical Guidelines Boards and Commissions - August 2022
  
• Executive Agency Lobbying Handbook - July 2021
  
• Informational Brochure Update - August 2022
  
• Leaving State Government June 2022
  
• Political Activities - September 2​023