11 ethics seminars in the offing

Three opportunities to be held in conjunction with NCACC district meetings in April

Three of the six NCACC district meetings scheduled for this April will include a two-hour seminar on ethics that will help county officials meet a new statutory requirement. Ethics training will also be offered in conjunction with three N.C. League of Municipalities district meetings, the four remaining Local Elected Leaders Academy (LELA) Regional LeaderShops on Local Finance: Making Sense of Annual Financial Statements, and a School of Government webinar scheduled for March 25.

There is no charge to attend the ethics training seminars held in conjunction with the NCACC and NCLM district meetings, however separate registration is required. The ethics training held during the Regional LeaderShops are for registrants of the LeaderShops.

The NCACC district meetings scheduled for April 13 in Haywood County, April 14 in Cleveland County and April 21 in Beaufort County will include the ethics component. The remaining NCACC district meetings will be held April 8 in Halifax County, April 22 in Duplin County and April 27 in Forsyth County. The ethics training will be offered from 1:15 – 3:30 p.m. All district meetings will run from 5 – 7:30 p.m. and will include dinner.

The registration form for the NCACC district meetings is online at www.ncacc.org/districtmeetings_0410.html. County and city elected officials who wish to attend an ethics training seminar held in conjunction with an NCACC district meeting must complete the registration form available online at www.ncacc.org/ethicstraining_2010.html.

NCLM district meetings to be held April 15 in Columbus County, April 15 in Randolph County and April 20 in Johnston County will include the training. The ethics training will be held from 1:15 – 3:30 p.m. County officials who wish to attend an ethics training seminar held in conjunction with an NCLM district meeting must register through the NCLM. For more information on the NCLM offerings, visit www.nclm.org.

The School of Government's Regional LeaderShop on "Local Finance: Making Sense of Annual Financial Statements" concludes with ethics training. Remaining LeaderShop dates and locations are Jan. 29 in Cabarrus County, Feb. 17 in Pitt County, Feb. 24 in Buncombe County and March 3 in Dare County. For more information and to register for a LeaderShop, visit www.sog.unc.edu/courses/1641/. There is a $175 fee to attend the LeaderShop.

For commissioners who cannot attend a training session in person, the School of Government is hosting an ethics training webinar on March 25 from 4 – 6 p.m. Note that elected officials using this option must have their respective governing boards determine that the webinar is a "qualified source" under G.S. 160A-84(c). For information on the webinar, visit www.sog.unc.edu/programs/ethics/training_opportunities.php. There will be a fee to register.

In 2009, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Session Law 2009-403 (H1452), enacting a new Part 3A of Article 5 of Chapter 160A, which requires governing boards of cities, counties, local boards of education, unified governments, sanitary districts and consolidated city-counties to adopt a resolution or policy containing a code of ethics and to receive two hours of ethics training by Jan. 1, 2011. Subsequent training is required of elected officials after each election.

The law states the required training may be provided by the NCACC, the NCLM, the School of Government or other qualified sources at the choice of the governing board.

The School of Government is creating a template to guide units of local government in developing and adopting codes of ethics. For more information on the new ethics requirements, visit www.ncacc.org/ethics_092409.html.