Outreach and Education Officer Oscar Harvey told the Nevada Commission on Ethics the agency has seen a notable increase in training participation, online course completions and newsletter subscribers this fiscal year.

Harvey reported approximately 1,747 public officers and employees trained in the current fiscal year to date, about 739 completed courses on Nevada Ethics Online this fiscal year, and roughly 242 new newsletter subscribers since the start of the calendar year. Harvey also said the commission has received increased requests for live trainings from agency partners and that an arrangement with several state boards and commissions has led to higher registration and awareness of training offerings.

Harvey said staff are developing an ethics-ambassador toolkit within Nevada Ethics Online to help agency training leads, HR staff and agency counsel disseminate training and materials at the agency level. He also noted staff are exploring the statutory allowance for a possible future cost-recovery model for Nevada Ethics Online users and tracking public- records and public-information requests (about 78 to date this fiscal year), including the commission’s response rates.

On publications, Harvey said the commission refreshed its “cooling off” guide (framed as a guide to leaving public service) and distributed a second newsletter to roughly 1,500 recipients. He told commissioners the agency has begun tracking training and publication metrics quarterly to compare performance against prior fiscal years and that current metrics are outpacing earlier years.

Why it matters: Expanded training and improved digital tools can increase compliance with ethics laws and reduce inadvertent violations by public officers. Translating key documents and building an ambassador toolkit are steps aimed at widening the commission’s reach beyond its existing audience of public officers and boards.