Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ethics Code topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council restores references to five state statutes in city ethics code
Summary
Ordinance No. 15-20-25 passed 7-0 to restore five state statute references (official misconduct, bribery, ghost employment, conflicts of interest, profiteering) to Valparaiso's municipal ethics code that were omitted from the published code.
The Valparaiso Common Council unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 15-20-25 on July 28 to update the municipal ethics code by restoring five state statute references that had been included in the original 2006 ordinance but did not appear in the published municipal code.
Councilwoman Hunt described the change as a housekeeping measure. She said the city's ethics ordinance, adopted in 2006 and amended later, originally listed several state statutes that address official misconduct, bribery, ghost employment, conflicts of interest and profiteering from public services; those references were not present in the published code. The ordinance restores those code-section references to match the original 2006 ordinance.
Council discussion noted that criminal statutes remain governed by state law and that ethics rules and criminal law serve different functions: ethics bodies can apply higher standards and can refer potential criminal matters to the Porter County prosecutor. City staff and council members said restoring the references is intended to make the municipal code more informative and consistent with earlier legislative intent.
The council called the roll and recorded a unanimous vote of 7-0 to adopt the ordinance.
