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Senator objects to proposed counsel for Senate Ethics Committee, calls for impartial selection
Summary
Senator Heather Smith told colleagues she cannot accept the proposed counsel for the Ethics Committee, calling the person a "known partisan" and noting the draft contract lists the Senate president as the client; members debated who has hiring authority and whether staff counsel can suffice.
Senator Heather Smith told the Senate Ethics Committee on Jan. 27 that she was "not comfortable with that identified council," saying the person proposed as committee counsel has made public statements that she views as partisan and biased against the respondent.
"I am not comfortable with that identified council, and I'll tell you why," Smith said, adding that the proposed contract names the Senate president as the client rather than the committee. "The client that's identified in this proposed contract is the president. The client isn't the committee," she said, urging that counsel for a fact-finding ethics process be impartial and, if hired, chosen with committee input.
Other members pushed back on process and authority. Several members said the Senate president has the prerogative to hire counsel and that this committee lacks authority to enter into its own contract. Senator Pope and others said any outside counsel should represent the committee process if used, while some members said staff counsel can provide necessary procedural guidance and that retaining a separate contracted attorney could be unnecessary and costly.
Senator Smith proposed, and offered to provide, a list of alternative, nonpartisan attorneys for the committee's consideration. The committee did not vote on counsel at the organizational meeting; members agreed to continue discussions with the president and staff outside the public meeting.
The disagreement centered on two issues: whether the committee or the Senate president is the contracting "client," and whether the committee should accept counsel perceived as partisan. Smith framed the issue as a fairness and public-trust concern, saying the ethics process must be visibly impartial. Other members emphasized procedural constraints and the president's statutory hiring authority.
The committee adjourned with counsel selection unresolved; members said they would continue the conversation before or at the initial meeting on Feb. 3.
