HB179 Summary

• Requires the Attorney General, district attorneys, and law enforcement agencies that initiate ethics investigations to notify and cooperate with the State Ethics Commission and prohibits presenting ethics violations to grand juries without a commission referral (except for commission members or employees).

• Expands the State Ethics Commission from 5 to 6 members with 6-year terms, adds presiding judges of appellate courts and the President Pro Tem of the Senate as appointing officials, and requires diverse representation.

• Moves the criminal prohibition against using official authority to influence voting or political action from the elections code to the ethics code and revises definitions, penalties, and enforcement procedures.

• Authorizes the commission to issue public reprimands or private censures for minor violations where no economic gain was realized, and allows administrative resolution of complaints upon unanimous commission vote and prosecutor approval.

• Establishes prosecution statutes of limitations with 4 years for felony prosecutions and 2 years for misdemeanor prosecutions under the ethics code; effective July 1, 2020.