CEO 76-103 -- June 17, 1976

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

HOSPITAL DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER PRIVATELY AN ADMINISTRATOR OF AN EXTENDED CARE FACILITY

To: Linda A. Albright, Member, Board of Trustees, Marion County Hospital District, Ocala

Prepared by: Gene Rhodes

SUMMARY:

The Code of Ethics prohibits a public officer from holding employment with any business entity either subject to the regulation of or doing business with his public agency. Fla. Stat. s. 112.313(7)(1975). This provision is not breached, however, where one employed by a private health care facility sits on the board of trustees of a hospital district where the district neither regulates nor does business with the private facility.

QUESTION:

Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where I, as a member of the board of trustees for a hospital district, am privately employed as administrator of an extended care facility which is privately owned and operated?

Your question is answered in the negative.

You inform us in your letter of inquiry that as a member of the hospital district's board of trustees you participate in setting the policy for the operation of a local hospital. You have advised our staff that the hospital district board of trustees neither does business with nor has any regulatory authority over the health center of which you are an administrator.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees states in relevant part:

CONFLICTING EMPLOYMENT OR CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. -- No public officer or employee of an agency shall have or hold any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the regulation of, or is doing business with, an agency of which he is an officer or employee, excluding those organizations and their officers who, when acting in their official capacity, enter into or negotiate a collective bargaining contract with the state or any municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the state; nor shall an officer or employee of an agency have or hold any employment or contractual relationship that will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his private interests and the performance of his public duties or that would impede the full and faithful discharge of his public duties. [Fla. Stat. s. 112.313(7)(1975).]

The above-quoted provision prohibits a public officer from having employment with any business entity either subject to the regulation of or doing business with his agency. Additionally, a public officer is prohibited from having employment that will create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his private interests and the performance of his public duties. None of these prohibitions are applicable to your situation, as the health center with which you are affiliated neither does business with nor is regulated by your public agency. Moreover, we discern no frequently recurring conflict in the situation you describe. Your question is answered accordingly in the negative.