CEO 82-92 -- December 10, 1982

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

STATE REPRESENTATIVE EMPLOYED BY NONPROFIT CORPORATION RECEIVING STATE AND COUNTY FUNDS

To: The Honorable Willie Logan, State Representative, District 108

SUMMARY:

No prohibited conflict of interest exists where a State Representative is employed as executive director of a nonprofit corporation which receives state and county funding. Previous opinions CEO 81-6, CEO 80-7, and CEO 77-129 are referenced.

QUESTION:

Does a prohibited conflict of interest exist where you, a State Representative, are employed as Executive Director of a nonprofit corporation which receives State and County funding?

Your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that you have been elected as a State Representative and that you are employed as Executive Director of a nonprofit corporation which has the primary goal of revitalizing the Opa Locka community, a section in northwest Dade County. The project, you advise, includes the industrialization of approximately 294 acres of property located in the Opa Locka airport and is funded by both the State and the County.

For the reasons expressed in previous opinions CEO 81-6, CEO 80-7, and CEO 77-129, we find that the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees would not prohibit you from retaining your present employment while serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Accordingly, we find that no prohibited conflict of interest exists where you are employed as Executive Director of a nonprofit corporation which is funded by the State and the County.

While your letter of inquiry does not reference any particular matter upon which you may be called to vote, we would refer you to previous opinions CEO 81-12, CEO 80-61, CEO 79-14, and CEO 77-129 regarding voting conflicts of interest. If in the future a question arises in a particular context, we would be able to provide more specific guidance.