New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 1 - GENERAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 8 - STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
Part 4 - CODE OF ETHICS
Section 1.8.4.10 - HONEST SERVICES; AVOIDING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Universal Citation: 1 NM Admin Code 1.8.4.10
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Outside employment.
(1) Duty to avoid conflicts from outside
employment. An officer or employee of this agency engaged in paid employment
for a business shall ensure that the employment does not conflict with the
duties of state employment.
(2)
Disclosure of outside employment. An officer or employee having permissible
outside employment shall:
(a) file with the
employee's supervisor, or other officer or employee that this agency
designates, a signed statement explaining the outside employment and why it
does not create a conflict;
(b) the
disclosure statement shall include the name of the officer or employee, the
name and general nature of the business, the hours that the officer or employee
will work, and the reasons why the work does not create a conflict of interest
with the officer's or employee's public duties;
(c) in the disclosure statement, the officer
or employee shall additionally commit to disclose any potential conflict of
interest that may arise during the officer or employee's work with the
business.
B. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and disqualification.
(1)
Disclosure
of financial interests.
(a)
Mandatory financial disclosure by officers and agency heads. An
officer or head of this agency must disclose financial interests to the
Secretary of State on the form provided by the Secretary of State.
(b)
Disclosure of financial interests:
contents; when filed. The disclosure required by 1.8.4.10.B(1)(a) NMAC
shall be filed within 30 days of taking office and each January thereafter and
shall disclose the following financial interests of the filing individual and
the filing individual's spouse, for the prior calendar year:
(i) current employer and the nature of the
business or occupation, including self-employment information;
(ii) all sources of gross income over $5,000,
identified by one of the following general category descriptions that disclose
the nature of the income: law practice or consulting operation or similar
business, finance and banking, farming and ranching, medicine and health care,
insurance (as a business and not as a payment on an insurance claim), oil and
gas, transportation, utilities, general stock market holdings, bonds,
government, education, manufacturing, real estate, consumer goods sales with a
general description of the consumer goods and the category "other," with a
general description of the other income source;
(iii) real estate owned in the state other
than the personal residence;
(iv)
other business interests of $10,000 or greater value in a New Mexico business
or entity, including any position held and a general statement of purpose of
the business or entity;
(v)
memberships on boards of for-profit businesses in New Mexico;
(vi) New Mexico professional licenses
held;
(vii) sales to state agencies
exceeding $5,000 for the prior year; and
(viii) state agencies before which clients
were represented or assisted during the prior year.
(c)
Officers and employees required to
disclose potentially conflicting financial interests; when filed. An
officer or employee of this agency must file a disclosure of financial
interests when the officer or employee believes, or has reason to believe, that
their financial interest may be affected by their official acts or actions of
the state agency that employs them. The disclosure must be filed before
entering state employment or within ten days of the date when the officer or
employee knows, or should know, that a potential conflict has arisen and
thereafter each subsequent January, so long as the conflict or potential
conflict continues to exist.
(d)
Financial disclosure statements are public records. All
disclosures required under this subsection are public records.
(2)
Disqualification from
acts affecting financial interests. An officer or employee of this
agency may not take official acts for the purpose of enhancing their financial
interests. An officer or employee must be disqualified from any matters that
could directly enhance or diminish the officer's or employee's financial
interest. If disqualified, then the officer or employee shall refrain from
acting on a matter involving the disqualifying financial interest.
(3)
Disclosure of non-profit board
memberships. An officer or employee of this agency shall disclose within
30 days of taking office and each January thereafter all memberships on
non-profit boards.
C. Business with regulated entities.
(1)
Sales to regulated persons. An officer or employee of this agency
may not directly or indirectly sell goods or services to, or profit from a
transaction with, a business or individual over whom this agency has regulatory
authority.
(2)
No acceptance
of job or contract offers from regulated entities. An officer or
employee of this agency may not accept an offer of employment from, or a
contract to provide goods or services to any entity that this agency regulates.
An officer or employee shall disqualify themselves from any official act or
decision involving a business in which an immediate family member is employed
or in which the officer or employee seeks employment.
(3)
Ordinary transactions at market
rates allowed. Nothing in this rule prevents an officer or employee from
purchasing or contracting for services or goods from a regulated entity on the
same bases that are available to other members of the public.
D. Accepting or Giving Gifts.
(1)
Gifts from restricted
donors.
(a) An officer or employee of
this agency may not, directly or indirectly, solicit a gift from a restricted
donor.
(b) An officer or employee
of this agency may not, directly or indirectly accept, and must decline, an
unsolicited gift with a market value in excess of $250 from a restricted donor
or any other person who offers the gift because of the donee's status as an
officer or employee of this agency. No more than one such gift or gifts having
a total value of $250 may be accepted by the same officer or employee within a
single calendar year, and any such gift must be disclosed as required by
paragraph 5 of this subsection.
(2)
Gifts and business from
subordinates. An officer or employee of this agency may not, directly
or indirectly:
(a) accept a gift from an
employee having a lower grade or receiving less pay, unless the donor and donee
are not in a subordinate-superior relationship and there is a personal
relationship between the donor and recipient that would justify the
gift.
(b) solicit business from a
supervised employee where the business redounds to the financial interest of
the officer or employee or an immediate family member.
(3)
Soliciting gifts for charities.
An officer or employee of this agency may not solicit or require a
charitable donation from any business, or an agent of any business, regulated
by or contracting with this agency; nor from any employees that the officer or
employee supervises.
(4)
Declining permissible gifts. An officer or employee of this agency
shall consider declining an otherwise permissible gift if they believe that a
reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question the
officer or employee's integrity or impartiality as a result of accepting the
gift. Among other relevant factors, the officer or employee shall take into
account whether:
(a) the gift has a high
market value;
(b) the timing of the
gift creates the appearance that the donor is seeking to influence an official
action;
(c) the gift is offered by
a person or business entity who has interests that may be substantially
affected by the performance or nonperformance of the officer or employee's
duties; and
(d) acceptance of the
gift would provide the donor with significantly disproportionate access to an
officer or employee.
(5)
Disclosure of offers or gifts from restricted donors. If a
restricted donor offers a gift of any value to an officer or employee of this
agency, or if an officer or employee of this agency receives a gift of any
value from a restricted donor, the officer or employee shall report to their
supervisor: the date the offer or gift was made or received, the name of the
donor and the donor's relationship to the agency, the nature and value of the
gift, and whether the officer or employee accepted or refused the
gift.
(6)
Certain donations
of private funds prohibited. No officer or employee of this agency may
give:
(a) a gift from their own funds to any
person with whom their agency is doing business, or considering doing business,
under circumstances which may appear to favor the recipient over other
similarly situated persons; or
(b)
a gift to any other state officer or employee when the gift may be, or may
appear to be, intended to influence any official decision by the
recipient.
(7)
Certain donations of public funds prohibited. No officer or employee of
this agency may give to any person any gift from public funds, unless the gift:
(a) is a service appreciation award of de
minimis value; or
(b) does not
violate the Anti-Donation Clause, Section 14 of Article 9 of the New Mexico
Constitution.
E. Honoraria; no solicitation or acceptance of honoraria permitted for speaking or writing.
(1) An officer or employee of this agency may
not request or receive honoraria for a speech or service that relates to the
performance of public duties; provided that an officer or employee of this
agency may accept reasonable reimbursement for meals, lodging or actual travel
expenses incurred in making the speech or rendering the service.
(2) An officer or employee of this agency may
accept payment for services rendered in the normal course of a private business
pursuit.
F. Timekeeping, reimbursement, and use of state property.
(1) An officer or employee of this agency
must work during the hours required and report time accurately.
(2) An officer or employee of this agency
shall not claim reimbursement in excess of what is necessary and incidental to
an official duty or action.
(3) An
officer or employee of this agency shall limit personal use of state office
supplies and assigned equipment, such as computers and telephones, and
otherwise shall not use state property or expend state funds for private
purposes.
G. Procurement.
(1)
Fair and
equitable treatment of persons involved in public procurement. An
officer or employee of this agency shall treat persons involved in public
procurement fairly and equitably.
(2)
Maximizing the value of public
funds. An officer or employee of this agency involved in procurement
shall endeavor to maximize the purchasing value of public funds.
(3)
Conflicts of interest prohibited;
Intra-agency waiver.
(a) An officer or
employee of this agency shall not participate directly or indirectly in a
procurement when the officer or employee, or their immediate family member, has
a financial interest in a business participating in the procurement.
(b) An officer or employee of this agency who
is participating directly or indirectly in procuring goods or services for this
agency shall not be concurrently employed by any person or business contracting
with this agency.
(c) A conflict of
interest under subparagraphs (a) or (b) this Paragraph may be waived by this
agency, if the contemporaneous employment or financial interest has been
publicly disclosed, the officer or employee is able to perform procurement
functions without actual or apparent bias or favoritism, and the officer or
employee's participation is in the best interests of this agency.
(d) This agency may not contract with a
business in which any officer or employee of the agency, or a family member,
has a substantial financial interest; however, the agency may enter such a
contract if the officer or employee publicly discloses the substantial
financial interest and the contract is awarded through a competitive
process.
(e) The requirement to
make public disclosure pursuant to subparagraphs (c) and (d) of paragraph (3)
of this subsection shall be satisfied by correspondence to the state purchasing
agent and by posting the required disclosure in a prominent place on the
webpage of the state agency.
(4)
Due diligence by agency.
(a)
Participation by person submitting
bid or proposal. An officer or employee of this agency, having
responsibilities for evaluating or overseeing a bid or proposal shall exercise
due diligence in ensuring that any person or parties submitting bids or
proposals do not participate or contribute any knowledge, guidance or
explanation in the preparation or receive any advance notice of specifications,
qualifications or evaluation criteria on which the specific bid or proposal
will be based.
(b)
Campaign
contribution disclosure and prohibition. An officer or employee of this
agency who participates, directly or indirectly, in procuring goods or services
for this agency shall exercise due diligence to ensure that the prospective
contractor:
(i) does not give a campaign
contribution or other thing of value to a person elected to an office or a
person appointed to complete a term of elected office who has the authority to
award or influence the award of a contract into which the prospective
contractor seeks to enter; and
(ii)
discloses all campaign contributions, where such contributions in the aggregate
exceed $250 in the two years before the beginning of the procurement process,
given by the prospective contractor or a family member or representative of the
prospective contractor to a person elected to an office or a person appointed
to complete a term of elected office who has the authority to award or
influence the award of a contract into which the prospective contractor seeks
to enter.
H. Former officers and employees.
(1)
Contracting. This agency may not contract with or take any other
favorable action toward a person or business that is:
(a) represented by a person who was an
officer or employee of this agency within two years of the date of the
officer's or employee's separation from this agency, or
(b) assisted by a former officer or employee
of this agency whose official act while in state employment directly resulted
in the contract or action. This subparagraph applies regardless of the length
of time since the officer or employee left the agency.
(c) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent
an agency from contracting with a former employee on terms that otherwise
comply with state law and the provisions of this code.
(2)
Restrictions on former officers or
employees representing a person in the person's dealings with this agency.
(a) A former officer or employee of
this agency is prohibited from representing anyone in dealings with this agency
on any matter in which the officer or employee participated personally and
substantially during their employment with this agency.
(b) A former officer or employee of this
agency may not, for two years after the termination of their employment with
this agency, represent for pay a person on any matter before this agency,
regardless of whether they were involved in that matter personally.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Mexico may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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