County Introduces Local Law Amending Ethics and Disclosure Law

GENESEO, N.Y., July 28, 2026 — The Livingston County Board of Supervisors has introduced a local law amending and restating Local Law 2018-3, the "Livingston County Ethics and Disclosure Law."

LIVINGSTON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

INTRODUCTION OF LOCAL LAW

LOCAL LAW NO. D - A LOCAL LAW AMENDING AND RESTATING LOCAL LAW 2018-3 TO AMEND “LIVINGSTON COUNTY ETHICS AND DISCLOSURE LAW”

WHEREAS, Article 18 of the General Municipal Law prohibits the officers and employees of a municipality from having certain conflicts of interest; and

WHEREAS, section 806 of the General Municipal Law requires the governing body of each county to adopt a code of ethics that sets forth for the guidance of its officers and employees standards of conduct reasonably expected of them; and

WHEREAS, a code of ethics adopted by the governing body of a municipality must set forth standards of conduct for the guidance of the officers and employees of the municipality with respect to disclosure of interests in legislation before the local governing body, holding of investments in conflict with official duties, private employment in conflict with official duties, future employment, and such other standards as may be deemed advisable; and

WHEREAS, the Livingston County Board of Supervisors strives to remain at the forefront of municipal transparency, accountability, and public disclosure by aligning its local standards with the highest state benchmarks; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors recognizes that maintaining public trust requires a proactive commitment to regularly reviewing, updating, and modernizing its ethical frameworks to reflect evolving statutory updates and best practices; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Livingston County Ethics and Disclosure Law, as enacted by Local Law 1990-4 and amended under Local Law 2018-3, is hereby amended and restated to read as follows:

Livingston County Ethics and Disclosure Law

County Officials and employees of Livingston County hold their positions to serve and benefit the public, and not for obtaining unwarranted personal or private gain in the use or execution of their official powers and duties. The Livingston County Board of Supervisors recognizes that, in furtherance of this fundamental principle, there is a need for clear and reasonable standards of ethical conduct and disclosure. This code of ethics and disclosure establishes those standards. Any particulars not determined in code of ethics will be construed within the provisions of General Municipal Law Article 18.

The term “code” means this ethics and disclosure law.
“County” means Livingston County or any department, board, executive division, institution, office, branch, bureau, commission, agency, or other division or part thereof.
“County Official” or “County Employee” means a paid or unpaid official or employee of Livingston County including, but not limited to, the local elected officials (County Supervisors, County Clerk, District Attorney, County Treasurer, County Sheriff, and County Coroner).
The term “interest” means a direct or indirect financial or material benefit, but does not include any benefit arising from the provision or receipt of any services generally available to the residents or taxpayers of the County, or a lawful class of such residents or taxpayers. A County Official or Employee is deemed to have an interest in a County contract with a private organization when they or their relative, is an owner, partner, member, director, officer, employee or directly owns more than five percent (5%) of the private organization’s capital stock.
The term “intimate relationship” means a romantic or sexual relationship with another person.
The term “relative” means a spouse, minor or dependent child, minor or dependent step-child, or household member of a County Official or Employee.

This code applies to the officials and employees of Livingston County, and will supersede any prior County ethics and disclosure law. The following provisions will apply in addition to all applicable State and local laws relating to conflicts of interest and ethics including, but not limited to, Article 18 of the General Municipal Law and all rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of the County.

No County Official or Employee will use his or her County position or official powers and duties to secure a financial or material benefit for himself or herself, a relative, or any private organization in which he or she is deemed to have an interest.

Disclosure of interest
When a matter requiring the use of discretion comes before a County Official or Employee, either individually or as a member of a County board or subdivision, and the nature of the matter could result in a conflict of interest to the County Official or Employee, their relative, or any private organization in which they have an interest, the County Official or Employee will disclose in writing the nature of the interest.
The disclosure will be made when the matter requiring disclosure first comes before the County Official or Employee, or when the County Official or Employee first gains knowledge of the interest requiring disclosure, whichever is earlier.
In the case of a person serving in an elected role, the disclosure will be filed with the County Board of Supervisors. In all other cases, the disclosure can be filed with the person’s supervisor or County Board of Supervisors. If filed with the person’s supervisor, the supervisor will provide the disclosure to the County Board of Supervisors.
In addition, in the case of a person serving on a County board, a copy of the disclosure will be filed with the applicable County board. Any disclosure made to a County board will be made publicly at a meeting of that County board and must be included in the minutes of the meeting.
Annual statement of financial disclosure
All County Officials (local elected officials, department heads, directors, deputy directors, secretary or clerk of department head/director/local elected official, chair of County board/commission appointed by the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors) must annually file a statement of financial disclosure with the County Compliance Officer. The statement adopted by the Board of Supervisors will be completed and returned on or before May 15^th of the employment year. The County Compliance Officer will index and maintain on file each disclosure statement.
In addition to returning the statement of financial disclosure as prescribed above, any County Official who has or will timely file an application for automatic extension with the Internal Revenue Service for his or her individual income tax return for the immediately preceding calendar or fiscal year will file a supplementary statement for any item noted on the annual statement of financial disclosure within fifteen (15) days of the expiration of the automatic extension.
Any County Official who is required to file an annual statement of financial disclosure may request, prior to May 1^st of the employment year, an extension of filing for an additional specific period of time. The request will be submitted in writing to the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, or their designee, with approval based upon substantiation of justifiable cause or undue hardship. The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, or their designee, may grant or deny the request, and extensions will only be for the specific period of additional time requested.
Any County Official required to file an annual statement of financial disclosure who is hired or appointed after May 15^th of the employment year will complete the statement of financial disclosure during their new employee onboarding.
If a person required to file a statement of financial disclosure fails to file or files a deficient statement, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, or their designee, will notify the person in writing, state the failure to file or detail the deficiency, provide the person with a fifteen (15) day period to cure the deficiency, and advise the person of the penalties for failure to comply with the reporting requirements. Such notice will be confidential. If the person fails to make such filing or fails to cure the deficiency within the specified time period, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors will send a notice of delinquency to the County Administrator.
In the event there is a change in the information contained in the most recently filed statement of financial disclosure, the reporting person will file a signed amendment to the statement indicating the change within thirty (30) days of the change.

No County Official or Employee may participate in any decision or take any official action for any matter requiring the use of discretion, including discussing the matter and voting on it, when a conflict or potential conflict of interest exists for them or a relative.
In the event that this section prohibits a County Official or Employee from using or executing a power or duty:
if the power or duty is granted to a County Official or Employee as a member of a County board, then the power or duty will be used or carried out by the other members of that County board; or
if the power or duty that is granted to a County Official or Employee individually, then the power or duty will be used or carried out by his or her deputy or, if the officer does not have a deputy, the power or duty will be performed by another person to whom the County Official may lawfully delegate the function.
if the power or duty is granted to a County Official or Employee, he or she must refer the matter to his or her immediate supervisor, and the immediate supervisor will designate another person to exercise or perform the power or duty.

This code’s prohibition on use of a County position (section 4), disclosure requirements (section 5), and requirements relating to participation removal (section 6), will not apply to the following matters:
adoption of the County’s annual budget;
any matter requiring the use of discretion that directly affects any of the following groups of people or a lawful class of such groups:
1. all County Officials or Employees;
2. all residents or taxpayers of Livingston County; or
3. the general public; or
any matter that does not require the use of discretion.
Participation removal will not be required for any matter:
which comes before a County board when a majority of the board’s total membership would otherwise be prohibited from acting by section 6 of this code; or
which comes before a County Official when the official would be prohibited from acting by section 6 of this code and the matter cannot be lawfully delegated to another person.

No County Official or Employee may acquire the following investments:

investments that can be reasonably expected to require more than sporadic participation removal under section 6 of this code; or
investments that would otherwise impair the person’s independence of judgment in the use or executing of his or her official powers and duties.
1. This section does not prohibit a County official or employee from acquiring any other investments or the following assets:
real property located within the County and used as his or her personal residence;
less than five percent (5%) of the stock of a publicly traded corporation; or
bonds or notes issued by the County and acquired more than one year after the date the bonds or notes were originally issued.

No County Official or Employee, during his or her tenure as a County Official or Employee, may engage in any private employment or provide commercial, professional, or other types of services to a business when the employment:

can be reasonably expected to require more than sporadic participation removal pursuant to section 6 of this code;
can be reasonably expected to require disclosure or use of confidential information gained by reason of serving as a County Official or Employee;
violates section 805-a(1)(c) or (d) of the General Municipal Law; or
requires representation of a person or organization other than the County in connection with litigation, negotiations, or any other matter to which the County is a party.

No County Official or Employee may solicit, pursue, or accept a private post-government employment opportunity with any person or organization that has a matter requiring the use of discretion pending before the County Official or Employee, either individually or as a member of a County board, while the matter is pending or within the thirty (30) days following final disposition of the matter.
No former County Official or Employee, for the two-year period after serving as a County Official or Employee, may represent or provide services to a private person or organization in connection with any matter involving the use of discretion before the County office, board, department or comparable organizational unit for which he or she served, without prior written approval from the County Administrator or his or her designee.
No County Official or Employee, at any time after serving as a County Official or Employee, may represent or provide services to a private person or organization in connection with any particular transaction in which he or she personally and substantially participated while serving as a County Official or Employee, without prior written approval from the County Administrator or his or her designee.

This code will not be interpreted as prohibiting a County Official or Employee from:

representing himself or herself, or relative, before the County; or
asserting a claim against the County on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of his or her relative.

County resources will be used for lawful County purposes. County resources include, but are not limited to, County personnel, and the County’s money, vehicles, equipment, materials, supplies, or other property.
No County Official or Employee may use or permit the use of County resources for personal or private purposes, but this provision will not be interpreted as prohibiting:

any use of County resources authorized by law or County policy;
the use of County resources for personal or private purposes when provided to a County Official or Employee as part of his or her compensation; or
the occasional and incidental use during the business day of County telephones and computers for necessary personal matters such as family care and changes in work schedule.
1. No County Official or Employee will cause the County to spend more than is reasonably necessary for transportation, meals, or lodging in connection with official travel.

No County Official or Employee may take action or participate in any manner in their official capacity in the discussions, negotiation, or award of any contract or in any business or professional dealings in which the County Official or Employee has or will have an interest.
Every County Official or Employee will disclose interests in contracts with the County at the time the interest is known, and in the manner specified in section 5.

Except as otherwise required by law:

No County Official or Employee, either individually or as a member of a County board, may participate in any decision to appoint, hire, promote, discipline, or discharge a relative or an individual with whom the County Official or Employee has engaged in any intimate relationship for any position at, for, or within the County or a County board.
No County Official or Employee may supervise a relative or an individual with whom the County Official or Employee has engaged in any intimate relationship in the performance of that person’s official powers or duties. This includes, but is not limited to, serving on a committee of the Board of Supervisors which oversees a department in which such an individual is employed.

No County Official or Employee will directly or indirectly coerce or persuade a subordinate County Official or Employee to make, or promise to make, any political contribution, whether by gift of money, service, or other thing of value.
No County Official or Employee may act or decline to act in relation to appointing, hiring, or promoting, discharging, disciplining, or in any manner changing the official rank, status, or compensation of any County Official or Employee, or an applicant for a position as a County Official or Employee, on the basis of the giving or withholding or neglecting to make any contribution of money or service or any other valuable thing for any political purpose.

No County Official or Employee who gains confidential (financial or other) information in the course of executing his or her official powers or duties may disclose or use such information unless the disclosure or use is required by law or in the course of exercising or performing his or her official powers and duties.

No County Official or Employee may directly or indirectly solicit any gift relating to his or her role as a County Official or Employee.
No County Official or Employee may accept or receive any gift, or multiple gifts from the same donor, having a combined annual value of seventy-five dollars ($75) or more when:
the gift reasonably appears to be intended to influence the County Official or Employee in using or executing his or her official powers or duties;
the gift could reasonably be expected to influence the County Official or Employee in the using or executing his or her official powers or duties; or
the gift is intended as a reward for any official action, or use of discretion involving any official action, on the part of the County Official or Employee.
For purposes of this section, a “gift” includes anything of value, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing or promise, or in any other form. The value of a gift is the gift’s fair market value, determined by the retail cost of the item or a comparable item. The fair market value of a ticket entitling the holder to food, refreshments, entertainment, or any other benefit is the face value of the ticket, or the actual cost to the donor, whichever is greater. Determination of whether multiple gifts from a single donor exceed seventy-five dollars ($75) must be made by adding together the value of all gifts received from the donor by a County Official or Employee during the twelve-month period preceding the receipt of the most recent gift.
A gift to a County Official or Employee is presumed to be intended to influence the use or executing of his or her official powers or duties when the gift is from a private person or organization that seeks County action involving the use of discretion by or with the participation of the County Official or Employee.
A gift to a County Official or Employee is presumed to be intended as a reward for official action when the gift is from a private person or organization that has obtained County action involving the use of discretion by or with the participation of the County Official or Employee during the preceding twelve (12) months.
This section does not prohibit any other gift, including:
gifts made to the County;
gifts from a person with a family or personal relationship with the County official or Employee when the circumstances make it clear that the personal relationship, rather than the recipient's status as a County Official or Employee, is the primary motivating factor for the gift;
gifts given on special occasions, such as marriage, illness, or retirement, which are modest, reasonable, and customary;
unsolicited advertising or promotional material of little intrinsic value, such as pens, pencils, note pads, and calendars;
awards and plaques having a value of seventy-five dollars ($75) or less which are publicly presented in recognition of service as or to a County Official or Employee, or other service to the community; or
meals and refreshments provided when a County Official or Employee is a speaker or participant at a job-related professional or educational conference or program and the meals and refreshments are made available to all participants.

(a) The County Compliance Officer is hereby designated to administer this code of ethics. The Compliance Officer shall serve as the primary authority to ensure compliance, oversee ethics training, and maintain all required records. To the extent that the County Compliance Officer is temporarily unavailable or unable to fulfill the function and responsibilities under this section 18, the Board of Supervisors shall designate the County Administrator, County Attorney, or Clerk of the Board of Supervisors to temporarily fulfill these functions and responsibilities.

(b) Upon request, the Compliance Officer shall render confidential advisory opinions to County Officials and Employees regarding the application of Article 18 of the General Municipal Law and this code. The Compliance Officer may consult with the County Attorney or designated legal counsel to review complex legal matters before issuing a final opinion.

(c) The Compliance Officer shall periodically review this code and submit recommended amendments to the County Board of Supervisors to reflect changing legal standards and organizational needs.

The County Administrator must promptly have a copy of this code, and a copy of any amendment to this code, be posted publicly and visibly in each building under the County’s control. The code must be posted within ten days following the date on which the code takes effect. An amendment to the code must be posted within ten days following the date on which the amendment takes effect and be distributed to every person who is or becomes a County Official or Employee.
Every County Official or Employee who receives a copy of this code or an amendment to the code must acknowledge such receipt in writing. Such acknowledgments must be filed with the County Compliance Officer who must maintain the acknowledgments as a public record.
The failure to post this code or an amendment to the code does not affect either the applicability or enforceability of the code or the amendment. The failure of a County Official or Employee to receive a copy of this code of ethics or an amendment to the code, or to acknowledge receipt in writing, does not affect either the applicability or enforceability of the code or amendment to the code.

Any County Official or Employee who violates this code may be warned, suspended, or removed from office or employment or be subject to any other sanction authorized by law and/or contract.

This code takes effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State of New York.

Dated at Geneseo, New York

July 22, 2026 (Introduced)

___, 2026 (Adopted)

Michele R. Rees, CLBC, IIMC-CMC

Clerk of the Board

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