OKLAHOMA CITY — Unhappy with its appropriation, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission on Friday voted to pursue a lawsuit.
The litigation concerns violations of the Oklahoma Constitution and the state ethics rules, said Vice Chairwoman Karen Long, who made the motion.
The commission authorized Chairman John Hawkins to make decisions on behalf of the commission to pursue a lawsuit.
Oklahoma Ethics Commission Executive Director Ashley Kemp would not say if the suit was related to concerns over funding or who would be named as defendant.
But the commission has been vocal about its dissatisfaction on how the Legislature handled its funding.
“We made a motion to authorize litigation against soon-to-be-named respondents,” Kemp said.
The Ethics Commission was upset about its appropriation, she said.
People are also reading…
The Legislature swept the agency’s revolving funds, which include fees assessed by the commission, rather than making an appropriation from the general revenue fund.
The commission asked for a fiscal year 2019 appropriation of $4.5 million for regular operations and for a new open government department to enforce rules governing conduct.
It got $710,000, which falls very short of that, she said.
“The commission has a lot of responsibility for such a small agency,” Kemp said. “Right now, the commission is probably not funded sufficiently to perform all of it responsibilities under the constitutional requirements, and that doesn’t take into account the commission’s jurisdictions and responsibilities as to campaigns at the county, municipal or school district levels, which we also have jurisdiction and enforcement ability over.”
The Oklahoma Ethics Commission was created in 1990 as a constitutional agency by a vote of the people. It oversees and enforces rules governing state campaigns and rules of ethical conduct for state officers and employees.
