Ethics

Public Officers Law Section 73

This law refers to restrictions on the business or professional activities of current and former state employees, excluding unpaid and per-diem employees (“Covered Employees”).

Activities covered include: Outside employment and professional activities, restriction on political activities, nepotism, gifts, honorarium, travel, negotiations on future employment and post-employment restrictions.

Public Officers Law Section 73-A

This law refers to the annual Financial Disclosure Statement ("FDS") required of certain employees who are considered policymakers or whose salary is above certain thresholds.

This includes who is required to file a FDS, the questions to be answered on a Financial Disclosure Statement, penalties for violating the section and how to apply for filing exemptions or deletions.

Public Officers Law Section 74

This law refers to the state Code of Ethics and sets forth the standards to avoid conflicts of interest.

This includes expectations of impartiality, maintaining confidentiality, properly stewarding state resources without securing unwarranted privileges or favors, abstaining from financial conflicts and avoiding conduct that calls into question your integrity.

Civil Service Law Section 107

This law, also known as the Little Hatch Act, prohibits certain political activities and against improper influence.

Read JCOPE Ethics Laws Full Text

You should not accept outside employment that impairs your impartiality in performing your state duties and responsibilities.

You should not accept outside employment or engage in any business or professional activity that requires you to disclose confidential information you have received in your state position.

You should not disclose confidential information you have received in your state position. In addition, you should not use such confidential information to further your personal interests.

You should not use or attempt to use your state position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for yourself or others. This includes, but is not limited to, the misappropriation to yourself or others of the property, services, or other resources of the state for private business or other compensated nongovernmental purposes.

If you are a full-time state employee, you are prohibited from contracting for the provision of goods and services with entities regulated or licensed by your agency.  In addition, this prohibition applies to any entity in which you are a member, and to any corporation a substantial portion of the stock of which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by you.

You should not engage in any transaction as representative or agent of the state with any business entity in which you have direct or indirect financial interest that might reasonably tend to conflict with the proper discharge of your state duties.

You should not make personal investments in enterprises that are directly related to your state duties, or that would create a substantial conflict between your state duties and your private interest.

In your personal and professional life, you should not conduct yourself in such a way that gives the reasonable impression that a person or entity can improperly influence you, or enjoy your favor, in the performance of your state duties.

You should conduct yourself in a manner that does not raise suspicion that you are engaged in personal or official acts that are in violation of the public trust.

An honorarium is any payment, which may take the form of a fee or any other compensation, made to a covered person in consideration for a service performed that is not part of his or her official duties. Such service includes, but is not limited to, delivering a speech, writing, or publishing an article, or participating in any public or private conference, convention, meeting, or similar event. Honorarium shall also include expenses incurred for travel, lodging, and meals related to the service performed.

Request for approval must be submitted in writing to the campus ethics officers or other designated persons before performing the service or activity.  Statewide elected officials and state agency heads (including civil department heads) must submit an approval request to JCOPE.  

Exception: Teaching Faculty are exempt from the honoraria approval procedures (including the conditions for approval) provided that the service performed is within the subject matter of their official academic or research discipline.

Please Note: State officers and employees who are required to file a FDS — even those who are exempt from the honorarium approval requirements — are obligated to report any honorarium in excess of $1,000 (or all honoraria, the total of which exceed $1,000 received from a single offeror) in their Financial Disclosure Statement ("FDS") for the applicable year.

COMPLETE THE HONORARIA APPROVAL FORM

Official Activity Expense Payment is a payment or reimbursement for the cost of attendance, registration, travel, food or lodging related to a covered employee’s official activity. Official activity is a person’s attendance or service at a meeting, conference, seminar, convention or professional program that is part of his or her official duties and benefits their state agency.

Complete the Official Activity Expense Payment

An outside activity is any interest or activity not related to your state employment. An activity may be an occupation, whether paid or unpaid, membership on a board or volunteer work, etc. An outside activity occurs outside of your regular work hours and without utilizing any government resources.

All covered employees should evaluate whether the intended outside activity is appropriate under the rules of Public Officers Law § 73 and is not a conflict of interest under the rules of Public Officers Law § 74.

Prior to engaging in any outside activities, all covered employees should seek advice from their agency ethics officer or JCOPE concerning the appropriateness of such activities under the applicable laws and regulation.

Policymakers have an additional responsibility — they may require approval from their campus, JCOPE or both before pursuing an outside activity. In general, the approval process is based on how much they anticipate earning through their intended outside activity.

Annual Compensation Threshold Amounts for Policymakers

• Greater than $1,000 – Request must be approved by campus ethics officer.
• Greater than $5,000 – Requires JCOPE approval as well as the agency’s prior approval submitted in the Outside Activity Approval Form.

Contact Our Campus Ethics Officer

Generally, you may accept anything valued at $15 or less. If a gift is offered by an “Interested Source,” the acceptance of the gift is generally prohibited.

A gift includes, but is not limited to, money, services, loans, travel, meal refreshments, entertainment, forbearance or a promise having a monetary value.

There are a number of requirements and exceptions when it comes to accepting a gift, so before doing so speak to a campus ethics officer to determine whether or not the gift is prohibited.

Contact Our Campus Ethics Officer

Who Is Required to File a FDS?

• Individuals designated as policy makers by their agency.  SUNY Plattsburgh’s policy makers are the president, vice presidents, deans, associate vice presidents and associate deans; and
• Employees with an annual salary rate in excess of the “filing rate” of a SG-24 CSEA equivalent ($111,897 in 2024).
• In general, part-time employees who serve in a position with an annual full-time salary that exceeds the “filing rate“ are still required to file an FDS even if they actually receive less than the “filing rate” amount in any year.

VIEW THE JCOPE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE AND ETHICS TRAINING REQUIREMENT FLOWCHART

Who is Exempt from Filing

• If you are not a policymaker, JCOPE has the discretion to grant an exemption from filing an FDS in its entirety if:
  • public interest does not require the filer’s FDS to be disclosed; and
  • the filer’s duties do not involve the negotiation, authorization, or approval of:
    • contracts, leases, franchises, revocable consents, concessions, variances, permits, or licenses;
    • the purchase, sale, rental, or lease of real property, goods or services, or a contract therefor;
    • the obtaining of grants of money or loans; or
    • the adoption or repeal of any rule or regulation having the force and effect of law;
  • An exemption from filing an FDS may be requested by an individual or by an agency on behalf of a class of individuals in the same position.

Filing Deadlines

Need help logging into to the JCOPE FDS System?

As a SUNY Employee, you need to login through the SUNY Portal. For more information, see JCOPE's comprehensive directions for SUNY employees

All FDS filers must complete an Online Ethics Orientation (“OEO”) within three months of becoming subject to the FDS filing requirement, and complete periodic ethics training as outlined below.

Note: FDS Filers who are exempted from the requirement to file an FDS are not required to take the OEO.

View the JCOPE Financial Disclosure and Ethics Training Requirement Flowchart

The OEO must be completed within three months of becoming subject to the FDS filing requirement. The OEO is completed by watching a 40-minute video, which is available on demand on JCOPE’s website, and then submitting an attestation to the campus ethics officers who will keep a record of training completion.

Note: The OEO can also be satisfied by completing the Comprehensive Ethics Training Courses within the three-month period.

Complete the Online Ethics Orientation and Attestation

The CETC must be completed within two years from the date of becoming subject to the FDS filing requirement. The CETC is a live, two-hour, instructor-led training that covers the Public Officers Law and other related ethics laws and regulations. 

Learn more about the CETC

Everyone who has taken the CETC is required by law to take an ethics refresher every three years thereafter. The Seminar is a live, one-hour instructor-led training session that guides FDS Filers through the major statutory changes in ethics laws with respect to gifts, honoraria, and outside activities since 2013.  Conflicts of interest and other applicable ethics laws are also covered.  Participants will review real world examples as well as have an opportunity for a question and answer period.

Note: Filers may choose to satisfy this requirement by retaking the CETC instead of the Ethics Seminar.

Learn more about the Ethics Seminar

Upcoming Training Dates

As part of its responsibilities as a NYS Agency, SUNY Plattsburgh periodically offers the comprehensive ethics training and ethics seminar courses for all NYS employees.  In addition, the University at Albany and COELIG offers opportunities to complete these courses.

Comprehensive Ethics Training Course (CETC)

Ethics Seminar

Register for a JCOPE-Led Course