Editor’s note: During the rest of the month leading up to the April 24-30 National Ethics Week sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, The Fairhope Courier will report on some local and related state ethics issues and stories.

FAIRHOPE, Ala. - New ethics legislation passed during a December special session requires many local officials and employees, for the first time, to undergo training about the Alabama Ethics Act.

“There has never been a training requirement before,” said Hugh Evans, general counsel of the Alabama Ethics Commission. “All the training is new.”

According to a memo sent last month to local employees and officials, they have until April 30 to comply. The training consists of either watching an online video, or a DVD, under certain guidelines to obtain certification.

The clerk’s office provided DVD training yesterday and will again during two one-hour sessions on April 21.

“All department heads must allow employees who have access to the internet to watch the online training for a Certificate of Completion and send a copy to my office to file,” City Clerk Lisa Hanks stated in her March 31 memo to officials and employees. “Employees who do not have internet access should be allowed access to the internet or sign up for one of the DVD sessions.”

Employees covered by the new law are those who must file economic interest forms, also known as “ethics forms,” which include those making more than $50,000 a year, or those who hold leadership positions.

Although the new law created a training requirement, it did not provide any sanction for failing to comply.

“The new law does say that the training is mandatory, but it doesn’t provide a mechanism for enforcement,” said James Sumner, ethics commission director.

A letter sent March 4 from the commission to the city sets out the agency’s implementation of the new law.

“If your employees have access to the internet, they must use the online training to complete this requirement,” stated Barbi Lee, chief of the commission’s finance and administrative division. “The only Certificate of Completion that will be provided is through the online training. For those employees who do not have internet access, the DVD is the only option. A letter, signed by someone in authority, must be sent to the Ethics Commission certifying that those employees who watched the DVD have been trained. At that point these individuals will be tagged in our database has being trained.”

For those employees hired after Jan. 1, they have 90 days after being hired to comply.

For information about the the ethics law and the ethics commission, visit the agency’s website at www.ethics.alabama.gov