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March 26, 2004 Governor Signs Robling Bill Clarifying Conflict of Interest Laws St. Paul – A bill sponsored by State Senator Claire Robling (R-Jordan) and Representative Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) was among the first bills of the current session to be signed into law by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The bill enables a manager of the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District to resume the position he resigned recently for fear of conflict of interest charges. Current law states that “a public officer who is authorized to take part in any manner in making any sale, lease, or contract in official capacity shall not voluntarily have a personal financial interest in that sale, lease, or contract or personally benefit financially therefrom.” Violation of this law is a gross misdemeanor. The Robling/Beard bill allows watershed district members and soil and water conservation district supervisors to declare a potential conflict of interest and become excused from voting on this issue. This process is currently allowed for officials of numerous other councils, boards, and port authorities, but watershed districts and soil and water conservation districts did not have this express authority until the Robling/Beard bill was approved. The problem was called to the legislators’ attention after the wife of a Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District manager was hired by a law firm that has provided legal advice to the district and the manager felt it necessary to resign. “We were in danger of losing a highly qualified manager for our watershed district because of confusion in the law,” said Robling. “The new law is effective immediately, so our valued manager can return to service without fear of prosecution, and other managers and supervisors won’t have to face this problem in the future.” ### |
