The General Assembly passed the “Comprehensive Governmental Ethics Reform Act of 2006” in February of 2006, which is codified at T.C.A. § 8-17-101 et seq. Among other provisions, the Ethics Reform Act requires local governments to adopt ethical standards related to the acceptance of gifts and disclosure of conflicts of interest and directs CTAS to develop a model policy.
We have updated the CTAS Model Ethics Policy due to changes in the law since the Model Policy was first drafted. Specifically, in 2021, Public Chapter 472 was enacted, which amends T.C.A. § 5-21-121, the conflict-of-interest provision of the County Financial Management System of 1981. In 2022, Public Chapter 700 was enacted, which amends T.C.A. § 5-14-114, the conflict-of-interest provision of County Purchasing Law of 1957.
Adoption of Ethics Policy
Adoption of the updated CTAS model policy is not required. The county can keep using the policy it adopted in 2007. If the county adopts the updated model policy as it is written with no changes, the county may simply notify the State Ethics Commission in writing at the address below that the county has adopted the updated model policy.
Tennessee Ethics Commission
404 James Robertson Parkway
Ste. 104
Nashville, TN 37243
(615) 741-7959
Learn more about county ethics policies in our electronic library, e-Li: https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/eli/county-ethics-policies