Advisory Opinions
ADVISORY OPINIONS
Advisory opinions are one of the cornerstones of ethics regulation in North Carolina. They allow requesters to receive prospective advice about real life situations they face in their public service, and formal opinions provide the requester with limited immunity if that advice is followed.
Ethics Advisory Opinions provide guidance to State officials regarding the gift ban, conflicts of interest, and other requirements of the Ethics Act.
Lobbying Advisory Opinions provide guidance to registered lobbyists and lobbyist principals regarding the gift ban and the registration and expenditure and payment reporting requirements of the Lobbying Law.
Legislative Advisory Opinions provide guidance to State officials regarding the gift ban, conflicts of interest, and other requirements of the Ethics Act.
Informal Advice:
- is issued by the staff of the State Ethics Commission.
- is confidential, unless confidentiality is waived by the requester.
- is prospective.
- relates to real or reasonably anticipated facts and circumstances.
- may be oral or written, depending on the request.
- is not published.
- is not a public record.
- does not provide immunity to the requester.
- does not preclude the requester from subsequently requesting a formal advisory opinion.
Formal Advisory Opinions:
- are issued by the State Ethics Commission.
- are prospective.
- relate to real or reasonably anticipated facts and circumstances.
- are confidential, unless confidentiality is waived by the requester.
- opinions issued under the Lobbying Law are provided to the Secretary of State’s office in an unedited format on a confidential basis.
- are not public records.
- are edited to protect the requester’s identity and published in an edited format on the Commission’s website within 30 days of issuance.
- if the advice is followed, provides the requester with limited immunity from investigation by the State Ethics Commission and, when applicable, adverse action by the requester’s employing entity.
Recommended Legislative Advisory Opinions:
- are issued by the State Ethics Commission.
- are prospective.
- relate to real or reasonably anticipated facts and circumstances.
- are confidential, unless confidentiality is waived by the requester.
- are provided to the Legislative Ethics Committee in an unedited format on a confidential basis.
- are published in an edited format once the Legislative Ethics Committee rules on the opinion.
- are not public records.
- if the advice is followed, provide the requester limited immunity from the State Ethics Commission and the house of which the legislator is a member until adopted, modified, or overruled by the Legislative Ethics Committee.
- Ethics Informal and Ethics Formal Advisory Opinions – Public servants and legislative employees, their supervisors and legal counsel, individuals responsible for their appointment, and State agency ethics liaisons, and legislators.
- Lobbying Informal Advice and Lobbying Formal Advisory Opinions – Any individual, entity, organization, association, group of persons acting together, state agency, or governmental unit affected by the Lobbying Law.
- Legislative Informal Advice and Recommended Formal Commission Advisory Opinions – Legislators
Informal advice may be requested by:
- Telephone
- Hand delivery
Formal advice must be requested in writing by:
- Hand-delivery
What information should be provided in the request for advice?
- Name of the requester and of the entity represented or involved
- Type of advice requested (e.g. informal (oral or written) or formal)
- The facts and circumstances pertaining to the specific situation
- Specific questions or issues on which the requester is seeking advice
What other information should be provided with the request?
- Relevant documentation, such as a notice of or invitation to an event, or the agenda for a meeting.
How long will it take to receive the advice?
Length of time from the date the request is received until the advice is provided will vary depending on a number of factors such as:
- Completeness of the information provided with the request
- Complexity of the facts and circumstances underlying the request
- Type of advice sought (e.g., informal or formal)
- Format of the advice sought (e.g., oral or written)
- Number of issues raised
- Novelty and complexity of the questions and issues raised
- Number and type of other pending requests
Requested advice is provided as timely as possible pursuant to all applicable factors.
Applicable to gifts received in connection with industry recruitment, promotion of international trade, and the promotion of trade and tourism.