PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE:

There will be a meeting of the Dutchess County Board of Ethics on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 , 2024 starting at 11AM, until 12PM.

The public has the right to attend at the Dutchess County Department of Law, 22 Market Street, 5th floor, Poughkeepsie, New York, 12601.

Public Comments will also be accepted verbally, up to three minutes per person, for a total of up to thirty minutes in the aggregate at the end of the meeting. Each person may only speak once up to three minutes.

PURPOSE OF THE MEETING:

This meeting of the Board of Ethics shall be for the purpose of reviewing 2023 Financial Disclosure Statements and reviewing proposed Board of Ethics rules regarding extensions to file Financial Disclosure Statements and recommended amendments to the Dutchess County Code of Ethics:

A. Suggested revisions to Dutchess County Code of Ethics are highlighted in yellow on the attached Code (.pdf).

I. At Section 40-2, existing version of Code of Ethics would be repealed and new version enacted. This allows for incorporation of all amendments into one document rather than having an underlying local law and a subsequent related “Amendment” local law.

II. At Section 40-8(C), blank financial disclosure statements (FDS) will be provided to the Board of Elections for candidates who have seven days from the filing of their candidacy designating petitions to file such FDS with the Board of Ethics.

III. At Section 40-8(G), elaborates on Board of Ethics obligation to publish names of candidates who do not timely file their FDS.

B. Dutchess County Code of Ethics Section 10(e) (.pdf) states that:

“Any person who is required to file an annual financial disclosure statement and who is granted an additional period of time within which to file such statement due to justifiable cause or undue hardship in accordance with the rules and regulations on the subject adopted by the appropriate body [defined at Dutchess County Code of Ethics Section 4(a) as the Dutchess county Board of Ethics] shall file such statement within the additional period of time granted.”

The Dutchess County Board of Ethics has never formally adopted “rules and regulations” governing the granting of extensions based on justifiable cause or undue hardship.

Please find attached a DRAFT proposal of “rules and regulations” which the Board may consider, edit, and adopt as it sees fit.

www.dutchessNY.gov