One unintentional misstep can cause many a problem for an elected official.

That’s why the Douglas County Commission agreed last week that it was time to develop an ethics policy that covers not only county employees but also elected officials.

“I think that we’ve found that it’s awful easy to get caught up in open meetings laws,” Commissioner Charles Jones said. “I don’t think that it’s fair to any of us to be uninformed and accidentally stumble into getting our names in the newspaper in a way that is adverse.”

Jones was referring to a settlement agreement that city commissioners reached late last year with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

City commissioners are required to go through an open meetings training session because the attorney general found they violated the open meetings law by conducting a closed-door meeting to discuss a package of economic development incentives for Deciphera Pharmaceuticals.

The open meetings training will take place from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall. Conducting the session will be Mike Kautsch, a Kansas University law professor and former dean of KU’s School of Journalism.

County to participate

Although county commissioners were not involved in the violation, they decided to attend the session, too. The session is open to the public.

The open meetings training comes in the wake of public criticism directed at the participation of Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack and County Commissioner Bob Johnson in developing the economic incentive package. Both own more than $5,000 worth of stock in the company, and a local citizens group complained. The attorney general’s office is investigating.

Thus, at Jones’ recommendation, county commissioners directed County Administrator Craig Weinaug and county staff to come up with ethics policy suggestions.

There are no ethics policies for county elected officials. The county already has some policies in place that address some ethical issues. They involve personnel and purchasing issues, Weinaug said.

“There’s lots and lots of areas that are gray, and everybody has their own standards,” Weinaug said. “An ethics policy for elected officials makes those lines more distinct as to what’s considered ethical and what isn’t.”

‘For the right reason’

The county will contact the International City/County Management Association for samples of ethics policies from other governmental entities, Weinaug said. They will be examined to see if there are parts that would fit with Douglas County, he said. The county also should have a thorough discussion about a policy and not just adopt somebody else’s, Weinaug said.

“What a good ethics policy does is it gets in front of elected officials and professionals like me that gives you explicit examples and causes you to think about those issues before you get involved,” Weinaug said.

Johnson and Commissioner Jere McElhaney agree with Jones that it makes sense to have an ethics policy, but they are wary of overreacting. Both say the matter can be taken too far if a policy becomes cumbersome.

“I want to be doing this for the right reason,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to ever use an elephant gun to hunt for an ant.”

“I think we should be very careful that we don’t go overboard because we could very well be chasing away the good people in this community because they could be a little shy of stepping up and performing a civic duty,” McElhaney said.

Jones said he would like to see not only an ethics policy but a continuing education process about it that begins when someone is elected or hired by the county.

Other counties that have ethics policies include Johnson, Wyandotte, Shawnee and Sedgwick, said George Frederickson, a KU public administration professor and an expert in governmental ethics.

“The general rule of thumb is that the more urbanized counties become, the more likely they are to have a policy,” he said. “When the stakes get larger, the issues become more critical.”