Sec. 1. (a) As used in this chapter, and unless the context clearly denotes otherwise:

(1) “Advisory body” means an authority, a board, a commission, a committee, a task force, or other body designated by any name of the executive department that is authorized only to make nonbinding recommendations.

(2) “Agency” means an authority, a board, a branch, a bureau, a commission, a committee, a council, a department, a division, an office, a service, or other instrumentality of the executive, including the administrative, department of state government. The term includes a body corporate and politic set up as an instrumentality of the state and a private, nonprofit, government related corporation. The term does not include any of the following:

(A) The judicial department of state government.

(B) The legislative department of state government.

(C) A state educational institution.

(D) A political subdivision.

(3) “Appointing authority” means the following:

(A) Except as provided in clause (B), the chief administrative officer of an agency. The term does not include a state officer.

(B) For purposes of section 16 of this chapter, “appointing authority” means:

(i) an elected officer;

(ii) the chief administrative officer of an agency; or

(iii) an individual or group of individuals who have the power by law or by lawfully delegated authority to make appointments.

(4) “Assist” means to:

(A) help;

(B) aid;

(C) advise; or

(D) furnish information to;

a person. The term includes an offer to do any of the actions in clauses (A) through (D).

(5) “Business relationship” includes the following:

(A) Dealings of a person with an agency seeking, obtaining, establishing, maintaining, or implementing:

(i) a pecuniary interest in a contract or purchase with the agency; or

(ii) a license or permit requiring the exercise of judgment or discretion by the agency.

(B) The relationship a lobbyist has with an agency.

(C) The relationship an unregistered lobbyist has with an agency.

(6) “Commission” refers to the state ethics commission created under section 2 of this chapter.

(7) “Compensation” means any money, thing of value, or financial benefit conferred on, or received by, any person in return for services rendered, or for services to be rendered, whether by that person or another.

(8) “Direct line of supervision” means the chain of command in which the superior affects, or has the authority to affect, the terms and conditions of the subordinate’s employment, including making decisions about work assignments, compensation, grievances, advancements, or performance evaluation.

(9) “Employee” means an individual, other than a state officer, who is employed by an agency on a full-time, a part-time, a temporary, an intermittent, or an hourly basis. The term includes an individual who contracts with an agency for personal services.

(10) “Employer” means any person from whom a state officer or employee or the officer’s or employee’s spouse received compensation.

(11) “Financial interest” means an interest:

(A) in a purchase, sale, lease, contract, option, or other transaction between an agency and any person; or

(B) involving property or services.

The term includes an interest arising from employment or prospective employment for which negotiations have begun. The term does not include an interest of a state officer or employee in the common stock of a corporation unless the combined holdings in the corporation of the state officer or the employee, that individual’s spouse, and that individual’s unemancipated children are more than one percent (1%) of the outstanding shares of the common stock of the corporation. The term does not include an interest that is not greater than the interest of the general public or any state officer or any state employee.

(12) “Information of a confidential nature” means information:

(A) obtained by reason of the position or office held; and

(B) which:

(i) a public agency is prohibited from disclosing under IC 5-14-3-4(a);

(ii) a public agency has the discretion not to disclose under IC 5-14-3-4(b) and that the agency has not disclosed; or

(iii) is not in a public record, but if it were, would be confidential.

(13) “Person” means any individual, proprietorship, partnership, unincorporated association, trust, business trust, group, limited liability company, or corporation, whether or not operated for profit, or a governmental agency or political subdivision.

(14) “Political subdivision” means a county, city, town, township, school district, municipal corporation, special taxing district, or other local instrumentality. The term includes an officer of a political subdivision.

(15) “Property” has the meaning set forth in IC 35-31.5-2-253.

(16) “Relative” means any of the following:

(A) A spouse.

(B) A parent or stepparent.

(C) A child or stepchild.

(D) A brother, sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.

(E) A niece or nephew.

(F) An aunt or uncle.

(G) A daughter-in-law or son-in-law.

For purposes of this subdivision, an adopted child of an individual is treated as a natural child of the individual. For purposes of this subdivision, the terms “brother” and “sister” include a brother or sister by the half blood.

(17) “Represent” means to do any of the following on behalf of a person:

(A) Attend an agency proceeding.

(B) Write a letter.

(C) Communicate with an employee of an agency.

(18) “Special state appointee” means a person who is:

(A) not a state officer or employee; and

(B) elected or appointed to an authority, a board, a commission, a committee, a council, a task force, or other body designated by any name that:

(i) is authorized by statute or executive order; and

(ii) functions in a policy or an advisory role in the executive (including the administrative) department of state government, including a separate body corporate and politic.

(19) “State officer” means any of the following:

(A) The governor.

(B) The lieutenant governor.

(C) The secretary of state.

(D) The state comptroller.

(E) The treasurer of state.

(F) The attorney general.

(20) The masculine gender includes the masculine and feminine.

(21) The singular form of any noun includes the plural wherever appropriate.

     (b) The definitions in IC 4-2-7 apply throughout this chapter.

Formerly: Acts 1974, P.L.4, SEC.2. As amended by P.L.13-1987, SEC.4; P.L.5-1988, SEC.18; P.L.9-1990, SEC.1; P.L.15-1992, SEC.1; P.L.8-1993, SEC.7; P.L.22-1995, SEC.1; P.L.5-1996, SEC.1; P.L.44-2001, SEC.1; P.L.222-2005, SEC.1; P.L.89-2006, SEC.1; P.L.2-2007, SEC.19; P.L.105-2012, SEC.1; P.L.114-2012, SEC.7; P.L.123-2015, SEC.21; P.L.43-2021, SEC.8; P.L.9-2024, SEC.33.