§ 1202. State Code of Ethics; applicability

(a) Unless excluded under this section, the Code of Ethics applies to all individuals elected or appointed to serve as officers of the State, all individuals elected or appointed to serve as members of the General Assembly, all State employees, all individuals appointed to serve on State boards and commissions, and individuals who in any other way are authorized to act or speak on behalf of the State. This code refers to them all as “public servants.”

(b) The Code of Ethics established by this section does not prohibit branches of State government, agencies, or departments from adopting additional personnel policies regarding ethical conduct not covered by this Code of Ethics or provisions that exceed the requirements of this Code of Ethics. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to require a lawyer or judicial officer to violate their respective professional codes of conduct.

(c) The application of this Code of Ethics does not in any way abrogate or alter the sole authority of each house of the General Assembly to judge the elections and qualifications of its own members under Chapter II, Sections 14 and 19 of the Vermont Constitution.

(d) The application of this Code of Ethics does not in any way abrogate or alter the Vermont Supreme Court’s constitutional authority under Chapter II, § 30 of the Vermont Constitution. (Added 2017, No. 79, § 7, eff. Jan. 1, 2018; amended 2021, No. 102 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 4, eff. July 1, 2023.)