Ethics Board stymied

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 27, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:15 a.m.

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The state’s chief ethics administrator resigned Thursday and the number of Louisiana Board of Ethics members quitting grew by five in the wake of law changes that take away much of the board’s power.

The resignations mean that state ethics investigations will come to a halt for now.

Ethics general counsel Richard Sherburne and five board members — including Chairman Hank Perret, of Lafayette, and Vice Chairman John Greene, of Covington, — turned in their resignations effective today. Gwen Hamilton of Baton Rouge, a member of the board’s executive committee, Joanne Ferriot, of Thibodaux ,and Doug Peterson, of Bossier City, are the others who called it quits.

That brings to seven the number of vacancies on the 11-member board — which means for the foreseeable future investigations into ethical misconduct will come to halt.

It takes eight members to launch investigations, and the board is down to four.

The resignations come as the board’s ability to decide whether someone has violated state conflict of interest, nepotism, campaign finance and other laws is being stripped.

Effective Aug. 15, administrative law judges take over the judicial function of the board. The board and its staff become investigators and prosecutors under a law approved during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s February special session on ethics. The law also increased the level of proof for determination of violations.

The law was sponsored by legislators who had been under ethics investigation who said the board should not operate as investigator, prosecutor and jury.

The 11-member board is composed of seven governor’s appointees and two each appointed by the Louisiana House and Senate. Five of the seven resignations are governor’s appointees. The other two are House appointees.

It could take as long as four months before the vacancies are filled.

State law requires the state’s private college presidents to provide nominations to the governor and Legislature from which appointments must be made. The law gives them 60 days to provide the list and then the appointing authority has 60 days to choose.

Jindal’s press secretary, Melissa Sellers, said Jindal was unavailable for comment. A statement attributed to Jindal said he was “grateful for their service” and his administration had begun “swiftly working” to fill the open positions on the board.

Sherburne declined to discuss his reason for departing the job he has held for a tumultuous seven months with a special and regular session that brought big changes to ethics laws as well as a confrontation with a key lawmaker.