Public Officials and State Employees Guide to the Code of Ethics

Advisory Opinion No. 2006-6 interpreted Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-84 (p), regarding gifts between supervisors and subordinates in state service. This three-part provision limits gift-giving between certain individuals. Specifically:

• The provision imposes a monetary limit of $99.99 for gifts between a public official or state employee and his or her supervisor. This limit is a per-gift – not a per-year – amount.
• Individuals subject to this limit may still make use of the major-life-event exception. In other words, supervisors and subordinates are not limited to $99.99 when giving gifts to each other for major life events. The applicable limit for major life events is $1,000.
• The provision applies not only to direct supervisors and subordinates, but to any individual up or down the chain of command.

In Advisory Opinion 2007-5, the Board concluded that supervisors and/or subordinates may not pool their money to give a collective or group gift valued in excess of the $99.99 limit. Thus, except in the case of a major life event (which holds a $1,000 limit), it would be a violation for Supervisor A to accept a gift valued at $150 from Subordinates X and Y (and for them to give such a gift), even though the individual contributions of X and Y are less than the $99.99 limit established in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-84 (p).

Visit the State of Connecticut Office of State Ethics.