Federal Participation in State Rural Development Council Activities
Although the issue seems to periodically crop up, at a recent meeting of
Federal partners, State Rural Development Council (SRDC) representatives
reported that some Federal employees had withdrawn from SRDC Board of Director
positions at their agencies’ requests. The agencies perceived a conflict of
interest in that Boards may oversee the non-profit personnel of the SRDC.
Each SRDC has by-laws or operating procedures that spell out the
responsibilities of Board members. In general, Council Board of Director
positions participate in the hiring and, where necessary, firing of SRDC
staff. They also participate in decisions on grant money distribution; and
setting Council priorities. Usually, the Council Chair or a personnel
committee exercises routine supervision of Executive Directors. To clarify
the Federal participatory role, the information below provides background to
Federal participation in SRDCs.
Federal participation in SRDCs is provided for in
Section 378 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.
The language allows for
full participation as an SRDC Board voting member and
involvement as an SRDC full partner.
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First, subparagraph 378(d)(4)(A) states the
following about federal employee participation in SRDC activities:
''(4) FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
COUNCILS.—
''(A) IN GENERAL.—A State Director for Rural Development of the Department of
Agriculture, other employees of the Department, and employees of other Federal
agencies with rural responsibilities shall fully
participate as voting members in the governance and operations of State
rural development councils (including activities related to grants, contracts,
and other agreements in accordance with this section) on an equal basis
with other members of the State rural development councils [emphasis
added].
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Second, subparagraph
378(d)(4)(B), addresses Federal conflicts as follows:
"(B) CONFLICTS.—Participation by a Federal employee in
a State rural development council in accordance with this paragraph shall
not constitute a violation of section 205 or 208 of title 18, United
States Code [emphasis added].
This provision allows for full Federal participation in
SRDC governance and activities. However, employees are still precluded from
participating in decisions when they have an actual conflict. The following
scenario is an actual conflict example: An SRDC, whose priority is to improve
rural public transportation recommends a plan for a rural bus transportation
system. Part of the plan is to designate a limited number of stops from a
larger pool of potential sites. A federal member of the SRDC who owns, or
whose spouse owns a business along the route would have a conflict of interest
if he or she voted on the specific location of the stops that benefited that
business. In such a case, the federal member should abstain from voting on
the location of the stops but not from the whole plan. For complete language
of Section 205 and 208 see title 18.
