I. Purpose of the System - to ensure the confidence of citizens in the
integrity of the government by
detecting potential or actual conflicts of interest on
the part of certain employees.
A. Filing of reports - certain employees, whose positions
have been designated, are required to
report their financial
interests and certain outside activities on OGE form 450 annually.
B. Review of reports - Reports must be reviewed carefully
for completeness and for actual and
potential conflicts of interest.
II. Covered Positions
Filers are designated when they occupy a position,
classified at GS-15 or below (or its equivalent),
where their duties and responsibilities require
them to participate personally and substantially through
decision or the exercise of significant judgement
in taking a government action regarding:
A. Contracting or procurement;
Example: All contracting officers in the Justice
Management Division and other employees regularly
involved in procurement must file.
B. Administering or monitoring a grant;
Example: Grant-making personnel in the Office of Justice Programs must file.
C. Regulating or auditing any non-federal entity;
Example: Auditors in the Office of the Inspector
General must file because they audit contracts and
grants.
D. Other activities in which the final decision or
action will have a direct and substantial economic
effect on the interests
of any non-federal entity.
Example: Supervisory attorneys and most line attorneys
in the litigating divisions file because their
decisions affect non-federal entities.
E. Special government employees, serving with or
without compensation, including those who serve
on federal advisory committees,
who are not serving as a representative of an industry or another
entity or who are not already
Federal employees, are covered.
III. Exclusions from Filing
Notwithstanding the filing requirements listed in II, an employee may be excluded from filing if:
A. The duties of the position make remote the possibility of a conflict.
Example: Generally, non-supervisory DEA agents are
excluded from filing because their investigations
almost always involve individuals and therefore,
the possibility of conflict is remote.
B. The duties involve such a low level of responsibility because:
1. There is a substantial degree of supervision and review; or
2. The effect of any conflict on the integrity of the government would be insubstantial.
Example A: Most clerical personnel who order office supplies are excluded from filing.
Example B: U.S. Marshals
Service employees responsible for transporting prisoners are excluded
from the filing requirement.
3. An alternative procedure is used.
Example A: In several litigating
divisions and U.S. Attorneys' Offices, attorneys certify to no
conflict of interest in
each case they are assigned. This is an efficient way to detect conflicts
and can be managed through
the case assignment process.
Example B: Employees who
serve as Contracting Officer's Technical Representatives (COTRs)
certify when they become
COTRs that they have no conflict with any competing contractor.
These certifications are
collected by the contracting officer.
IV. General Filing Requirements
A. Employees occupying designated positions file annually by February 15th. Reports cover the previous calendar year.
B. Employees acting in a covered position for more than 60 days in the previous calendar year must file by February 15th.
C. New entrants to covered positions must file within
30 days of assuming the position unless they
already occupy a covered
position, and then a copy of their last report should be given to the new
office.
D. Filers may request and receive filing extensions
from their component heads for good cause of up
to 90 days after the
filing deadline. Administrative and/or disciplinary action should be pursued
if
an employee does not
file a report as required.
V. Report Contents
The following items held by the filer, his spouse,
and dependent child must be reported on OGE Form
450. (Amounts need not be reported.)
A. Interests in property over $1000
Examples: Stocks, bonds, real property (other than
a personal residence), futures contracts, sector mutual
funds, pensions and annuities (excluding an interest
in any federal retirement system), IRA assets,
beneficial interests in trusts and estates, accounts
receivable, partnership interests, and any other
property held for the production of income, except
deposits in banks, money market funds and
accounts and U.S. government obligations and securities.
Note: Interests in Diversified Mutual Funds need not be disclosed. A mutual fund is diversified
if it does not have a stated policy of concentrating its investments in one industry, business, or single
country other than states. Sector Mutual Funds must
be disclosed. A mutual fund is a sector fund
if it concentrates its investments in an industry, business, single country other
than the United States,
or bonds of a single state within the United States.
B. Income from any source other than
the government amounting to more than $200
for the filer or $1,000
for a spouse in the case of earned income.
Examples: Income
from a sector mutual fund, pension plan
or other investment pool, outside earned income
of the filer, and earned income of a spouse, but not
of a dependent child. Excluded is income from U.S.
government
securities and obligations, from bank
deposits, and money market accounts or funds.
C. Liabilities over $10,000 of the filer, his spouse,
and dependent child, other than a loan from a financial
institution or business entity granted on terms made
available to the general public.
Examples: Personal loans, margin accounts
D. Outside positions held by the filer except with
religious, social, fraternal, or political entities, or
those of an honorary
nature, or any positions held as part of filers official duties (with approval).
Examples: Positions of director, officer, trustee,
employee, general partner, proprietor, representative,
or consultant.
E. Agreements or arrangements of the filer with future,
former, or present employers other than the
United States Government.
Examples: Promises of a job, leaves of absence, payment
of a severance payment, or participation in
an employee benefit plan of a former employer.
F. Gifts and travel reimbursements received from
one source amounting to $335 or more received by
the filer, his spouse, or
dependent children.
Examples: Wedding presents, travel accepted from
outside sources, including travel to job interviews,
but not reimbursement accepted by the Department for travel
to meetings and similar functions under 31 U.S.C.
§ 1353. Exclude gifts of $134 or less from
one source in aggregating for purposes of the $335
threshold, gifts from relatives, and gifts received
by a spouse and dependent children independent from
the filer.
VI. Reporting Process
A. Designation of filers
1. The component head designates
positions that are required to file in accordance with the criteria
stated above in II and the exclusions in III. Designations must be reviewed
every year.
2. An employee may file a
complaint with the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) when he
believes his position has been improperly designated, but the decision
of the DAEO is final.
B. Notification of filers
The component head, or his delegates, must ensure
that all designated filers are notified of their
obligation to file and provided with a blank reporting
form in time to fulfill that obligation. Filers
should also be advised who they should contact for
assistance in completing the form.
C. Reviewing officials
1. The component head designates
employees, generally supervisors, to collect, review, and
sign reports. These reviewing officials must have first-hand knowledge
of the employees'
assignments.
2. The reviewing official
must compile a list of filers whose reports he reviews and provide the
DDAEO for his component with a copy of that list. The list should be updated
when changes
occur. The DDAEO should keep a comprehensive list of all filers in the
component.
D. Review and retention of reports
1. Every effort should be
made to review reports within 30 days of receipt. Each report should
be reviewed to ensure that it is complete and that there is no conflict
with the employee's
official duties. (The employee's assignments should be reviewed at this
time.) If a report is
incomplete or raises a conflict of interest issue, the filer should be
contacted and asked to
provide additional information. Every effort should be made to work with
the filer to resolve
any conflicts of interest. Any additional information provided by the filer
should be noted on
the report with a statement that the corrections were made pursuant to
a conversation with
the filer.
2. The following are examples of potential or actual conflicts that may be detected in a review:
a.
An employee who is frequently involved in procurement actions reports ownership
of stock in
a local software designer that has competed for DOJ contracts in the past.
The reviewer
should counsel the employee against working on a procurement where this firm is
likely to
be a bidder.
b.
An employee who is an attorney reports that her spouse is an associate
with a large law firm in
town. The reviewer should counsel the attorney that if she is assigned
a case where her
husband's law firm is representing another party, she should disclose this
information to her
supervisor so that she may either be disqualified or obtain approval to
work on the case.
c.
An employee who approves grant applications reports that he is on the board
of a nonprofit
organization that has received grants from the agency in the past. If the
employee is allowed
to remain on the board, the person responsible for his assignments should
ensure that no
application from this organization is assigned to the employee.
d.
A telecommunications specialist reports that her husband holds stock through
a family trust
in a firm that provides telecommunications services to the Department.
The reviewer should
either ensure that the employee does not work on matters affecting the
telecommunications
firm, or if that is not possible, see the ethics official about obtaining
a waiver for her under
the conflict of interest law.
e.
A management analyst reports that she earns income on weekends from a consulting
firm that
is presently conducting a study ordered by her office under a contract.
The reviewer should
make sure she does no work on the contract and that she has approval to
engage in outside
employment with the contractor.
f.
An employee who has let it be known in his office that he will be joining
a private firm soon,
reports no agreements or arrangements on his annual report. The reviewer
should ask the
employee if he has any agreement with a future employer, and if so, to
report it on the form.
g.
An employee reports having received a set of golf clubs from someone and
he does not note
the donor's affiliation, nor his relationship to him. The reviewer must
inquire about the
relationship between the employee and the donor of the gift.
3. The reviewing official
should notify the DDAEO for his component that all required annual
reports and any reports filed by new entrants have been collected and reviewed.
4. The reviewing official
should retain the reports in a secure area for six years and consider their
contents when making assignments.
Last Updated:
September 11, 2008