Advisory Opinion 95-1-1106
Board of Ethics/Use of County Property

ISSUE: WHETHER USE OF COUNTY COMPUTERS TO SEND PERSONAL E-MAIL VIOLATES THE KING COUNTY CODE OF ETHICS?

Opinion: The Board of Ethics finds that there are certain uses of e-mail that would clearly violate the Code of Ethics. These uses include personal gain, solicitation on behalf of any person, political purposes, and advocacy of causes or special interests.

Each County employee has an obligation to safeguard public resources against unauthorized personal use, and may not authorize such use for either personal convenience or profit, or in circumstances where County employees could gain an advantage beyond that which is generally available to other public citizens.

Statement of Circumstances: The electronic mail or e-mail system is increasingly being used for both informal and formal communications throughout the County. While many County employees view e-mail use as analogous to telephone use, others have questioned whether some uses of e-mail might violate the Code of Ethics. The range of use for the e-mail system within the County includes official communications within and among agencies (particularly those which are geographically separated from the Courthouse–Administration Building complex); informal and unofficial communications among employees; use for personal gain (selling personal items); solicitation for non-profits or for political purposes, and, advocacy of causes. The Board of Ethics issues this opinion to clarify the question of what constitutes appropriate use of e-mail within the context of the Code of Ethics.

Analysis: New technologies, like e-mail systems and the internet, serve important functions for public government. These technologies not only facilitate the exchange of information and ideas, but also provide immediate access to information previously accessible only through libraries or by contacting persons directly. Ease of access, however, also invites the potential for abuse. The sheer wealth of available information could easily lead to confusion between legitimate and official uses of County time and resources, and those uses which are convenient to the user or appeal to one's curiosity or interests in areas unrelated to official business. Only the prudent exercise of managerial discretion can ensure that such abuse does not occur.

In looking at the present issue, the Board cautions that e-mail use is not analogous to telephone use. The Board applies a reasonable standard for telephone use that would not violate the Code of Ethics. This standard accepts that telephone use does not violate the Code when calls do not impose an additional cost to the County and are for the purposes of accommodating minimal personal tasks, e.g., coordinating transportation needs, making medical and dental appointments, notifying family members of changes in work schedules, or for the purposes of responding to emergency situations. However, there may also be inappropriate uses of the telephone under the Code of Ethics. Such uses would include making unofficial, long distance calls at County expense and conducting a business outside of County government on County time. Again, managerial discretion must be exercised to ensure that telephone abuse does not occur. Likewise there are inappropriate uses of e-mail.

Subsection 3.04.020 A of the Code of Ethics provides that:

No county employee shall request or permit the use of county-owned vehicles, equipment, materials or property or the expenditure of county funds for personal convenience or profit. Use or expenditure is to be restricted to such services as are available to the public generally or for such employee in the conduct of official business.

while 3.04.020 E establishes that

County employees are encouraged to participate in the political process on their own time and outside of the workplace by working on campaigns for the election of any person to any office or for the promotion of or opposition to any ballot proposition, but shall not use or authorize the use of the facilities of King County for such purposes except as authorized by the provisions of R.C.W. 42.17.130.

Use of e-mail requires the use of County equipment–computers–which are usually linked via local area or wide area networks, and are established for the purpose of facilitating the conduct of official business. To allow County employees to use such networks for personal convenience or profit would violate K.C.C. 3.04.020(A), and impair the County's ability to conduct business on behalf of the public. Employees would also benefit by access to an advantage which is not available to other citizens who do not have unrestricted and free access to County resources, facilities, or equipment. The Code of Ethics imposes a special obligation on each of us to not grant any special consideration, treatment or advantage beyond that which is available to every other citizen (K.C.C. 3.04.020 B). Therefore, the following uses of e-mail are examples of uses that would be prohibited under the Code of Ethics:

• Use for personal gain (including the sale of personal items or recommending the services of family members or friends which constitutes free advertising for private purposes);
  
• Solicitation on behalf of any person, including non-profit entities;
  
• Solicitation or support for any political purpose; and,
  
• Advocacy of any cause or special interest.

These prohibitions, however, are not designed to prohibit social communications which serve to build and reinforce agency effectiveness. Nor would they impair the ability of employees or County agencies to communicate, even on an informal basis, and exchange information which may serve legitimate purposes.

Management should establish clear parameters for employees when personal communications are permitted for the purposes of improving organizational effectiveness or when such communications serve established departmental purposes and goals.

References: King County Code of Ethics, sections 3.04.020 (A, B, and E); Advisory Opinion 1082.

ISSUED THIS ___________ DAY OF ___________________, 199__.

Signed for the Board: Timothy G. Edwards, Chair

Members:

Dr. J. Patrick Dobel, Chair
Timothy Edwards, Esq.
Rev. Paul Pruitt
Ron Carlson
Dr. Lois Price Spratlen

JPD/mag

cc:

Gary Locke, King County Executive
Metropolitan King County Councilmembers
Susan Baugh, Director–Ombudsman, Office of Citizen Complaints
Robert I. Stier, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Counsel to the Board of Ethics
Department Directors and Division Managers