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STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES
To ensure citizens that the judgment of public officers and employees is not compromised or affected by
inappropriate conflicts, the Virginia General Assembly adopted the Virginia State and Local Government Conflict
of Interests Act (COIA). The law requires all Council members to:
• Disclose financial interests once each year.
• Refrain from contracting for business with the local government, except under limited and defined
circumstances.
• Abstain from voting on items of personal interest that apply solely to the Council member or that prevent
impartial voting, except when defined exceptions apply and upon advice of the City Attorney.
• Refuse to accept any gift from person whose interests may be substantially affected by performance of
the Council members official duties and in any event, refuse to receive any combination of gifts with an
aggregate value in excess of $100 within any calendar year.
• Refrain from use of confidential information required as a Council member, and not available to the public,
for the member’s personal economic benefit.
• Refrain from offering or accepting money or anything of value to obtain a contract for any person or
business with the City.
The City Attorney and the local Commonwealth’s Attorney are the proper persons to turn to for competent legal
advice concerning conflict of interest questions. As a member of a local governing body, Council members are
entitled by statute to obtain a formal opinion from the local Commonwealth’s Attorney. Violation of COIA is a
criminal offense, however a Council member cannot be prosecuted for such violation the Act if he acts based on
a written opinion of the Commonwealth’s Attorney or based on written informal advice of the Virginia Conflict of
Interests and Ethics Advisory Council (assuming full disclosure of all the relevant facts).
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
Council members should be mindful of law, policy, and procedures when using electronic mail. All email
communications among Council members should be considered open to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
inquiries. Contemporaneous email communication between three (3) or more Council members regarding
City business constitutes an unlawful meeting under the provisions of FOIA, and is, therefore, improper. All
email communications to and from staff members should be in accordance with established guidelines for staff
inquiries.
At the start of a City Council member’s term and at the request of the City Council member, the Information
Technology Department will provide a laptop/tablet for the member to use at home for the purpose of
conducting City business. In addition to this device, the City will also establish an email address at the City and
Internet access if necessary. This will allow the Council member to communicate with City employees as well as
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