SACSCOC Off-Site Committee’s Response

Non-Compliance

The state’s Code of Governmental Ethics and several Louisiana Revised Statutes address issues of conflict of interest prohibiting the acceptance of gifts of economic value by board members and their family members, as well as making business arrangements with any part of the LSU system. Board members are required to submit annually a financial disclosure statement to the Board of Ethics (Louisiana Revised Statue 42:1124).  Furthermore, the Bylaws and Regulations of the Board of Supervisors specifically bar nepotism (Section 2-13). Finally, the Louisiana Constitution permits the impeachment of a board member for non-compliance with state-mandated ethics. 

However, the institution did not provide any examples of financial disclosure statements submitted to demonstrate that it complies with the Louisiana State Law.

LSU A&M’s Response

The SACSCOC Off-Site Committee states the following:

The state’s Code of Governmental Ethics and several Louisiana Revised Statutes address issues of conflict of interest prohibiting the acceptance of gifts of economic value by board members and their family members, as well as making business arrangements with any part of the LSU system. Board members are required to submit annually a financial disclosure statement to the Board of Ethics. (Louisiana Revised Statue 42:1124)

The Off-Site Committee notes, however, that

the institution did not provide any examples of financial disclosure statements submitted to demonstrate that it complies with the Louisiana State Law.

Louisiana Revised Statute R.S 42:1134(F), Louisiana Board of Ethics’ Duties includes the following statement:

F. The board (Louisiana Board of Ethics) shall receive reports from agencies and collect information with respect to, and conduct studies of, personal conflicts of interest of public servants within its jurisdiction [1].

The Louisiana Board of Ethics, through its Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, annually collects financial disclosure documents [2], in accordance with Revised Statute 42:1124.2.1 (Financial disclosure; members of boards and commissions), which includes this statement: 

Each of the following, except a person who is required to file a financial statement pursuant to R.S. 42:1124 or 1124.2, shall annually file a financial statement as provided in this Section [3].

Under Revised Statute 42:1124.2.1, the LSU Board of Supervisors is classified as a Tier 2.1 board, which qualifies it as a board that

has the authority to expend, disburse, or invest ten thousand dollars or more of funds in a fiscal year [3].

The members are required to submit Disclosure Form 417 [4]. The instruction page attached to the Tier 2.1 reporting form states the following:

You are required to file a financial disclosure statement on or before May 15 of each year you hold office, AND by May 15 of the year following the termination of the holding of such office

All disclosures are posted online for public review. The reports are due annually for the previous calendar year. For any board member, the reports can be found at the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program website under the “Disclosures” link, “View Reports” [5]. Examples of the most recent disclosure statements for up to four years are provided for eleven of the fifteen board members [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]. The student member has not been required to report yet for the 2013 cycle.