in Houston, Texas

(Continued from Page 2)

Ryan's office was apparently not too worried about a moonlighting ban being inserted in the ethics policy.

In a report issued before the policy passed, the county attorney's office said the Commissioners Court lacked the legal authority to impose the ban Emmett had sought, given that the Commissioners Court could not pass rules that bound employees of other elected county officials -- such as the elected county attorney. The report said that provisions of the proposed policy, including those regulating the outside work of certain county employees, "are inspirational rather than regulatory in nature."

But now, the county attorney's office may be reconsidering its take on the power of the Commissioners Court to regulate the conduct of employees of other elected officials. Emmett said he has had a conversation with the county attorney's office to "clarify" its position on the practice of assistant county attorneys doing extracurricular work.

"I thought it would be an easy matter to clear up. Now we’ll wait and see," he said.

While cities, including Houston, have the ability to manage their own ethics statements and policies, county ethics provisions are largely governed by the state legislature, giving a disadvantage to counties like Harris, which has been sometimes struck by scandal and questionable ethical behavior.

According to Hill, this new opinion from Ryan's office may find that commissioners are hamstrung in their ability to regulate the outside work of non-elected county employees, including moonlighting county attorneys or consulting by election officials.

"[It is] squarely within Texas law. You squarely are a person that can practice law, and it's even intended that you can, regardless if you're making $100,000 or $50,000 or $150,000. It doesn’t matter; you squarely can," Hill said. And for now, he appears to be right.

Emmett said that if he can't find some form of relief from the practice of county employees doubling up duty that appears to conflict with their county jobs, he will look to change state law.

"If, in the time between now and the next legislative session, there are some glaring examples that come forward, I'm sure we'll be looking at what we can take to the legislature," he said.

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