Arizona School District Conflict of Interest Statutes in Title 15
By Bill Munch, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, CPPB
*This article has was previously published in The EDGE magazine, an AASBO publication.
Arizona Revised Statutes 38-501 through 38-511 deal with “Conflict of Interest of Officers and Employees”. These statutes apply to ALL public employees including school district personnel. While it is important for school districts and their vendors to be aware of these far-reaching statutes which govern conflict of interest for ALL public officials, it is critical to be cognizant of additional statutes in Title 15 that apply specifically to school districts, school purchasing cooperatives and their vendors.
Rather than trying to paraphrase or interpret the statutes, I believe it is best to simply show you exactly what the paragraphs in the statute say below. Concerns should be raised with proper legal counsel.
ARS 15-213:
“N. A person who supervises or participates in contracts, purchases, payments, claims or other financial transactions, or a person who supervises or participates in the planning, recommending, selecting or contracting for materials, services, goods, construction, or construction services of a school district or school purchasing cooperative is guilty of a class 6 felony if the person solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any personal gift or benefit with a value of $300 or more from a person or vendor that has secured or has taken steps to secure a contract, purchase, payment, claim or financial transaction with the school district or school purchasing cooperative. Soliciting, accepting or agreeing to accept any personal gift or benefit with a value of less than $300 is a class 1 misdemeanor. A gift or benefit does not include an item of nominal value such as a greeting card, t-shirt, mug or pen.
O. Any person or vendor that has secured or has taken steps to secure a contract, purchase, payment, claim or financial transaction with a school district or school purchasing cooperative that offers, confers or agrees to confer any personal gift or benefit with a value of $300 or more on a person who supervises or participates in contracts, purchases, payments, claims or other financial transactions, or on a person who supervises or participates in planning, recommending, selecting or contracting for materials, services, goods, construction or construction services of a school district or school purchasing cooperative, is guilty of a class 6 felony. Offering, conferring or agreeing to confer any personal gift or benefit with a value of less than $300 is a class 1 misdemeanor. A gift or benefit does not include an item of nominal value such as a greeting card, t-shirt, mug or pen.
P. Any person or vendor convicted under subsection O of this section may be suspended for up to six months or barred for up to three years by the director of the department of administration from doing business with school districts and school purchasing cooperatives. The director of the department of administration shall adopt rules, including administrative procedures, to suspend or bar any person from consideration for award of contracts pursuant to this section.”
Those vendors who submit bids and proposals must certify that they have taken steps and exercised due diligence to ensure that no violation of A.R.S. § 15-213(O) has occurred. It is therefore important for vendors to be aware of this paragraph in the statute.
It is my sincere hope that this extremely brief glimpse into Arizona School District conflict of interest statutes helps to answer more questions than it created. Please email me if you have any questions or need further clarifications. But do not hold it against me if I direct you to your legal counsel. As always, I wish that all your procurement dreams can come true!
Bill Munch, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, CPPB, is the Procurement Compliance and Training Officer for Valley Schools Management Group and serves as the Vendor Representative on the AASBO Board of Directors. He can be reached at: bmunch@vsit.org.
