Charter: Adding a Board of Ethics

[Paul Prince]

In the January 28, 2026 CRC meeting I was asked to create a council discussion thread relating to the CRC discussion on the merits of including the formation and associated rules of a Board of Ethics in the upcoming proposed City Charter. My understanding of the discussion thus far in the CRC indicates unanimous support for this by the five Commission members. Council is specifically encouraged to read the CRC’s discussion board on this topic, located at:

R

Thread 'Board of Ethics Discussion'

Oct 16, 2025

Regarding our discussion on the potential merits of establishing a Board of Ethics in the Charter, I ran a search on Boards of Ethics in Home Rule Municipalities in Texas and found the following references.

Based on recent search results, several Texas home rule cities have established ethics boards or commissions, which are often created by city ordinance but may be empowered through the city's charter. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Examples of Texas home rule cities with ethics boards include:

• Austin: The city has an Ethics Review Commission...

• Robert Owen
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Charter Review Committee

• 

This material includes some background on other Texas cities with an ethics board and their associated charter, or ordinance, language instantiating the board.

CRC members noted that it may be most helpful to start by reviewing in detail the post of Dec.8 by Mr. Owen, with following discussion.

https://councilforum.lagovistatexas.gov/threads/board-of-ethics-discussion.79/post-411

 

[Paul Prince]

----- Some of my personal thoughts --------

The central question is whether the City can—and should—implement legally defensible enforcement actions when an elected Council member or an appointed board official violates a local city code or ordinance that does not trigger state-level intervention.

This leads to two primary questions:

1. Authority and Scope: Can the City, through ordinance and policy, establish binding rules of behavior and decorum? This directly relates to the Mayor’s proposed revision of the Rules of Procedure.
2. Impartial Enforcement: Can the City Council fairly adjudicate and enforce these rules against its own members without the assistance of an independent Board of Ethics (BoE)?

The State clearly opposes local actions that remove elected officials from office, so that may not be an action within scope for a BoE (beyond recommending a referral to the appropriate State investigative body). However, many of our citizens and this Charter Review Committee (CRC) expect a standard of professional conduct that the State does not address. Research into other Texas municipalities confirms that such boards are a common practice.

The CRC has extensively discussed the necessity of an independent BoE. To ensure balance and prevent undue influence, the committee suggests that each Council member appoint one BoE member to a one-year term.

I would like to support these citizens call for a Board of Ethics. I believe decorum (manners) is (are) important. But not all citizens or council members place it as highly as I do. If we eliminate any meaningful local standards, I would not advocate for the formation of a BoE. If a BoE would be limited to opining on existing state ethics rules (which focus primarily on financial impropriety), with decorum or professionalism only potentially addressed during the election process, we should avoid creating a board that lacks the ability to lead to any enforcement.

I support a robust dialogue regarding whether the city can or should effectively define and enforce any "behavioral" rules. The mayor has recently posted a proposal for a major rewrite (simplification) of our Rules of Procedure which strongly relates to this question and which I encourage all of you to address on his post. https://councilforum.lagovistatexas.gov/threads/rules-of-procedure-draft.119/