Ethics Opinions
Iowa Supreme Court Board of Professional Ethics and Conduct
Date of Opinion:
12/09/2003
Opinion Number:
04-03
Title:
CONFLICT: ASSISTANT COUNTY ATTORNEY AND MEMBER OF COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Opinion:
You have requested an opinion as to whether it is a violation of the Iowa Code of Professional Responsibility for you to serve as a part-time Assistant Scott County Attorney while at the same time serving as a member of the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
This opinion assumes that the Scott County Planning and Zoning Commission is the type of county zoning commission contemplated by Iowa Code §335.8 (2003).
You state you are not part of the division of the Scott County Attorney’s Office that provides legal services to the Planning and Zoning Commission and this opinion assumes that you will not provide legal advice to the Commission while you are a member. You also state you have served as a member of the Scott County Planning and Zoning Commission for four years before accepting a position as an Assistant Scott County Attorney.
The Board’s predecessor addressed an analogous situation in Opinion 89-07. In that opinion, the Committee on Professional Ethics said – absent actual conflict of interest – there was no impropriety in one member of a law firm serving as city attorney in a city where another member of the same firm was a member of the city council.
It is the opinion of the Board that the same reasoning should control in your situation and absent actual conflict of interest it is not a violation for you to serve in both public positions. The Board would, however, draw your attention to DR 5-102(A) which under certain circumstances may disqualify the County Attorney’s office from representing the Commission should you be called as a witness in litigation involving the Commission. Likewise, Canon 9 of the Code of Professional Responsibility may require you to step down from one or both of your public positions to avoid the appearance of impropriety, should circumstances create that appearance.