(A) No member of the General Assembly may be elected to any board in Section 2-20-320 while he is serving in the General Assembly nor shall that person be elected to any board in Section 2-20-320 for a period of one year after he either:

(1) ceases to be a member of the General Assembly; or

(2) fails to file for election to the General Assembly in accordance with Section 7-11-15.

(B) No candidate for a seat on the board of any institution listed in Section 2-20-320 or any other person may seek, directly or indirectly, the pledge of a member of the General Assembly's vote or, directly or indirectly, contact a member of the General Assembly regarding screening for the seat until the qualifications of all candidates for that office have been determined by the commission and the commission has formally released its report as to the qualifications of all candidates for the vacancy to the General Assembly. No member of the General Assembly may offer his pledge until the qualifications of all candidates for that office have been determined by the commission and until the commission has formally released its report as to the qualifications of its nominees to the General Assembly. The formal release of the report of qualifications shall occur no earlier than forty-eight hours after the names of the nominees have been initially released to members of the General Assembly. For purposes of this section, indirectly seeking a pledge means the candidate, or someone acting on behalf of and at the request of the candidate, requesting a person to contact a member of the General Assembly on behalf of the candidate before nominations for that office are formally made by the commission. The prohibitions of this section do not extend to an announcement of candidacy by the candidate and statements by the candidate detailing the candidate's qualifications.

(C) No member of the General Assembly may trade anything of value, including pledges to vote for legislation or for other candidates, in exchange for another member's pledge to vote for a candidate for a seat on the board of any institution listed in Section 2-20-320.

(D) Violations of this section may be considered by the commission when it considers a candidate's qualifications. Violations of this section by members of the General Assembly must be reported by the commission to the House or Senate Ethics Committee, as applicable. A violation of this section is a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, the person must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ninety days. Cases tried under this section may not be transferred from general sessions court pursuant to Section 22-3-545.

HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 17 (S.213), Section 1, eff May 9, 2017.