Service on the Board of Directors of Non-Federal Entities by

Federal Bureau of Investigation Personnel in Their Official

Capacities

Section 208 of title 18 prohibits a Federal Bureau of Investigation employee from serving on the 

board of directors of an outside organization in his or her official capacity, unless the service 

is authorized by statute or the employee obtains either a release of fiduciary obligations by the 

organization or a waiver of the requirements of section 208.

N o v em b er 19, 1996

M e m o r a n d u m O p i n i o n f o r t h e G e n e r a l C o u n s e l

F e d e r a l B u r e a u o f In v e s t i g a t i o n

You have requested our advice as to whether Federal Bureau of Investigation 

(“ FBI” ) personnel may serve on the boards of directors of non-federal nonprofit 

entities in their official capacities. Specifically, you have raised the question 

whether 18 U.S.C. §208 would prohibit such service. Section 208 prohibits any 

officer or employee of the executive branch from participating as a government 

official in any “ particular matter” in which an “ organization in which he is serving as officer, director, trustee, general partner or employee . . . has a financial 

interest.” 18 U.S.C. § 208(a). We conclude that this broad prohibition against conflicts of interest within the federal government would prevent a government employee from serving on the board of directors of an outside organization in his 

or her official capacity, in the absence of: (1) statutory authority or a release 

of fiduciary obligations by the organization that might eliminate the conflict of 

interest, or (2) a waiver of the requirements of § 208(a), pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 

§ 208(b).

Our conclusion follows inevitably from earlier opinions of this Office on the 

scope of § 208. Specifically, we recently found that § 208 would prevent an executive officer or employee who was also serving as the director of an outside organization (in a state that imposed fiduciary obligations upon such directors) from 

participating in any particular matter in his or her government employment in 

which the outside organization had a financial interest. See Applicability o f 18

U.S.C. §208 to Proposed Appointment of Government Official to the Board of

Connie Lee, 18 Op. O.L.C. 136 (1994) (“ Connie Lee opinion” ). In the Connie 

Lee opinion, we made clear that the inherent conflict of interest between the government employee’s loyalty to the federal government and his or her fiduciary 

duty to the outside organization under state law could be overcome only if such 

service were expressly authorized by statute, or if the outside organization waived 

applicable fiduciary obligations.1 Neither of those exceptions applied to the situa1 This would require that applicable state law permit a waiver o f fiduciary obligations.

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Opinions of the Office o f Legal Counsel in Volume 20

tion in the Connie Lee opinion, nor are we aware that they apply to the question 

you have raised.

Although our focus in the Connie Lee opinion was with how this conflict of 

interest might influence the government employee’s official duties in his or her 

government job, that conflict is no less troublesome in its effect upon the employee’s official actions as director of the outside organization. The prohibition in 

§208 extends to any official action by a government employee that affects the 

employee’s financial interests or those of other specified persons or entities, such 

as an organization for which the employee is a director. In the instance you have 

asked us to address, the employee performs official duties for the FBI in serving 

on the board of the outside organization. Thus, §208 would apply to any action 

the employee takes as a director that affects the financial interests of the outside 

organization.

BETH NOLAN 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General

Office of Legal Counsel

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