State law does not prohibit persons from serving in the same governmental unit because they are related by consanguinity or family. Therefore, the employment of the supervisor's son in the police department and the status of her husband as a retired officer do not alone disqualify the supervisor from acting. We note that the governing body of each local government, including a town, is required to adopt a code of ethics setting forth the standards of conduct reasonably expected of its officers and employees. The code should provide standards for officers and employees with respect to disclosure of interests in legislation and regarding their official and private sector conduct. You should review your code of ethics to determine whether there are applicable provisions.
Public officers have responsibility to exercise their official duties solely in the public interest.
They should avoid circumstances which compromise their ability to make impartial judgments and must avoid the appearance of impropriety in order to maintain public confidence in government. We have concluded that members of local legislative bodies should recuse themselves from taking part in any actions concerning the salary and terms and conditions of employment of family members employed by the same local government. These are matters in which the legislator would have a personal, rather than governmental, interest. Thus, it seems clear that your town supervisor should recuse herself from negotiations and action on the police benefits contract. Once the contract has been approved, defining the terms and conditions of employment of her son, we believe that the supervisor is not limited in deliberating on the town budget.