Profile in Public Integrity:

Mark Quiner
Director, Center for Ethics in Government
Before joining the Center for Ethics in Government at the National Conference of
State Legislatures, Mark Quiner served as the acting director and assistant director
of the Wyoming Legislative Service Office. In this role, he led the drafting of
Wyomings Ethics and Disclosure Act. Earlier in his career, Quiner worked in the
Wyoming Supreme Court for Chief Justice C. Stuart Brown, and served as assistant
attorney general for the state of Wyoming.

You worked for 26 years at the Wyoming Legislative Service Office, where you rose to acting director.
What role does this institution serve in Wyoming government? Are there lessons that you think other
states could learn from this model?

The Legislative Service Office (LSO) is the permanent, non-partisan central staff office of the Wyoming Legislature.
The LSO was created by the Legislature in 1971 to provide permanent staffing resources for the legislative branch
of government. The LSO provides research and bill-drafting services, including pre-filing and distribution of
proposed legislation prior to legislative sessions. The LSO provides staff services for Wyoming legislators, who do
not to have their own staff. The primary mission of the LSO is to help members of the Wyoming Legislature
identify and articulate legislative issues, help gather information about those issues, and compare the pros and cons
of possible approaches.

I think the LSO provides an essential service to Wyomings legislators, state government, and citizens. It is one of
the smallest central legislative service agencies in the nation, but its importance as the sole support agency to the
Wyoming legislature has significantly increased over time. And now, with the political landscape so partisan and
divided, the role that a non-partisan central service agency like LSO plays is even more valuablelegislators need
reliable research to make informed decisions.

At the Legislative Service Office, you took a lead role in drafting Wyomings Ethics and Disclosure Act,
the states primary public ethics law. What are some of the challenges of public ethics oversight in a close-
knit state like Wyoming, and how did this law try to address them?

For many years up until 1998, Wyoming had no formal ethics law. The sole provision that governed legislative
ethics was found in the Wyoming constitution, which prohibited a member from voting on a matter in which he or
she had a personal interest. Then in 1998, Wyomings legislative leadership asked for a formal ethics law to be
drafted. I was assigned to lead the drafting of the bill, which passed.

As the least populous state, Wyoming is a unique place. One former governor, Mike Sullivan, described Wyoming
as a small town with long streets. As such, everyone in the political scene pretty much knows everyone else. So
when it comes to ethical challenges, conflict of interest is generally the number-one challenge. And in a part-time
citizen legislature like Wyomings, legislators need to work other jobs to support their income. So, any bill can have
a potential impact on some profession and thus create a conflict of interest for a legislator deciding whether to vote
on the bill. This decision can be difficult.

February 2017
When the first version of the ethics law was passed in 1998, there was a $5 limit on food and beverages which a
legislator could receive. Interestingly, there was a public outcry over that strict limit. Essentially many of the citizens
felt that the law restricted access to a legislator since the legislator could not have lunch, dinner, etc. So the law was
amended the next year to remove any food or beverage limit, and to allow registration, lodging and travel to
meetings in the legislators capacity as such. Since then, there have been relatively few complaints or questions
about travel, food, and beverages.

In 2015, you became director of the Center for Ethics in Government at the National Conference of State
Legislatures. What are some of the state-level resources your center offers to the public integrity
community?

The Center for Ethics in Government has been in existence for nearly 18 years. I am only the second director in its
existence, following in the footsteps of Peggy Kerns. To my knowledge, the ethics center is the only one dedicated
to the support of state legislatures and staff. Our website receives thousands of visits from legislators and citizens
alike. We provide information for all 50 states laws on ethics. We also provide ethics training and facilitation to all
50 states legislatures and staff. Last year, we were able to provide in-person ethics training to over 900 legislators
and staff.

Do you have any new works in the pipeline that we can look forward to, or are there new directions that
you hope to take the center?

My colleague Ethan Wilson and I have instituted several positive changes. We now publish a monthly ethics article
in the State Legislatures Magazine entitled Yes, No, Maybe So which addresses a current ethical dilemma. We also
have written several blog posts on our website on topics of current interest.

I am currently involved in a national effort to draft a model ethics code which could be adopted by a state or local
government. The effort is being led by the American Law Institute. I am working with nationally prominent judges,
lawyers, law professors, and other persons in the legal field to draft the model legislation.

We are also becoming involved in the national network of ethics, through organizations like CAPI and the Council
on Governmental Ethics Laws. We continue to look for venues to promote ethics and the information, training,
and facilitation services we provide.

One of your responsibilities is to keep tabs on trends in the public integrity field. Have you noticed any
significant recent developments in how states safeguard public integrity?

It seems that ethics are in the news every day, even more so following the recent election. In my opinion, there has
never been a more important time for all people in the public eye to make decisions based upon sound ethical
principles.

Many states are working hard to ensure that their legislatures operate in an ethical manner. Our website maintains a
50-state database of all current laws. I have had the privilege of working with several states as they attempt to
provide ethics training for legislators and legislative staff. I sense that legislators and staff really do try to do the
right thing. And I am optimistic about the future: I think ethics will always be an important part of values-based
living to lead a truly authentic life.

February 2017