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Alaska Statutes.

Title 39. Public Officers and Employees

Chapter 52. Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act

Section 960. Definitions.

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AS 39.52.960. Definitions.

In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise,

(1) "administrative unit" means a branch, bureau, center, committee, division, fund, office, program, section, or any other subdivision of an agency;

(2) "agency" means a department, office of the governor, or entity in the executive branch, including but not limited to the University of Alaska, public or quasi-public corporations, boards or commissions, and the Alaska Railroad Corporation;

(3) "benefit" means anything that is to a person's advantage or self-interest, or from which a person profits, regardless of the financial gain, including any dividend, pension, salary, acquisition, agreement to purchase, transfer of money, deposit, loan or loan guarantee, promise to pay, grant, contract, lease, money, goods, service, privilege, exemption, patronage, advantage, advancement, or anything of value;

(4) "board or commission" means a board, commission, authority, or board of directors of a public or quasi-public corporation, established by statute in the executive branch, including the Alaska Railroad, but excluding members of a negotiated regulation making committee under AS 44.62.710 - 44.62.800;

(5) "business" includes a corporation, company, firm, partnership, sole proprietorship, trust or foundation, or any other individual or entity carrying on a business, whether operated for profit or non-profit;

(6) "child" includes a biological child, an adoptive child, and a stepchild;

(7) "compensation" means any money, thing of value, or economic benefit conferred on or received by a person in return for services rendered or to be rendered by the person for another;

(8) "designated supervisor" or "supervisor" means

(A) the commissioner of each department in the executive branch, for public employees within the department;

(B) the president of the University of Alaska, for university employees;

(C) the attorney general, for the governor and lieutenant governor;

(D) the executive director of a board or commission for the staff of the board or commission;

(E) the chair or acting chair of the board or commission, for the members and the executive director of a board or commission; and

(F) the governor, for commissioners and for other public officers not included in (A) - (E) of this paragraph; or

(G) a public officer designated by a commissioner, the university president, or the governor to act as the supervisor if the name and position of the officer designated has been reported to the attorney general;

(9) "financial interest" means

(A) an interest held by a public officer or an immediate family member, which includes an involvement or ownership of an interest in a business, including a property ownership, or a professional or private relationship, that is a source of income, or from which, or as a result of which, a person has received or expects to receive a financial benefit;

(B) holding a position in a business, such as an officer, director, trustee, partner, employee, or the like, or holding a position of management;

(10) "gain" includes actual or anticipated gain, benefit, profit, or compensation;

(11) "immediate family member" means

(A) the spouse of the person;

(B) another person cohabiting with the person in a conjugal relationship that is not a legal marriage;

(C) a child, including a stepchild and an adoptive child, of the person;

(D) a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle of the person; and

(E) a parent or sibling of the person's spouse;

(12) "instrumentality of the state" means a state agency or administrative unit, whether in the legislative, judicial, or executive branch, including such entities as the University of Alaska, the Alaska Railroad, and any public or quasi-public corporations, boards, or commissions; the term includes municipalities;

(13) "nonsalaried member of a board or commission" means a member of a board or commission who is not a public employee by virtue of membership on a board or commission; receipt of per diem, nominal compensation for attendance at meetings, and travel expense reimbursement does not make a member of a board or commission a public employee for purposes of this chapter;

(14) "official action" means advice, participation, or assistance, including, for example, a recommendation, decision, approval, disapproval, vote, or other similar action, including inaction, by a public officer;

(15) "organization" includes a group, association, society, political party, or other entity made up of two or more persons, whether operated for profit or nonprofit;

(16) "parent" includes a biological parent, an adoptive parent, and a step-parent of the public officer;

(17) "person" includes a natural person, a business, and an organization;

(18) "personal interest" means an interest held or involvement by a public officer, or the officer's immediate family member or parent, including membership, in any organization, whether fraternal, nonprofit, for profit, charitable, or political, from which, or as a result of which, a person or organization receives a benefit;

(19) "personnel board" or "board" means the personnel board established in AS 39.25.060 ;

(20) "public employee" or "employee" means a permanent, probationary, seasonal, temporary, provisional, or nonpermanent employee of an agency, whether in the classified, partially exempt, or exempt service;

(21) "public officer" or "officer" means

(A) a public employee;

(B) a member of a board or commission; and

(C) a state officer designated by the governor to act as trustee of the trust or a person to whom the trustee has delegated trust duties; in this paragraph, "trust" has the meaning given in AS 37.14.450 ;

(22) "source of income" means an entity for which service is performed for compensation or which is otherwise the origin of payment; if the person whose income is being reported is employed by another, the employer is the source of income; if the person is self-employed by means of a sole proprietorship, partnership, professional corporation, or a corporation in which the person, the person's spouse or child, or a combination of them, holds a controlling interest, the "source" is the client or customer of the proprietorship, partnership, or corporation; if the entity which is the origin of payment is not the same as the client or customer for whom the service is performed, both are considered the source.