LCO No. 4873 1 of 2
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7326
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4873
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS' FEES
UNDER THE STATE CODE OF ETHICS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 1-82 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(c) [If a judge trial referee finds, after a hearing pursuant to this 4
section, that there is no probable cause to believe that a public official 5
or state employee has violated a provision of this part, section 1-101bb 6
or section 1-101nn, or if the board determines that a public official or 7
state employee has not violated any such provision, or if a court of 8
competent jurisdiction overturns a finding by the board of a violation 9
by such a respondent] If (1) after a hearing pursuant to this section, the 10
board determines that the matter was brought without any substantial 11
justification, or (2) on a subsequent appeal of the board's decision, a 12
court of competent jurisdiction makes such determination, the state 13
shall pay the reasonable legal expenses of the respondent as 14 Raised Bill No. 7326
LCO No. 4873 2 of 2
determined by the Attorney General or by the court if appropriate, 15
provided the amount of such payment shall not exceed twenty-five 16
thousand dollars. If any complaint brought under the provisions of 17
this part, section 1-101bb or section 1-101nn is made with the 18
knowledge that it is made without foundation in fact, the respondent 19
shall have a cause of action against the complainant for double the 20
amount of damage caused thereby and, if the respondent prevails in 21
such action, the respondent may be awarded by the court the costs of 22
such action together with reasonable attorneys' fees. 23
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 1-82(c)
Statement of Purpose:
To limit the payment of attorneys' fees by the state to twenty-five
thousand dollars to an aggrieved respondent under the code of ethics
for public officials and to modify the reasons for granting such fees.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]