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| 3 | 3 | | LCO No. 4873 1 of 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7326 |
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| 6 | 6 | | January Session, 2019 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LCO No. 4873 |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION |
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| 11 | 11 | | AND ELECTIONS |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | Introduced by: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (GAE) |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS' FEES |
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| 21 | 21 | | UNDER THE STATE CODE OF ETHICS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 23 | 23 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 24 | 24 | | |
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| 25 | 25 | | Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 1-82 of the general statutes is 1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | October 1, 2019): 3 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (c) [If a judge trial referee finds, after a hearing pursuant to this 4 |
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| 29 | 29 | | section, that there is no probable cause to believe that a public official 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | or state employee has violated a provision of this part, section 1-101bb 6 |
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| 31 | 31 | | or section 1-101nn, or if the board determines that a public official or 7 |
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| 32 | 32 | | state employee has not violated any such provision, or if a court of 8 |
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| 33 | 33 | | competent jurisdiction overturns a finding by the board of a violation 9 |
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| 34 | 34 | | by such a respondent] If (1) after a hearing pursuant to this section, the 10 |
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| 35 | 35 | | board determines that the matter was brought without any substantial 11 |
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| 36 | 36 | | justification, or (2) on a subsequent appeal of the board's decision, a 12 |
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| 37 | 37 | | court of competent jurisdiction makes such determination, the state 13 |
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| 38 | 38 | | shall pay the reasonable legal expenses of the respondent as 14 Raised Bill No. 7326 |
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| 39 | 39 | | |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | LCO No. 4873 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | determined by the Attorney General or by the court if appropriate, 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | provided the amount of such payment shall not exceed twenty-five 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | thousand dollars. If any complaint brought under the provisions of 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | this part, section 1-101bb or section 1-101nn is made with the 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | knowledge that it is made without foundation in fact, the respondent 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | shall have a cause of action against the complainant for double the 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | amount of damage caused thereby and, if the respondent prevails in 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | such action, the respondent may be awarded by the court the costs of 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | such action together with reasonable attorneys' fees. 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following |
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| 54 | 54 | | sections: |
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| 55 | 55 | | |
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| 56 | 56 | | Section 1 October 1, 2019 1-82(c) |
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| 57 | 57 | | |
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| 58 | 58 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 59 | 59 | | To limit the payment of attorneys' fees by the state to twenty-five |
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| 60 | 60 | | thousand dollars to an aggrieved respondent under the code of ethics |
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| 61 | 61 | | for public officials and to modify the reasons for granting such fees. |
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| 62 | 62 | | [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, |
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| 63 | 63 | | except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is |
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| 64 | 64 | | not underlined.] |
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| 65 | 65 | | |
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