Page 18 - The EDGE Winter 2022

PROCUREMENT

BY BILL MUNCH, CPPO, CPPB
Arizona School District Conflict-of-Interest

Statutes in Title 15
Bill Munch

Arizona Revised Statutes 38-501 through 38-511 financial transaction with the school district
deal with “Conflict of Interest of Officers and or school purchasing cooperative. Soliciting,
Employees.” accepting or agreeing to accept any personal
gift or benefit with a value of less than $300 is
These statutes apply to ALL public employees, a class 1 misdemeanor. A gift or benefit does
including school district personnel. While not include an item of nominal value such as a
it is important for school districts and their greeting card, t-shirt, mug or pen.”
vendors to be aware of these far-reaching
statutes that govern conflict-of-interest
for ALL public officials, it is critical to be "It is my sincere hope that this

cognizant of additional statutes in Title 15 that extremely brief glimpse into
apply specifically to school districts, school Arizona School District conflict-of-
purchasing cooperatives and their vendors.
interest statutes helps to answer
Rather than trying to paraphrase or interpret more questions than it created."

the statutes, I believe it is best to simply show
you exactly what the paragraphs in statute say
below. Concerns should be raised with proper
legal counsel.

ARS 15-213:
“N. A person who supervises or participates
in contracts, purchases, payments, claims or
other financial transactions, or a person who
supervises or participates in the planning,
recommending, selecting or contracting for
materials, services, goods, construction, or
construction services of a school district or
school purchasing cooperative is guilty of a
class 6 felony if the person solicits, accepts or
agrees to accept any personal gift or benefit
with a value of $300 or more from a person or
vendor that has secured or has taken steps to
secure a contract, purchase, payment, claim or

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18 THE EDGE WINTER 2022