CEO 78-44 -- July 20, 1978

PAVEMENT MATERIALS ENGINEER

APPLICABILITY OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE LAW

To: (Name withheld at the person's request.)

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

The Code of Ethics provides that each specified employee shall file financial disclosure annually, with the term "specified employee" being defined to include "purchasing agents . . . or persons having the power normally conferred upon such persons, by whatever title." Sections 112.3145(2)(b) and 112.3145(1)(b)5., F. S. 1977. When a regional office of the Department of Transportation requires three signatures for the execution of a local purchase order, only the local purchasing agent for the department, who approves the payment for the purchase, is deemed to constitute a purchasing agent. A pavement materials engineer whose signature merely authorizes a purchase rather than approving payment therefor is not deemed to have the power normally conferred upon a purchasing agent and therefore is not a "specified employee" subject to financial disclosure. See CEO's 75-115, 75-172, 77-73, and 78-36.

QUESTION:

Am I, a pavement materials engineer with the Department of Transportation with authority to authorize the purchase of merchandise but not the payment for that merchandise, a "specified employee" subject to the requirement of filing financial disclosure annually?

Your question is answered in the negative.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides that each specified employee shall file financial disclosure annually. Section 112.3145(2)(b), F. S. 1977. The term "specified employee" is defined to include "purchasing agents . . . or persons having the power normally conferred upon such persons, by whatever title." Section 112.3145(1)(b)5., F. S. 1977.

In your letter of inquiry and in a telephone conversation with our staff you advise that in your office there are three signatures required for a Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) local purchase order: The signature of the D.O.T. employee who receives the merchandise; the signature of the D.O.T. employee who has authorized the purchase and who has initiated the request for the merchandise; and the signature of the local purchasing agent for D.O.T., who approves the payment for the purchase. You also advise that you fall within the second category, together with a number of other employees who are authorized to request the use of a local purchase order for merchandise which they need but which is not available to be requisitioned from the warehouse.

Under these circumstances, where you merely are authorized to request the purchase of merchandise rather than to approve payment for such merchandise (as is the case of the local purchasing agent), you do not have the power normally conferred upon a purchasing agent. See CEO's 75-115, 75-172, 77-73, and 78-36, in which we have advised that persons with the authority to make only requisitions or requests for purchases are not purchasing agents. Accordingly, so long as you did not receive over $250 in compensation for consulting with other state agencies or with other government or business entities [see s. 112.3145(1)(b)8., F. S. 1977], you are not a "specified employee" and need not file a statement of financial interests.