District Attorney weighs in on conflict of interest law

Section 1090 of California government code prohibits a public official from having a financial interest in a contract approved by the public office they serve.

“The purpose is to maintain fair and open transparency in government,” said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. “We have to make sure public officials are voting and governing for the public good not for their own interest.”

The D.A.’s office has a team of attorneys called the Public Integrity Unit, which investigates allegations of conflicts of interest.

“It’s their job as a team to investigate and prosecute public corruption. Investigations involve public records, subpoenas, it’s detective work like any other crime,” Hestrin said.

Hestrin added that it’s the job of the public official to reveal the extent of a financial conflict of interest, because it could affect whether their office could even approve a contract.

“A council could potentially be barred from approving the contract,” Hestrin said. “And a contract that was entered into involving a conflict of interest could be voided.”

Not only voided, he said, but the public office would get to retain all benefits from that contract without having to pay for it.

There are some narrow exceptions to section 1090, known as “remote interests.” Examples can include non-profit work, or a parent’s interest in the earnings of a minor child.

But that doesn’t mean the public official has to benefit directly in order to violate 1090.

“A conflict of interest could be indirect. It could be benefiting another person who is not the public official, it could be a spouse, it could be the company related to that person’s interests,” Hestrin explained. “So it doesn’t have to be an ownership interest. It can be an indirect financial interest.”

Violating Section 1090 carries serious consequences, including removing the public official from office, barring them from holding office in the future, and can even include a prison sentence.

“I think it’s significant these crimes are taken seriously and should be known that prison is a possibility,” Hestrin said. “These rules are not suggestions. Those rules are the law and the law needs to be abided by because that’s how we assure transparency in government.”