Type Complaint Opinion 
Date 8/21/2003 
Number 03-06 
Topic Personal use of public resources - email - order of dismissal 
Respondent Tabitah Wells, Chrissy Poe, Joe Anderson 
Question/Complaint
The complaint alleges that legislative employees used their legislative computers to send and receive personal e-mails in violation of Legislative Ethics Board Rule 3.
Summary
The Board concluded the alleged use did not violate the limited personal use permitted by Rule 3.  However, legislative staff should not presume their personal e-mails sent or received on state equipment are private or protected by the Ethics Act.  In this case the e-mails may be viewed as office gossip between friends - no facts alleged or discovered which show that frequency or duration of e-mails negatively impacted productivity. Dismissed for lack of reasonable cause.