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<br />Rationale: The members of the Ethics Commission meet on a regular basis <br />and handle a full agenda consisting of complaints, appeals, request for <br />opinions and other policy matters. On occasion, a complaint may be time- <br />sensitive and it would be desirable to refer the probable cause determination to <br />a hearing examiner who might be in a better position to hear the matter on an <br />expedited basis. <br /> <br />Public hearings lasting a full day or longer may place too heavy a burden on <br />the Ethics Commission - a board of five volunteers, A related concern is the <br />potential difficulty in convening the same members of the Ethics Commission <br />to preside over a lengthy public hearing. Utilizing hearing examiners at the <br />initial public hearing conquers both problems and still affords the parties an <br />opportunity to appear before the Ethics Commission after the hearing <br />examiner furnishes his/her recommendation. <br /> <br />3. Subpoenas <br />Section 2-1074(g) <br /> <br />Recommendation: The Ethics Commission through the Office of the <br />Advocate shall have power to subpoena witnesses and require the <br />production of records concerning any investigation or enforcement action <br />within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission. When necessary to <br />properly respond to a request for opinion, the general counsel to the <br />Ethics Commission may request a subpoena from the Ethics Commission. <br /> <br />Rationale: The Office of the Advocate needs the flexibility to subpoena <br />witnesses and require the production of records without delay in some <br />investigations. The current system requires the Advocate to wait until the <br />Ethics Commission convenes a meeting before a subpoena can be requested <br />and offers no additional checks and balances than the proposed <br />recommendation giving the Advocate the authority to subpoena records or <br />testimony at his discretion, Furthermore, the proposed changes would mirror <br />the process of issuing subpoenas followed by the Office of Inspector General. <br /> <br />There are circumstances under which legal counsel to the Ethics Commission, <br />in order to prepare a legal opinion, requests additional information from the <br />requester who refuses to provide the requested information. This change <br />would specifically authorize legal counsel to request a subpoena from the <br />Ethics Commission in those rare cases when a party requesting an opinion <br />refuses to cooperate. <br /> <br />15 <br />