New Jersey § 52:13d-12

§ 52:13d-12.

The Legislature finds and declares: (a) In our representative form of government, it is essential that the conduct of

public officials and employees shall hold the respect and confidence of the people. Public officials must, therefore, avoid conduct which is in violation of their public

trust or which creates a justifiable impression among the public that such trust is

being violated. (b) To ensure propriety and preserve public confidence, persons serving in government

should have the benefit of specific standards to guide their conduct and of some disciplinary

mechanism to ensure the uniform maintenance of those standards amongst them. Some standards of this type may be enacted as general statutory prohibitions or

requirements; others, because of complexity and variety of circumstances, are best

left to the governance of codes of ethics formulated to meet the specific needs and

conditions of the several agencies of government. (c) It is also recognized that under a free government it is both necessary and desirable

that all citizens, public officials included, should have certain specific interests

in the decisions of government, and that the activities and conduct of public officials

should not, therefore, be unduly circumscribed.