CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND RECUSAL.
Austin City Code § 2-1-24
in effect§ 2-1-24 - CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND RECUSAL.
(A) This section is cumulative of Chapter 2-7 (Ethics and Financial Disclosure) and Local Government Code Chapter 171 (Regulation of Conflicts of Interest of Officers of Municipalities, Counties, and Certain Other Local Governments). Under this section a board member has a conflict of interest if the City Code or another law prohibits the board member from taking action on a vote or decision before the board.
(B) At each meeting, a board member shall sign an attendance sheet and shall indicate:
(1) that the board member has no conflict of interest related to any item on the agenda; or
(2) the number of an agenda item for which the board member has a conflict of interest.
(C) At each meeting of a committee to which a board member is appointed, a committee member shall sign in on a sheet provided and shall indicate:
(1) that the committee member has no conflict of interest related to any item on the committee meeting agenda; or
(2) the number of an agenda item for which the committee member has a conflict of interest.
(D) For purposes of the requirements of Subsections (B) and (C), a board member who is participating virtually via videoconference may submit a signed and scanned version of the attendance sheet, or other document prescribed for that purpose by the city clerk, via email to the staff liaison upon or before virtually joining the meeting; other delivery methods of the form, including an email from the member stating that the member has no conflict of interest or indicating the number of an agenda item for which the member has a conflict, are acceptable as long as the staff liaison has the form by the time the board member joins the meeting.
(E) Except as provided by Subsection (D), failure by a member to comply with Subsection (B) will result in that member being counted as absent from the board meeting; such an absence is an unexcused absence. Any vote or votes cast by a member who fails to comply with Subsection (B) or (C) will not be counted at the board or committee meeting at issue.
(F) Chapter 2-7, Article 3 (Violation: Complaint and Hearing Procedures) applies to this section, and a sworn complaint alleging a violation may be filed under the procedures of that article. If the Ethics Review Commission determines that a violation of this section has occurred, it shall follow the procedure required by Section 2-7-47 (Prosecution).
(G) The city clerk shall maintain a list of boards and commissions that are in the following categories:
(1) boards that exercise responsibilities beyond those that are advisory in nature and whose members must comply with the substantial interest disclosure required by Local Government Code Chapter 171.
(2) boards that exercise discretion in the planning, recommending, selecting, or contracting of a vendor and whose members must comply with the conflicts disclosure required by Local Government Code Chapter 176.
(3) boards to which council has delegated one of its governmental powers, which is exercised by the board for the benefit of the public largely independent of the control of others, and whose members are subject to the hold over provisions of Texas Constitution Article XVI, Section 17.
Source: Ord. 20071129-011; Ord. 20080214-012; Ord. 20101209-003; Ord. No. 20211104-062, Pt. 4, 2-28-22; Ord. No. 20250227-004, Pt. 7, 3-10-25.
Source: City of Austin, City Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/austin/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT2AD_CH2-1CIBO_ART1GEPR_DIV2MERE_S2-1-24COINREFetched: 10/27/2026