The Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA) is responsible for overseeing the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Open Government. The Office of Government Ethics administers and enforces the District of Columbia Code of Conduct. The Office of Open Government enforces government-wide compliance with the D.C. Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.

Summary of Services

Specifically, BEGA is responsible for:

• Investigating alleged violations of the Code of Conduct, holding adversarial hearings and, where appropriate, levying sanctions;
• Issuing Advisory Opinions, providing “safe-harbor” for good-faith reliance on these opinions;
• Issuing Advisory Opinions on its own initiative;
• Conducting mandatory ethics training for District government employees;
• Updating and maintaining the District Ethics Manual;
• Receiving and reviewing public financial disclosure statements from public officials and certification statements from Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners;
• Overseeing compliance of certain government employees who must file confidential financial disclosure statements with their agency heads;
• Receiving and auditing lobbyist registration forms and lobbyist activity reports;
• Enforcing the Open Meetings Act;
• Monitoring the District’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act; and
• Assisting government agencies in the implementation of open government practices.