Missouri Laws 386.200 – Conflicts of interest by commissioner or employees of commission prohibited ..
1. Every commissioner, the public counsel and every person employed or appointed to office, either by the commission or by the public counsel, is hereby forbidden and prohibited to solicit, suggest, request or recommend, directly or indirectly, to any public utility, corporation or person subject to the supervision of the commission, or to any officer, attorney, agent or employee thereof, the appointment of any person to any office, place, position or employment. And every such public utility, corporation and person, and every officer, attorney, agent and employee thereof, is hereby forbidden and prohibited to offer to any commissioner, the public counsel, or to any person employed by the commission or by the public counsel, any office, place, appointment or position, or to offer or give to any commissioner, to the public counsel, or to any person employed or appointed to office by the commission or by the public counsel, any free pass or transportation or any reduction in fare to which the public generally are not entitled or free carriage for property or any present, gift, entertainment or gratuity of any kind.
2. If any commissioner, the public counsel, or any person employed or appointed to office by the commission or the public counsel, shall violate any provision of this section he shall be removed from the office held by him. Every commissioner, the public counsel, and every person employed or appointed to office by the commission, or by the public counsel, shall be and be deemed to be a public officer.
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 386.200
- Commission: the "Public Service Commission" hereby created. See Missouri Laws 386.020
- Commissioner: one of the members of the commission. See Missouri Laws 386.020
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Corporation: includes a corporation, company, association and joint stock association or company. See Missouri Laws 386.020
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes an individual, and a firm or copartnership. See Missouri Laws 386.020
- Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Public utility: includes every pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telecommunications company, water corporation, heating company or refrigerating corporation, and sewer corporation, as these terms are defined in this section, and each thereof is hereby declared to be a public utility and to be subject to the jurisdiction, control and regulation of the commission and to the provisions of this chapter. See Missouri Laws 386.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
3. If any public utility violates any provision of this section, it shall be liable to the state of Missouri in a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction for the assessment of a civil penalty not to exceed twenty thousand dollars. The penalty provided in this subsection shall be in addition to any other penalty provided for violation of the provisions of this chapter. The attorney general shall bring the action authorized in this subsection. The action may be brought in any county where the defendant public utility’s principal place of business is located or where the violation occurred, or where the public utility’s registered agent is located. The penalty assessed under the provisions of this subsection shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of general revenue.
4. Any officer, agent or employee of any public utility who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.