(The Center Square) – The investigation into an ethics complaint filed against Washington State Executive Ethics Board Executive Director Kate Reynolds has raised further questions over conflicts of interest within the state employee disciplinary system.
Reynolds investigated a separate ethics complaint filed against Solicitor General Noah Purcell for defending Attorney General Nick Brown, his supervisor, in a State Bar Association complaint.
Although the Attorney General’s Office has previously told The Center Square the Washington State Executive Ethics Board is an independent entity, an organizational chart from its website shows that Reynolds reports to both Purcell and the Washington State Executive Ethics Board. Both Reynolds and other board staff are funded and supported by the AGO, while the board members are appointed by the governor.
After Reynolds rejected the complaint against Purcell, a complaint was filed against her for refusing to recuse herself or abstain due to a conflict of interest. The complaint against Reynolds was overseen by Executive Ethics Board Chair Kelli Hooke. In her letter, she wrote Reynolds’ response was “accurate and appropriately acted. Her action did not violate the Ethics in Public Service Act.”
She further wrote that though the actions of Brown and Purcell “are of the type that a person may disagree with, their actions are not covered by the Ethics Act and the Executive Ethics Board is not the venue for your grievance.”
Her letter noted that it did not constitute a formal rejection under state law, which means the decision cannot be appealed. The State Ethics Board is scheduled to consider in November whether to issue an advisory opinion on the complaint filed against Purcell.
All the complaints have been filed by Police Strategies CEO and President Bob Scales, who has had a long-running feud with the AGO as well as Washington State University regarding a police use of force database that recently launched.
According to the State Executive Ethics Board’s 2024 report, it received 397 complaints, opened 94 cases and completed 51 cases. It found Reasonable Cause in 24 cases and issued 18 Board Dismissals.
The report also states that “the use of state resources for personal gain continues to be the leading allegation for cases accepted for filing in 2024, followed by special privilege and conflict of interest.”
Among the 23 penalties imposed on state employees for the following reasons:
Using a state computer to browse the internet including travel, real estate, social media and shopping websites.Using their state issued MiFi device for personal use, resulting in a high amount of data usage.Browsing the internet to visit sites such as YouTube, Netflix, online shopping and various sports and news websites.Browsing the internet for non-work-related purposes by visiting news websites, sports sites, YouTube and social media sites.Browsing the internet to include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and real estate websites.Browsing the internet such as TikTok, Twitter, personal Google searches, news websites and online shopping.Browsing the internet to visit social media websites, as well as Ebay, sports and news websites.Browsing the internet by visiting sites including Zillow and YouTube, and saving several personal documents and photos on their computer.Using state resources for private benefit to support and promote the interests of an outside organization.
“If I caught Kate Reynolds surfing the web at work, the Board would throw the book at her,” Scales wrote in an email. “But it is perfectly OK for the EEB Executive Director to dismiss ethics complaints against her boss and her boss’s boss. No conflict of interest there.”
