Ethics Spotlight
Rachel McKinzie - Ethics Officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections
Rachel's responsibility as Ethics Officer involves training and advising 13,599 employees. She monitors employee compliance with the annual ethics trainings and Statements of Economic Interest filings. In 2005, 601 Department employees were required to file Statements of Economic Interest.
Rachel also advises employees who seek guidance in applying the Ethics Act to their particular issue. The most frequent request for guidance she receives from employees concerns offers of gifts. Employees at the Department have raised questions concerning gifts from vendors, donations for the benefit of inmates, raffle donations for charity fundraising and discounts offered to employees from community businesses.
In addition to being the Ethics Officer, Rachel is the Department's Assistant Deputy Chief Legal Counsel and the agency ADA coordinator. Rachel has worked for this agency for 12 years prior to that was employed by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Social Security Administration.
The mission of the Illinois Department of Corrections is to protect the public from criminal offenders through a system of incarceration and supervision which securely segregates offenders from society, assures offenders of their constitutional rights and maintains programs to enhance the success of offenders' reentry into society.
Rachel's top three ethics issues in State government are:
- Trust
- Staffing
- Visibility
She describes the importance of these issues as follows:
All three issues are intertwined and would mean more open government. Trust in government starts internally. Government earns the respect and trust of employees by consistent, fair open and accountable decision-making.
Recognizing that staff is the most valuable resource, government must recruit and nurture qualified employees. Current employees and the public should be entitled to know the complete qualifying background of new employees and newly promoted employees as a matter of public record.
Government is best served when employment procedures are visible at the time the employee is hired or promoted. Public disclosure of hiring and promotion criteria enhances open government policies required for public trust.
The Commission salutes Rachel and the other agency Ethics Officers for their hard work and dedication to improving the ethical climate in the State of Illinois.