Coast lawyer hits 40-year mark on ethics board. Is it the nation’s longest such service?
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Gulfport attorney Ben Stone will celebrate his 40th anniversary on the Mississippi Ethics Commission next Wednesday, believed to be the longest anyone has served in a similar position in the United States.
“I have established, with a high degree of certainty, that Ben is the longest continually serving member of any ethics commission anywhere in the country,” Executive Director Tom Hood told the Sun Herald in an email.
Then-Lt. Gov. Brad Dye appointed Stone to the commission on Dec. 1, 1981. Stone has been reappointed by every lieutenant governor since then. He has most recently served as commission chairman since 2006.
The Ethics Commission administers and enforces state ethics laws that apply to political candidates and public officeholders in Mississippi. The commission also investigates complaints filed against public officials.
In addition, the Ethics Commission enforces the state open meetings and public records laws, and presides over disputes involving potential violations of those laws.
Stone, a partner at Balch & Bingham law firm, also serves as general counsel for Mississippi Power and the Mississippi State Port Authority. He was a state senator from 1968-79.
“It has been a real honor to have served on the State Ethics Commission as a member and basically one of the two chairman since 1981,” Stone said.” We have accomplished a lot of positive things and taken unpopular positions resulting in officials having to resign and agencies having to change the way they were doing business.
“But I am proudest of the fact that local and state officials and employees have come to view us as a benefit to guide them rather than an agency set up to punish them.”
Ethics Commission’s role expands in MS
As a member of the Ethics Commission, Stone was one of the members who pushed for a lawsuit that established the commission’s authority to enforce ethics laws.
In the landmark Frazier case, the state Supreme Court ruled the Ethics Commission can sue to enforce ethics laws and that the state constitution forbids a public official from having an interest in a contract with the governing body they serve on.
“Prior to that ruling, the Ethics Commission was more of a paper tiger and afterward, they had more authority,” Hood said.
Stone also helped expand the Ethics Commission’s authority to enforce the public records and open meetings laws. When governing bodies deny requests for records or close meetings, members of the public can appeal to the Ethics Commission for access and fines. Ethics Commission opinions, however, can be appealed to state court.
“From my Day 1, he has always been somewhat of a leveling force among the members,” said Ron Crowe, the commission’s director from September 1983-October 2001.
“He’s good at really getting the opinions out in the open during meetings from each individual commission member. He’s good at getting the board members to come to a consensus. It gives us a lot of confidence in the final decision.
“There were times back when I was director that there was a lot of pressure on Ben to change the direction of the commission in a way the commission didn’t feel it should go, but Ben stood fast for the direction of the commission.”
