A task force charged with updating Sugar Land’s code of ethics could recommend creating an independent ethics review board this month. The group is close to finalizing its recommendations for Sugar Land City Council.

Right now, complaints and incidents around ethical behavior by elected and appointed city officials are reviewed by a panel of City Council members.

‘They’ve been policing themselves,” said Conrith Davis, chairman of the Citizen’s Ethics Task Force. The group has been working on the updates for nearly a year.

The ethics review board envisioned by the task force would enforce the city’s ethics code, including determining when a violation of the code has occurred and assessing fines, Davis said.

Sugar Land’s municipal code governing ethical behavior among elected and appointed officials was established about 12 years ago. The task force was appointed last spring to update it for the first time.

The task force is scheduled to present its recommendations to City Council on Feb. 28, which can vote to accept or reject them. Davis said the 7-person task force has held nearly 20 meetings since it formed, debating ideas and working with city staff to craft the specific language for its recommendations.

At a recent meeting, issues related to political campaigns were top-of-mind. Members considered the optimum minimum amount of campaign contributions that would need to be disclosed.

“You don’t want it to be so low that it’s burdensome,” said Al Abramczyk.

“The concern is that we’ll be over a hundred thousand [people] soon,” Davis said, referring to the coming annexation of Greatwood and New Territory in December. “The dynamics are changing. As we grow, the politics and behavior around it grow as well.”

The task force also discussed the maximum fine amounts for ethics violations. Members seemed to agree on fines of up to $1,000 for an offense of perjury and fines of up to $2,000 for all other type of ethics violation. However, Davis said those figures could be different in the final recommendations.

“After annexation there’s gong to be [a] lot more going on,” said Thomas Demont. “I think we should stand firm on those dollar amounts.”

To get public input, the task force held a public hearing on the matter, and also a closed-door, confidential hearing for residents' input. Davis said task force members also talked to city staffers to gain their input and looked at the ethics rules in place in similar cities.