The Providence Journal reported in January 2003, that one of Governor-elect Carcieri’s first hires was Stephanie Accaputo, the daughter of his wife’s brother and a worker in the governor's successful campaign in 2002. Accaputo's employment resurfaced as an issue recently when WJAR-TV (Channel 10) reported on it.

Carcieri's legal counsel, Kernan F. King, told the commission today that the hiring was proper under the Code of Ethics as it read at the time, in part because the code didn't include "niece-in-law" among the relatives covered by the code's anti-nepotism provisions.

"What part of 'by marriage' don't you understand?" retorted commission member Ross Cheit.

He was referring to the fact that the code had since 1991 prohibited officials from using their office to benefit relatives, "whether by blood, marriage or adoption," and listed nieces among the relatives covered.

King also argued that the ethics code at the time was so unclear that it didn't give officials fair notice of what they were prohibited from doing.

Commission lawyer Jason Gramitt said that although "the Code of Ethics prohibits taking official action to benefit one's niece," discovering that prohibition at the time could have required reading three sections of the code.

As a result, he said in a memo to the commission, officials "may not have been put on sufficient notice" about the implications to accuse them of violating the code.

But the fact that the governor or his staff might have had trouble understanding the anti-nepotism provisions in 2002 only prompted questions about why, if the administration found the Code of Ethics unclear, it didn't ask the commission for a clarifying legal opinion then.

To now ask for a legal opinion "going back to bail him out on this is not appropriate," Cheit said.

"I'm afraid we're going to end up with a complaint" against the governor, said commission member Richard Kirby.

The commission's new chair, Barbara Binder, came close to inviting a complaint, saying that "It would really help us home in on the issues" by "having other parties" involved in helping clarify the question.

Binder was elected chair of the commission today, replacing James Lynch Sr, whom Carcieri replaced on the board.

Accaputo was hired in late 2002 to work in the governor’s constituent-affairs office at a salary of $37,781 per year, and now makes $52,119 as an "administrative support specialist" in the executive department.

Asked about the hiring by the Journal then, Carcieri's press secretary, Jeff Neal, said that Accaputo had "very clearly earned" the job by providing "glowing service" during 14 months she working Carcieri's election campaign.

The commission urges public officials who worry about possible ethics violations to ask for formal advisory opinions ahead of time. The result may be approval, which shield officials against future prosecution, or a warning. Carcieri was asking approval for hiring his relative after the fact, which the commission wouldn't give.