PHOENIX (AP) - The chairman of the Arizona House ethics committee has dismissed a complaint saying a lawmaker violated the state constitution by working as an unpaid reserve deputy marshal for the city of Tombstone.
Committee chairman Rep. T.J. Shope says in a Wednesday letter that he dismissed the complaint against fellow Republican Rep. Anthony Kern after receiving a legal opinion from the Legislative Council. Those independent attorneys concluded the unpaid post didn't violate the constitution's ban on lawmakers holding certain government jobs.
Shope said it was clear based on the opinion that Kern didn't violate the law.
Kern served as a volunteer marshal from February 2017 until March of this year. The ethics complaint was filed by a political operative and sought Kern's expulsion. Kern denied wrongdoing.
