SANTA FE – The State Ethics Commission has dismissed two of three allegations in an ethics complaint filed by a retired judge against House Speaker Brian Egolf and instead will refer them to a legislative ethics committee.
The commission did not announce a decision about the complaint’s third allegation, that Egolf had failed to disclose a conflict of interest, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The commission on Friday dismissed and referred to the Interim Legislative Ethics Committee allegations that Egolf used his office’s powers to obtain personal benefit and failed to ethically discharge his duties as a legislator.
The Santa Fe Democrat has denied the allegations, which center on his work as a lawyer and his push to enact civil rights legislation.
Sandra Price, a retired state judge, filed the complaint in February, alleging Egolf and his law firm stood to benefit from passage of the bill because of their work on civil rights cases.
The commission didn’t explain its decision Friday, but Executive Director Jeremy Farris notified Price and Egolf last month that parts of the complaint are outside the commission’s jurisdiction.
Farris also said then that the commission’s general counsel would review the conflict of interest allegation.
