Under the authority set out in Article II of the Alaska State Constitution, the legislature established the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics to administer the Legislative Ethics Act, AS 24.60.

The Ethics Act applies to:

The requirements and prohibitions in the Legislative Ethics Act apply to legislators, most employees of the legislative branch, and the public members of the Ethics Committee. The committee does not have jurisdiction over state employees who work in the Alaska State Government Executive Branch.

The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics is responsible for:

• Helping people understand and comply with the Alaska Legislative Ethics Act
• Issuing formal advisory opinions interpreting the Ethics Act
• Considering complaints alleging violations of the Act
• Maintaining public files of disclosure statements

The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics is composed of:

The Ethics Committee has nine members: two senators, two representatives and five public members. For the purpose of considering most complaints, the Ethics Committee is divided into a House Subcommittee and a Senate Subcommittee.

Elected officials, who serve two-year terms, are appointed by the leadership of the respective body along with the concurrence of two-thirds of the full membership of that body.

Public members, who serve a three-year term, are selected by the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court and ratified by two thirds of the full membership of the legislature.