Public Administration, Ethics, and Confidentiality
What this domain tests
Public Administration, Ethics, and Confidentiality tests whether you can serve the public impartially, use authority responsibly, and protect nonpublic information. The exam favors concrete situations: a request, a conflict, a gift, or a disclosure.
Core standards
- Act within delegated authority. Do not give legal advice, predict outcomes, or alter a record to help a party.
- Remain neutral. Do not discuss a case with one side outside the proper process or accept favors that could influence judgment.
- Protect sealed, expunged, juvenile, medical, personnel, and security information. Confirm identity and authority before releasing anything.
- Public records are released through the established request process, not through informal disclosure. “Can you confirm?” is still a disclosure question.
- Avoid conflicts of interest and report them. Use official systems for official business; do not browse case data out of curiosity.
- Political activity, gifts, and outside employment are constrained by ethics rules and agency policy.
Worked example
A caller says, “I’m a relative; just tell me whether a sealed juvenile case exists.” The clerk should not confirm or deny the record. The correct response is that sealed records are not released informally and that any access request must go through the authorized process. The clerk documents the call if policy requires it.
Traps
Answering “just this once” for a friend; using social media to discuss a case; accepting a gift “for good service”; and treating a public records request as permission to release everything. Confidentiality is judged by the disclosure, not by the caller’s motive.