The Center for Ethics in Government was organized in 1999 to address the most critical, fundamental and far-reaching problem facing state legislatures: the loss of public trust and confidence in representative democracy. The mission of the center, which is nonpartisan, nonprofit and funded by NCSL's Foundation for State Legislatures, is to be a leader in restoring confidence in representative government by promoting ethical behavior for state legislators, staff, lobbyists and advocates.
The center's online research is divided into subtopics that include conflicts of interest, financial disclosures, lobbyist regulation, oversight and gifts. NCSL also has resources on staff ethics, an ethics and lobbying legislation database and a regularly updated breakdown of ethics in the news.