{"id":1791,"date":"2026-06-02T19:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2026-06-02T19:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:36:19","slug":"r-i-ethics-commission-will-investigate-complaint-against-former-house-speaker-k-joseph-shekarchi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791","title":{"rendered":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PROVIDENCE \u2014 The Rhode Island Ethics Commission on Tuesday decided to investigate a complaint that claims former House speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi violated the state\u2019s \u201crevolving door\u201d ban by applying for a seat on the state Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1789\">Mass. House to vote on legislation subjecting the governor, but not itself, to state\u2019s public records law<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The commission voted 6 to 1, with one recusal, to find that the complaint states facts that, if true, are sufficient to constitute an ethics code violation and to authorize a full investigation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAn initial determination is a preliminary vote that should not be construed as an opinion regarding the truth of the facts alleged in the complaint but merely is a vote to conduct an investigation into the allegations raised,\u201d commission Vice Chairwoman Holly J. Susi said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Professor Michael J. Yelnosky, former dean of the Roger Williams University School of Law, filed the complaint, arguing that Shekarchi\u2019s application to the Supreme Court \u201cviolated the code of ethics, which prohibits a state elected official, while holding state office and for a period of one year after leaving office, from seeking or accepting employment with any other state agency.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Rhode Map<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, stepped down from the speaker\u2019s position on May 7, while remaining in his House District 23 seat, as he applied for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Supreme Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shekarchi has maintained that he did not violate the revolving door ban by applying to the Supreme Court. He has argued that the matter was settled in 2020 when another Warwick Democrat \u2014 then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairwoman Erin Lynch Prata \u2014 applied for a Supreme Court seat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ethics Commission staff concluded at the time that the revolving door provision of the state ethics code prohibited Lynch Prata from seeking a Supreme Court seat for a full year after leaving office. But the commission members voted 5-2 to reject the staff\u2019s advice, opening the door for then-governor Gina M. Raimondo to appoint Lynch Prata to the Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shekarchi has noted the Ethics Commission\u2019s legal counsel, Herbert F. DeSimone Jr., disagreed with its staff in 2020, saying Lynch Prata could seek a Supreme Court seat because it\u2019s a \u201cconstitutional court,\u201d rather than a lower court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1787\">Wu, state officials reach deal on closing Summer Street ahead of World Cup matches<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Yelnosky said the Ethics Commission never issued an advisory opinion that would set a precedent for Shekarchi\u2019s situation. And the commission now has new members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Tuesday, Ethics Commission member Frank J. Cenerini, a retired state judge, cast the lone vote against conducting an investigation. Ethics Commission Chairman Loren E. Jones recused himself from the vote to avoid an appearance of impropriety because of his past business dealings with Shekarchi and because his law practice focused on appearing before the Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After Tuesday\u2019s vote, Shekarchi said, \u201cI have no comment until the Ethics Commission completes its due diligence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yelnosky said, \u201cI am pleased they have recognized that this is an open question. This is just an initial determination. The standard is whether my allegations describe a potential violation of the code, and they said that it did. I think that was the right decision. But it says nothing about how ultimately they will vote on the merits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said that while it\u2019s early in their process, the Ethics Commission vote is an important first step. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cCommon Cause Rhode Island has long held that the revolving door prohibits legislators from seeking or accepting appointment to all state courts, including the Supreme Court, unless they\u2019ve been out of office for a year,\u201d Marion said. \u201cWe hope the Ethics Commission continues to agree with us as this moves forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On July 28, the Judicial Nominating Commission plans to interview all five applicants for the lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court: Shekarchi, Superior Court Judge Luis M. Matos, Family Court Judge Laureen D\u2019Ambra, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Bush, and attorney John E. Roberts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1785\">How Trump has used the presidency to benefit himself and his allies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The commission voted 6 to 1 to probe whether the former R.I. House speaker violated the \u201crevolving door\u201d provision of the ethics code by applying for a seat on the state Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The commission voted 6 to 1 to probe whether the former R.I. House speaker violated the \u201crevolving door\u201d provision of the ethics code by applying for a seat on the state Supreme Court.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791\"},\"wordCount\":728,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791\",\"name\":\"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=1791#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boston Relocation Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider","og_description":"The commission voted 6 to 1 to probe whether the former R.I. House speaker violated the \u201crevolving door\u201d provision of the ethics code by applying for a seat on the state Supreme Court.","og_url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791","og_site_name":"Boston Relocation Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"headline":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi","datePublished":"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791"},"wordCount":728,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791","name":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi - Boston Relocation Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-02T19:36:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df7e6dd91ce51dec3bbe7509dc83599f.avif","width":1440,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1791#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"R.I. Ethics Commission will investigate complaint against former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/","name":"Boston Relocation Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}