Los Angeles County is taking applications for the seven seats on its first independent ethics commission, and the window closes on July 26, according to LAist. That is Sunday.

Any county resident may apply.

What the job is

The commission is meant to have teeth rather than to issue reports. Under the county's own description of the reform, it will investigate misconduct by county officials, enforce ethics rules, and build public databases covering lobbying and ethics disclosures. A separate Office of Ethics Compliance is being created to support it, headed by a compliance officer.

Its jurisdiction covers the familiar territory of local government integrity: campaign finance, lobbying, conflicts of interest.

The practical commitment, per LAist, is at least six meetings a year, an estimated five to 20 hours a month, and payment of $250 per meeting attended plus expenses. That is a stipend rather than a salary, which shapes who realistically can serve, and it is worth saying so plainly.

How the seats are filled

The structure is unusual and deliberately so. Five nominations come from separate quarters: the assessor, the district attorney, the sheriff, the county's governance reform task force, and the chair of the Board of Supervisors. Those five commissioners then jointly nominate the final two. All appointments go to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

The design distributes the appointing power rather than concentrating it with the supervisors, which is the point when the body's job includes scrutinizing county government.

Where it came from

The commission exists because of Measure G, which county voters approved in November 2024.

Measure G is a substantial rewrite of how the county is run, and the ethics commission is one piece. It also expands the Board of Supervisors from five members to nine, creates an elected county executive, bars former officials from lobbying the county for two years after leaving, and requires most legislation to be posted publicly for at least 120 hours before a vote.

The scale of that is worth pausing on. Five supervisors currently govern a county of roughly ten million people, which means each represents about two million residents, more than most members of Congress. Measure G's supporters argued that a body that small, with that much money and that little independent oversight, was structurally vulnerable regardless of who held the seats. Opponents argued it added cost and bureaucracy. Voters sided with the reformers.

The Board of Supervisors voted to establish the commission earlier this year.

Why you might consider it

Most people reading this will not apply, and that is fine. But bodies like this one are usually filled by people already inside the civic ecosystem: lawyers who know the county, former officials, professional appointees. The county has said it welcomes applicants with backgrounds in ethics, law, government, compliance and community leadership, without making any of it a requirement.

The commission has not yet decided anything. Its first members will set how aggressive it is, what it investigates first, and whether it becomes a genuine check or a body that meets six times a year and produces paperwork. That is more influence than most volunteer appointments carry, and it is being handed to seven people who have not been chosen yet.

Applications close July 26 through the county's online portal.