Two bills change the ethics and lobbying laws, in part by making investigative hearings of ethics panels open when executive branch officials and General Assembly members are accused in credible complaints of ethics violations. A third requires more disclosure of legal expense funds created for elected officials.

"People ought to know what accusations are being made against public officials," Easley said at a ceremony in the old state Capitol. "But I think it's more important for the public officials ... because it gives the public the chance to see the official did not do anything wrong. The official gets to tell his side of it."

The old State Board of Ethics had similar open hearings against executive branch members and appointees to state panels. But the 2006 rewrite of ethics and lobbying rules made those meetings of the reconstituted State Ethics Commission confidential, while the Legislative Ethics Committee, which handles complaints against lawmakers, remained closed.

The confidentiality meant that citizens might never learn the details of a complaint, unless the elected or appointed official received a public sanction or censure. Most of the documents in the hearings also will now be open for public inspection.

The ethics bills otherwise make small changes to the 2006 laws that supporters say will provide more disclosure to the public while attempting to keep private the personal lives of elected officials and their families. By Gary D Robertson, AP