File photo of DeKalb County Commission. Photo by: Dan Whisenhunt

DeKalb County Commissioners approved a mid-year budget on July 8 and it contains funding dedicated to making sure officials behave ethically.

Several elected officials have fallen under suspicion and have been the target of various ethics complaints.

The commissioners accused of behaving unethically are: Larry Johnson, Elaine Boyer, Stan Watson, Sharon Barnes Sutton and – most recently – Jeff Rader.

Last month interim CEO Lee May announced tougher ethics rules and the creation of an “ethics watchdog” position, called a Chief Integrity Officer.

The mid-year budget includes the costs of hiring this position and increases funding to the Ethics Board.

According to the county:

– The budget includes $195,000 for the District Attorney’s Office to create a Public Integrity Unit, with a full-year’s commitment of $700,000 in 2015.

– The budget also includes $97,000 for staffing the Chief Integrity Officer’s office, followed by a full-year’s commitment of more than $290,000.

– The budget transfers three auditing jobs to the county’s Internal Audit division.