Atlanta Unfiltered

The State Ethics Commission today opened a two-week window for job applicants who want to be the state’s top ethics enforcer.

Executive secretary Rick Thompson last week announced his resignation, effective in October, to launch a business that will focus on helping corporate clients comply with ethics and disclosure laws.

The commission hopes to interview three finalists for the job at its Oct. 15 meeting. The interviews would be in public, unlike the process in which Thompson was chosen in 2006. The commission talked to those job candidates in closed session, which senior assistant attorney general Stefan Ritter described today as “not the best practice.”

A job description and minimum qualifications will be posted on the commission’s Web site through Sept. 11. After that, Jordan and commission member Jim Gatewood will sift through the resumes to come up with a short list of candidates.

The job will pay a minimum of $89,000 a year.

Jordan said he’s already taking phone calls from lawyers affected by downsizing at some of the city’s most prominent law firms, including King & Spalding and Alston & Bird.