State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) announced today that he has appointed
Sister Sally J. Tolles of Windham to serve on the newly formed Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board. Sister Tolles, an attorney who received her law degree from Widener University in Delaware, currently serves as the U.S regional moderator for the Secular Branch of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, a Roman Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right.

"We hear a lot of talk about reform and the need to entrust our new ethics commission in the hands of those who are above the fray of politics, so from that standpoint I do not think you could find a better appointment to this board than Sister Sally Tolles," said Senator DeLuca. "Sister Tolles has proven through her many years of service as an attorney, a teacher, and a devout member of the Catholic Church that she has both the intelligence and integrity to approach these issues of governmental ethics with a unique and altogether qualified perspective. I am honored that she chose to accept this position, and I believe the entire state will benefit from her insight."

Sister Tolles has had a long and distinguished career in canon law and public service. She began her professional career as a teacher at Annhurst College (Woodstock, CT), and has since served as a lawyer in the Maryland Office of the State's Attorney, as the Founding Director of the Interfaith Center for Peace and Justice, and as a canonist with the Norwich Diocese. She received her J.C.L from the Catholic University of America in 1990.

The Citizens Ethics Advisory Board is a nine-member panel that was established by the legislature in 2005 in the wake of the scandal surrounding former Governor Rowland. It will replace the former State Ethics Commission as the board charged with enforcing the Code of Ethics for Public Officials and the Code of Ethics for Lobbyists. Sister Tolles' term with the board begins immediately.