The Office of State Ethics on Friday announced Carol Carson will retire as its executive director in August.
The Citizens Ethics Advisory Board said Carson will leave her post Aug. 1 after leading the agency for nearly a dozen years.
The board said it has launched a search for her replacement.
Carson, a former member of senior management with the Massachusetts Ethics Commission and the state’s past president of the Council on Government Ethics Laws, succeeded Benjamin Bycel as executive director in Dec. 2007.
During her tenure, officials say Carson was tasked with “restoring public trust and confidence” in the state’s ethics administration, especially after Bycel resigned months prior following a tumultuous tenure at the agency.
Carson, officials say, provided “steady leadership” and fair enforcement of ethics violations at the agency despite experiencing a 38 percent staff reduction in addition to the consolidation of nine state agencies, which all morphed in the Office of Governmental Accountability in 2011.
She then helped the agency restore its independence in 2016.
“She has always maintained grace under fire,” said board chairwoman Dena M. Castricone. “We owe a tremendous debt to Carol for her service and extraordinary leadership.”
