CANTON — The shots keep coming at St. Lawrence County's proposed ethics law.

Legislature Vice Chairman Frederick S. Morrill, D-DeKalb, has dug out a section of state law saying a county "may" create a Board of Ethics to monitor questionable behavior by public officials. That differs from the hard-line approach supporters of updating the law have presented, he contends.

"I think the statute is clear that we had incorrect information," he said. "While it might be in our best interest, it does not say the county must or shall create a Board of Ethics."

The proposal has been cut and revised eight times since it was proposed by the Government Review Committee Democrats created when they took over the Legislature in 2007. It has divided the Legislature and advisory board volunteers, who say financial and personal disclosures are too invasive. An Aug. 13 legislative session devoted to the topic lasted more than three hours and was dominated by opponents who questioned nearly every section of the 17-page draft.

Mr. Morrill, who led the Aug. 13 inquisition, opposes the reform. The disclosure is too invasive, he said. He has repeatedly complained it should not require information from brothers, sisters and parents of county officials.

The proposal calls for a five-person Board of Ethics to review complaints and levy misconduct charges. Mr. Morrill combed through state law to find the section regulating such boards.

Legislator Tedra L. Cobb, D-Canton, has been the driving legislative force behind the proposal. She chairs the committee that proposed it. She will discuss the state law highlighted by Mr. Morrill during a conference call today with the downstate attorneys who helped craft the proposal. They are considered experts in municipal ethics.

"I don't see any of these things as a roadblock," she said. "We need a new law. There's no debate about that in my mind."

The county law was last revised in 1991 when nine volunteer advisory board members quit over disclosure requirements. It is now obsolete because it refers to a temporary state ethics commission as being the county's body for deciding conflicts of interest. The commission no longer exists.

Mr. Morrill's said he wants to strengthen county policy but not with the requirements in the committee proposal.

"With this incorrect information, we can't have an open and honest discussion," he said. "I can't ask what happens if we don't have one."

Any ethics law change must be subjected to a public hearing before legislators enact it.