A 23-member panel that includes legislators, lawyers, prosecutors, state, county and city officials and others meets for the first time on Thursday to consider changes to the Alabama ethics law.

The Legislature created the Code of Ethics Clarification and Reform Commission during the legislative session that ended in March.

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who sponsored the resolution setting up the commission and is a member, said his preference would be a fresh look at the entire law, including a look at what other states are doing.

"My personal opinion is we need to start from scratch," Orr said.

Attorney General Steve Marshall and Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Albritton will serve as co-chairmen.

Marshall's office drafted a 119-page bill earlier this year to overhaul the ethics law, which was originally written more than 40 years ago and substantially changed in 2010. Marshall said some people covered by the law wanted more clarity in certain areas and that other areas needed to be tighter.

But lawmakers declined to tackle the reforms during what turned out to be an abbreviated election-year session that ended in March.

They did pass one ethics bill on the last day of the session to exempt economic development consultants from a requirement to register as lobbyists with the Ethics Commission unless they seek special incentives for their clients.

Supporters said disclosure requirements for lobbyists could jeopardize the state's efforts to recruit employers who want to keep their project site searches confidential.

Opponents said the exemption created a loophole in the ethics law.

The bill squeaked through the Senate on a 15-14 vote. The lobbying registration exemption will expire in April 2019, so it's likely that will be a topic for the Ethics Clarification and Reform Commission.

The panel is scheduled to report its recommendations to the Legislature by the first day of the 2019 session.