Officials must report the value of any gifted tickets on their annual financial reports.

Chris Piper, the council’s executive director, asked the body to provide clarity rather than defer the question.

“Of all the questions we get, this is not only one of the most frequent, it’s one of the most daunting, as we have already seen,” Piper said. “I’m concerned that puts staff on precarious ground.”

The council agreed to have its staff continue to provide the informal guidance it has given previously.

Piper also announced at the meeting that he is resigning as the council’s executive director effective May 9, after being informed that the General Assembly’s Joint Rules Committee would not confirm him for the job.

Piper said he believes the council, established in 2015, can prove to Virginians that the problem is not a lack of ethics but “a lack of a single entity providing guidance to those required to comply with the law.”

“It is my hope that the council continues its good work to this point and grows into its proper role,” said Piper, a former campaign finance official with the Virginia Department of Elections.