SARASOTA - Sarasota County has hired a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent to become its ethics and compliance officer.  County leaders say it's the latest move to restore confidence in the local government after recent scandals.

Hundreds of residents came out Thursday to hear the annual state of the county report in Sarasota.  One topic is the new hire.

"The purpose of the position is to make sure the folks that work there and the folks that do business with the organization follow a set of policies and procedures."  Also investigating possible fraud or complaints, including employee misconduct.  Interim County Administrator Terry Lewis appointed Steve Uebelacker this week.  He's not only an FDLE agent, but also a licensed contractor.  "It gives the citizens in the community a sense that there are a set of checks and balances in place, so at the end of the day we make sure we don't get into some of the issues we have experienced just recently."

Those issues include purchasing practices dealing with employee legal and ethical lapses, which has resulted in more than dozen people losing or leaving their jobs -- including former county administrator Jim Ley.

Some groups who have been critical of county leaders recently say they hope this is another step in the right direction.

"The step to have an ethics officer is a good one if that person is truly going to enforce ethical policies."  Cathy Antunes is the President of Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government.  She hopes the move will allow employees who see something wrong to speak up -- something she says was frowned upon before.

She says there are still some issues, however.  "I think what is at most concern for our group right now is that there are high level managers there who implemented this marked for death culture who are documented in participating in ethical violations, and they are still there."

Lewis hopes his new hire can lay those worries to rest.  The move makes the county one of just a few local governments in the country with the position.  "They want integrity, they want ethics, and they want accountability.  I think Steve is custom made for that."

The new ethics and compliance officer will make nearly $100,000 a year.  Lewis says he won't be adding onto the budget because he has eliminated a handful of top positions to make room.