In short
Act 165-2012 prohibits every official of the Government of Puerto Rico, its corporations and instrumentalities, mayors, municipal officials and legislators, judges and Judicial Branch officials, and members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, from traveling as part of an Olympic delegation with expenses paid by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee or any other entity that receives public funds. The law shall not apply to public officials or employees who receive financial assistance for practicing a sport at a competitive level and are bona fide members of a sports federation attached to the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee; nor shall it prevent the named officials from participating in Olympic Committee activities provided they pay for their participation with private funds. The prohibition shall extend up to four (4) years after the state or municipal official or legislator has left office. Any natural or legal person who fails to comply with this law’s provisions commits a fourth-degree felony.
What is it?
It is a short public ethics law with a reach wider than its name suggests. It is not limited to the Olympic Committee: it covers expenses paid by “any other entity that receives public funds.” And it does not end when the official leaves the post: it keeps running for four more years.
Who can do it?
Every official of the Government of Puerto Rico, its corporations and instrumentalities; mayors, municipal officials and legislators; judges and Judicial Branch officials; and members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. The penalty reaches any natural or legal person who fails to comply, so it is not only the traveler who answers.
Requirements
- That the person be one of the officials the law lists, or have been one within the last four (4) years in the case of state or municipal officials or legislators.Verified against the official source
- That the trip be as part of an Olympic delegation with expenses paid by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee or any other entity receiving public funds.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Information pending verification.
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The list of covered posts
The article names them one by one: every official of the Government of Puerto Rico, its corporations and instrumentalities; mayors, municipal officials and legislators; judges and Judicial Branch officials; and members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. It is a list covering all three branches plus the municipal level.
Step 2: It is not only COPUR
The prohibition covers trips with expenses paid by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee “or any other entity that receives public funds.” That phrase is what keeps the rule from being dodged by passing the bill to a federation, a municipality or a corporation that receives public money.
Step 3: The athlete-official exception
It is narrow and requires two things at once: the law does not apply to public officials or employees who receive financial assistance for practicing a sport at competitive level and who are bona fide members of a sports federation attached to the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee. One of the two conditions alone is not enough.
Step 4: You may take part by paying your own way
The law says it expressly: it shall not prevent the officials named in its Article 1 from participating in Olympic Committee activities provided they pay for their participation with private funds. What the law prohibits is the paid expense, not the presence.
Step 5: Four years after leaving office
This is the article almost nobody remembers: the prohibition contained in this law shall extend up to four (4) years after the state or municipal official or legislator has left office. Leaving the post does not immediately reopen the door.
Step 6: The penalty, and whom it reaches
Any natural or legal person who fails to comply with this law’s provisions commits a fourth-degree felony. Note the wording: it says “any natural or legal person,” not only the official. The entity paying for the trip falls within the penalty’s reach.
Where to do it
It is a criminal matter: the report is filed with the Puerto Rico Police and the criminal action belongs to the Department of Justice. If your matter is the commercial use of Olympic marks, that is a different law with its own guide. If it is an overcharge by an official, that too.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
What we did not read and what we therefore do not publish. The law classifies the violation as a fourth-degree felony but does not reproduce the penalty range corresponding to that classification; that range lives in the Penal Code, which we did not read for this guide, so we publish no years or amounts. Nor did we read the Government Ethics Act or any regulation, so we do not describe the route of an ethics complaint, or the duties to report trips or gifts other rules may impose on an official. The law designates no investigating agency and creates no administrative procedure: it creates the prohibition, its two exceptions, the four-year extension and the offense. And one reading clarification: the four-year extension is written for “the state or municipal official or legislator”; that sentence’s text does not repeat Article 1’s full enumeration, and we will not extend it beyond what it says.
Common mistakes
- Believing it applies only to COPUR-paid trips: it reaches any other entity that receives public funds.
- Thinking the ban ends on leaving office: it extends up to four years afterward.
- Stretching the athlete exception: it requires receiving financial assistance for practicing the sport competitively AND being a bona fide member of a federation attached to COPUR.
- Assuming no participation is allowed: it is, paying for the participation with private funds.
- Assuming only the traveler answers: the penalty reaches any natural or legal person who fails to comply.
- Looking in this law for the penalty range: it only classifies the offense as a fourth-degree felony.
Frequently asked questions
Can a mayor travel with the Olympic delegation?
Not at someone else’s expense. The law expressly prohibits mayors, among other officials, from traveling as part of an Olympic delegation with expenses paid by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee or any other entity receiving public funds.
Can they go paying for themselves?
Yes. The law shall not prevent the named officials from participating in Olympic Committee activities provided they pay for their participation with private funds.
How long does the prohibition last?
The prohibition shall extend up to four (4) years after the state or municipal official or legislator has left office.
What offense is violating it?
Any natural or legal person who fails to comply with this law’s provisions commits a fourth-degree felony. The law classifies the offense but does not reproduce the penalty range, which lives in the Penal Code.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico
Justicia
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- Department of Justice
Departamento de Justicia
www.justicia.pr.gov
Last verified
August 24, 2026
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