Wendell H. Murphy's votes on matters involving his hog interests were not uncommon in the General Assembly, where members often vote on issues in which they have financial stakes.

"Unhappily, I think we see that all the time," said former Rep. Marie W. Colton, who was chairman last year of the Joint Committee on Ethics.

The Legislative Ethics Act, adopted in 1975 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, is a test almost anyone can pass. It says, simply, that General Assembly members may vote on laws in which they have a financial stake as long as they can say that interest did not cloud their judgment.

The act says:

"When a legislator must act on a legislative matter as to which he has an economic interest ... he shall consider whether his judgment will be substantially influenced by the interest, and consider the need for his particular contribution, such as a special knowledge of the subject matter, to the effective functioning of the legislature."

If the legislator concludes that an "actual economic interest does exist which would impair his independence of judgment," then that legislator is supposed to ask to be excused.

A few legislators occasionally ask to be excused, but that's rare.

Murphy never asked to be excused from a vote during his four years in the Senate. Records of requests to be excused from voting during his six years in the House were not tabulated.

In the last 20 years, only two legislators have been disciplined for ethical misconduct, says Terrence D. Sullivan, counsel to the Joint Committee on Ethics since the late 1970s.

The committee has not met since May 6, 1991. And before that, Sullivan said, "I'm not sure, but I would say '88, something like that."

Even if a legislator does run into trouble, there are ways to limit the damage: Ethics Committee meetings are exempt from the state's Open Meetings Law.

The public is not allowed to attend a meeting unless the legislator under investigation gives permission. Minutes of the meetings are kept but, except for official actions, they are not public.

If it is necessary to "admonish" a colleague, the committee may do that in public or private. The public need not be told.

Sullivan said the major thrust of the ethics act was public disclosure of candidates' financial interests. Legislative candidates are required to fill out a "Statement of Economic Interest," which is filed in their home county and in the legislative library.

But those reports give candidates wide latitude on how much, or how little, they disclose.

Murphy, for example, described his 1990 real estate holdings in Duplin, Sampson and Greene Counties as "land, land, land, land, land, land" and "land."

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