Rhode Island
Moonlighting on the State’s Name: Head of RI’s Juvenile Lock-Up, Paid $160K+, Faces Ethics Probe Over an Undisclosed Consulting Business That Advertised His State Job
What happened
The Rhode Island Ethics Commission voted Tuesday to investigate Larome Myrick, executive director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families’ Division of Youth Development. Myrick runs the Rhode Island Training School, the state’s juvenile lock-up. NBC 10 reports he is on paid leave. State officials would not say why, and state payroll records show he makes more than $160,000 a year. He has held the job since 2018. The commission’s agenda listed the matter for executive session as “In re: Larome Myrick, Complaint No. 2026-5.”
The complaint. According to The Providence Journal, Matthew Gunnip, head of SEIU Local 580, which represents DCYF employees, filed the complaint on Oct. 9. It alleges Myrick runs a consulting firm, Dr. Larome Myrick Consulting, that he did not list on his mandatory ethics financial disclosures. The complaint says the firm’s website “markets juvenile justice consulting services under Myrick’s name and likeliness, identifies his Rhode Island public position, and invites prospective clients to contact the business: ‘Looking for an expert in juvenile justice? Dr. Myrick is the consultant you need. Contact us to learn more about how he can help your organization.’”
The complaint also says the site “displayed a video containing images of youth who appeared to be in the custody of the Rhode Island Training School.” It also says the site carried a testimonial attributed to a subordinate at DCYF, who “praises Myrick’s juvenile-justice expertise, public speaking, and professional commitment and describes him as a colleague.”
By Oct. 20, the day the commission met, the website had been set to private, the Journal reports. NBC 10 says the commission found that the allegations, if true, would constitute an ethics violation. Neither outlet reached Myrick for comment.
Same day, same commission, the right way. At the same meeting, the commission approved Advisory Opinion 2026-36, which lets the state’s Chief Medical Examiner run a private consulting practice on non-Rhode Island cases. The conditions are that “all work is performed on his own time and without the use of public resources or confidential information obtained as part of his state employment; he does not use his public position to recruit or obtain potential clients; and he does not use his public position to advertise or promote his private work.” The medical examiner asked first. The complaint against Myrick alleges he advertised his public position to market a business he never disclosed.
Original reporting
Read the underlying sources:
R.I. Ethics Commission — Agenda, 14th Meeting (Oct. 20, 2026) (PDF)
R.I. Ethics Commission — Advisory Opinion 2026-36, Re: Marius Tarau, MD (Oct. 20, 2026)
Virtue Forge commentary
A public job is a public trust, not a sales brochure. Running the state’s only locked facility for children is one of the most sensitive jobs in Rhode Island government. If the complaint is accurate, its top official treated that title as a selling point for a private business he never disclosed. The most serious allegation is the video. Children in state custody are owed privacy and protection, not a spot in anyone’s marketing reel.
Rhode Island’s ethics system already has a simple rule for this: tell the public about your outside income, ask the commission first, and don’t trade on the office. The medical examiner did exactly that and got a yes, with conditions, the same day. Disclosure forms only work if officials fill them out honestly. Here, it took a union complaint to bring the business to light, and the website went private just as the commission took up the matter.
What to watch: the commission’s investigation and any probable-cause hearing; whether DCYF or the governor’s office explains the leave; whether Myrick amends his financial disclosures; and who is running the Training School in the meantime.