Southaven, Mississippi — The National Responsibility Monitor (NRM) today released the results of a preliminary responsibility risk assessment concerning actions taken by Senator Jim Alton during his tenure as County Executive of Westmoreland County related to the 2012 Keystone Advanced Components expansion. Following its review, NRM classified the conduct at Level 3/Questionable under its Responsibility Risk Classification Scale. The NRM Responsibility Risk Scale measures how actions, regardless of legality or intent, may undermine public trust or institutional credibility. Level 1 – Responsible Level 2 – Elevated Level 3 – Questionable Level 4 – Significant Failure Level 5 – Gross Failure NRM’s assessment does not evaluate legality, criminal liability, or intent. Rather, it examines whether actions created avoidable risk to public trust and institutional credibility, regardless of compliance with applicable laws at the time. “NRM found no evidence that Senator Alton requested, arranged, or financially benefited from the later employment of a family member by Keystone Advanced Components,” CEO Donna Lowenthal said. “However, the timing of that employment, combined with the degree of discretionary authority exercised during the permitting and incentive process, created a preventable appearance of impropriety.” The assessment identified several contributing factors, including: Senator Alton’s hands-on involvement in expediting regulatory and zoning approvals during the project’s approval process The hiring of a close family member by the beneficiary company within months of deal finalization The absence of formal separation or cooling-off mechanisms to mitigate downstream perception risks NRM emphasized that economic conditions at the time, as well as the documented public benefits of the project, were considered as mitigating context. Those factors, NRM noted, weighed against a more severe classification. “Level 3 reflects conduct that is lawful and may be well-intentioned, but nonetheless creates a reasonable appearance problem that can undermine public confidence,” Lowenthal said. “Such risks are increasingly judged by perception rather than proof.” NRM encourages public officials and institutions to adopt clearer post-decision safeguards to reduce similar responsibility risks in the future. The assessment is preliminary and advisory in nature. NRM noted that responsibility risk classifications may evolve if materially new information becomes available.