PIERRE - After two sex scandals involving South Dakota lawmakers and high school students working as pages, a legislative panel voted unanimously Monday to endorse a written code of conduct aimed at reminding lawmakers they are expected to follow high standards of behavior.

The brief code, written in broad terms, says the public requires that lawmakers maintain the "highest of moral and ethical standards," comply with legal requirements involving campaign finance and conflicts or interest and refrain from offensive behavior, including sexual harassment. It also slightly modifies the procedure for handling complaints against lawmakers.

The Executive Board, which deals with legislative policy and management issues, also recommended the Legislature provide three shirts with embroidered logos for each page who serves in the annual lawmaking session. The pages would be required to wear those shirts when on duty in the Capitol.

The proposed code of conduct and the page dress policy next go to the Legislative Procedures Committee for consideration. The policies will take effect if the full House and Senate approve them during the legislative session that opens Jan. 8.

Senate President Bob Gray, R-Pierre, who helped write the proposed code, said the public expects the Legislature to establish a code of conduct in response to the two scandals that arose in the past year.

"We think that legislators should be held to a higher standard," Gray said.

However, Gray and other legislators said no written code will stop someone who intends to violate the law.

Lawmakers started talking about a written code of conduct earlier in the year when the Senate held hearings to investigate allegations that Sen. Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, fondled an 18-year-old page during the 2006 legislative session. Senators decided not to expel Sutton because they said the molestation charges never were proven, but they publicly reprimanded him after finding he acted inappropriately by sharing his motel bed with the young man.

Interest in a code increased after former Rep. Ted Klaudt, R-Walker, was charged in May with rape and other sex offenses against foster daughters. Witnesses said he touched the girls' breasts and genital areas under the pretense that he was determining whether they were healthy enough to make thousands of dollars by donating their reproductive eggs to infertile couples.

One of the named victims and some other girls had been legislative pages.

A jury convicted Klaudt earlier this month of four counts of second-degree rape for incidents that occurred while he was in Pierre during the 2005 and 2006 legislative sessions. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of witness tampering so he could avoid a second trial on charges he raped two foster daughters in his home county.

The legislative panel endorsed the proposed code of conduct Monday with little discussion.

Sen. Jean Hunhoff, R-Yankton, said the proposal tries to use some common sense.

"I think we want to assure our constituents and the public in South Dakota we take this seriously and that we have looked at what we believe needs to be the expectations of someone who is serving in the South Dakota Legislature," Hunhoff said.

The proposed code says legislators have a duty to avoid improper behavior and to conduct themselves in a way to maintain public trust and respect for the Legislature.

"While it is not possible to write rules to cover every circumstance, each legislator must do everything in his or her power to deal honorably with the public and with his or her colleagues and must promote an atmosphere in which ethical behavior is readily recognized as a priority and practiced continually, without fail," the document says.

The panel a few months ago approved some changes in the rules for the page program. Control would be tightened over housing for pages while they are in Pierre working for the Legislature. Some pages stay in houses lined up by the Legislature, while others stay with friends or relatives in the Pierre area.

Parents also would have to be more involved in granting permission if pages want to leave the Pierre area to attend events such as athletic games.

Rep. Gordon Pederson, R-Wall, said he wants to make sure pages are protected, but he said he is worried that he could get in trouble for stopping to give a ride to pages whose vehicles have broken down or got stuck in a snowstorm.

The committee chairman, Rep. Larry Tidemann, R-Brookings, said a lawmaker could help pages in such a situation. "I think there's a point where common sense comes into play."

Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, promoted the idea of requiring pages to dress in a standard uniform. He said it would mean all pages are dressed in a professional, business-style shirt, which would eliminate the difference in dress between pages from families of varying wealth.

Other lawmakers have said some pages have dressed in provocative clothing in past sessions.

The proposal would provide each page with three officials shirts, and they would have to wear one of the shirts whenever working in the Capitol. Each lawmaker would be assessed $30 to help pay for the shirts, with the rest paid from the Legislature's budget.