In September 2013, the Alaska Legislative Ethics Committee fined Dick $18,000 after finding him guilty of five violations of the Ethics Act. Three other allegations, also filed in December 2012, were dismissed. Administrator Joyce Anderson said the $18,000 fine was the largest levied against a legislator because of an ethics violation since she began working at the ethics committee in 2001. Two of the charges stemmed from his use of his legislative office as a residence for his family and to run campaign activities. The other violations related to using state resources for his own personal campaign, including having employees prepare materials for a debate and combining legislative travel with campaign activities. According to the committee's news release, “He seemed to operate under the premise that rules and regulations regarding legislative travel did not apply to him."

In March 2012, Dick came under fire for comments he made suggesting women should obtain signed permission from the father of a fetus in order to have an abortion. A week after making the comments, Dick issued a statement, saying, “Last week in a committee hearing on funding of abortions, I made a less than artful comparison. I have received several phone calls from women who were offended. I’ve listened to what they said. I realize how what I said could be taken to be hurtful — it was for the women who called — and I apologize.”