16-918

16-918. Campaign finance reports; notice; civil
penalty; prohibition on candidacy

A. If a political committee fails to file a report in a timely manner as required
by this chapter, the filing officer shall send written notice of the delinquency of the
report to the political committee and the candidate, in the case of the candidate's
campaign committee, or to the designating individual, in the case of an individual's
exploratory committee. The notice shall be sent by certified mail within fifteen days
after the filing officer determines there may be a failure to file a campaign finance
report. The notice shall provide with reasonable particularity the nature of the failure
and a statement of the penalties provided in this section.

B. A political committee, or in the case of a candidate's campaign committee, the
candidate, or in the case of an exploratory committee, the designating individual, is
liable for a late penalty of ten dollars for each day after failure to make or file a
campaign finance report that is required pursuant to this chapter up to a maximum of four
hundred fifty dollars. The filing officer shall not accept a campaign report unless any
penalties owed as a result of this section or any penalties imposed pursuant to section
16-924 are paid with the report.

C. A political committee, or in the case of a candidate's campaign committee, the
candidate, or in the case of an exploratory committee, the designating individual, that
has failed to file within fifteen days after receiving a notice of delinquency pursuant
to subsection A of this section is liable for a civil penalty of twenty-five dollars for
each subsequent day that the filing is late. This penalty shall be assessed pursuant to
section 16-924.

D. For the purposes of this section, there is a failure to make and file a campaign
finance report by the treasurer, the designating individual, in the case of an
exploratory committee, the candidate, in the case of a candidate's campaign committee,
and for all other political committees, the chairman, if any of the following occurs:

1. The report is not filed in a timely manner as prescribed by section 16-913.

2. The report is not signed in accordance with section 16-913.

3. A good faith effort is not made to substantially complete the report as
prescribed by section 16-915.

E. It is a defense to an enforcement action brought pursuant to this section if
good cause is shown by the treasurer, the designating individual, in the case of an
exploratory committee, or the candidate, in the case of a candidate's campaign committee,
for the failure to make and file a campaign finance report. For the purposes of this
subsection, "good cause" includes an illness or absence from this state at the time the
campaign finance report was due or the written notice of delinquency was delivered if the
illness or absence reasonably prevented the treasurer, designating individual or
candidate from filing the report or receiving the written notice.

F. In addition to the enforcement actions prescribed by this section, a person who
was a candidate for nomination or election to any local or state office and who after
written notice pursuant to this section failed to make and file a campaign finance report
as required by this chapter is not eligible to be a candidate for nomination or election
to any local or state office for five years after the last failure to make and file a
campaign finance report occurred. This penalty shall be imposed as follows:

1. A candidate's failure to make and file a campaign finance report with a filing
officer for a jurisdiction is grounds for that filing officer to refuse the candidate's
nomination paper for any public office in that jurisdiction as described in this
subsection.

2. A candidate's failure to make and file a campaign finance report with any filing
officer is grounds for a filing officer from another jurisdiction to refuse the
candidate's nomination paper for any public office on presentation of a certified copy of
a final order issued pursuant to section 16-924.

G. For a standing political committee, in addition to any late penalty and civil
penalty assessed pursuant to this section, if the standing political committee makes a
late filing three or more times, the standing political committee is no longer eligible
for consolidated filing status pursuant to section 16-913, subsection K and shall make
all of its filings in each reporting jurisdiction in which it is active.

H. For any political committee that has failed to file three consecutive campaign
finance reports with the filing officer as prescribed by section 16-913, the filing
officer shall send the committee chairman and treasurer a written notice of intent to
suspend the political committee. The notice of intent to suspend shall state that failure
of the political committee to fully comply with all filing requirements for that
committee, including any required payments, within thirty days of the date of the notice
shall result in suspension of the political committee's authority to operate in that
jurisdiction. On suspension of the political committee's authority to operate, the
filing officer is no longer required to provide any further notice of delinquency to the
political committee. This subsection does not reduce or eliminate the political
committee's continuing obligation to make campaign finance filings and pay any fines,
penalties, civil penalties or other sanctions that may continue to accrue as otherwise
provided by law. This subsection does not apply to reports required pursuant to article 2
of this chapter or to a candidate's campaign committee designated by that candidate
pursuant to section 16-903 during that election cycle.