§1505.4. Civil penalties; failure to file; timely and accurate filing; forfeiture

A.(1) Any candidate, the treasurer or chairman of a political committee, or any other person required to file any reports under this Chapter, who knowingly fails to file or who knowingly fails to timely file any such reports as are required by this Chapter may be assessed a civil penalty as provided in R.S. 18:1511.4.1 for each day until such report is filed.

(2)(a) The amount of such penalty may be:

(i) One hundred dollars per day, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars, for each candidate for major office and any treasurer or chairman of any political committee designated as a principal campaign committee or subsidiary committee of such a candidate.

(ii) Sixty dollars per day, not to exceed two thousand dollars, for any candidate for district office and any treasurer or chairman of any political committee designated as a principal campaign committee or subsidiary committee of such a candidate.

(iii) Forty dollars per day, not to exceed one thousand dollars, for any candidate for all other offices and any treasurer or chairman of any political committee designated as a principal campaign committee or subsidiary committee of such a candidate.

(iv) Forty dollars per day, not to exceed one thousand dollars, for any person or the treasurer or chairman of any political committee, not supporting or opposing a candidate, but only supporting or opposing any proposition or question submitted to the voters or any recall of a public officer.

(v) Two hundred dollars per day, not to exceed three thousand dollars, for the treasurer or chairman of any political committee supporting or opposing a candidate, other than a candidate's principal or subsidiary campaign committee.

(b) The late filing fees for any report required by R.S. 18:1491.6(C) or R.S. 18:1495.4(C) may not exceed twice those otherwise applicable as provided in this Section.

(3)(a) If a person, other than a political committee, required to file is supporting or opposing a candidate or candidates, the penalty applicable to such candidate or candidates as provided in Item (i), (ii), or (iii) of Subparagraph (2)(a) of this Subsection shall apply.

(b) If a person, other than a political committee, required to file is supporting or opposing candidates with different penalty levels, the penalty shall be the highest penalty for any such candidate.

(4)(a) For reports required by this Chapter which are required to be filed between the time a candidate qualifies and election day, in addition to any penalties which may be imposed under this Section or any other law, the supervisory committee may impose on any person required to file such a report who has not filed such report by the sixth day after the report is due, after an adjudicatory hearing by an adjudicatory panel of the Ethics Adjudicatory Board conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Governmental Ethics, with notice to the party who is the subject of the hearing, an additional civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars.

(b) For all other reports required by this Chapter, in addition to any penalties which may be imposed by this Section or any other law, the supervisory committee may impose on any person required to file such a report who has not filed such report by the eleventh day after the report is due, after an adjudicatory hearing by an adjudicatory panel of the Ethics Adjudicatory Board conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Governmental Ethics, with notice to the party who is the subject of the hearing, an additional civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars.

B. Any candidate, the treasurer or chairman of any political committee, or any other person required to file reports under this Chapter who knowingly and willfully fails to disclose, or knowingly and willfully fails to accurately disclose, any information required by this Chapter to be disclosed in the reports required herein, may be assessed a civil penalty for each day until such information is disclosed by amendment to the appropriate report of such candidate, political committee, or other person. "Knowingly and willfully", for purposes of this Subsection, means conduct which could have been avoided through the exercise of due diligence. Such penalties shall be as provided in Subsection A above.

C.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section and the provisions of R.S. 18:1511.4.1, for a committee that is supporting, opposing, or otherwise influencing the nomination or election of a person to public office, the maximum amount of the penalty that shall be imposed for knowingly failing to file or knowingly failing to timely file any report required by this Chapter for a special election shall be the total of the expenditures made for the purpose of supporting, opposing, or otherwise influencing the nomination or election of a person or persons to public office in such special election or the maximum penalty under the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, whichever is less.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section and the provisions of R.S. 18:1511.4.1, for a committee that is supporting, opposing, or otherwise influencing the nomination or election of a person to public office that has made an expenditure in the form of a direct contribution to a candidate who was an elected official at the time of the contribution and who determines, after the contribution was made, to seek an office other than the office the candidate held at the time the contribution was made, no penalty for knowingly failing to timely file shall be assessed provided the contribution was disclosed on a report filed by the political committee prior to the election in which the candidate participates.

(3) This Subsection shall not apply to a candidate's principal campaign committee or any designated subsidiary committee of a candidate.

D.(1) Any elected official who fails to comply with a final order of a court or the supervisory committee or a final decision of an adjudicatory panel of the Ethics Adjudicatory Board which imposes a fine, fee, or penalty pursuant to this Chapter and against which all appeal delays have lapsed shall be subject to forfeiture of the nonexempt portion of his public salary, as provided in this Subsection, until such time as he has complied with such order or final decision. The forfeiture shall take effect no less than twenty days after notice is sent to the elected official pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.

(2) The supervisory committee shall notify the elected official in writing when he is subject to the forfeiture provided for in this Subsection. The notice shall provide the name of the elected official, the office he holds, the amount of the outstanding fines, fees, or penalties which are subject to forfeiture, and the date on which the forfeiture is to take effect. The supervisory committee shall send two copies of the notice by certified mail, one to the campaign address of the elected official on file with the supervisory committee and the other to the official address of the office which he holds. Additionally, the supervisory committee shall send a copy of the notice by certified mail to the entity which is responsible for disbursing the elected official's salary, along with instructions as to the proper method for forwarding the forfeited funds.

(3)(a) "Forfeiture" pursuant to this Subsection shall be an alternative means of collecting an outstanding fine, fee, or penalty imposed by a final order of a court or the supervisory committee pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and against which all appeal delays have lapsed.

(b) On the next payroll date following the effective date of the forfeiture, and each payroll date thereafter so long as the forfeiture remains in effect, the entity which is responsible for disbursing the elected official's salary shall withhold that portion of the elected official's salary which is not exempt from seizure, as provided in R.S. 13:3881. This portion of the elected official's salary shall be forwarded to the supervisory committee, as directed in the notice. The forfeiture shall remain in effect until such time as the supervisory committee notifies the entity which is responsible for disbursing the elected official's salary that the elected official has complied with the order.

(c) The entity which is responsible for disbursing the elected official's salary may withhold three dollars from the nonexempt portion of the elected official's salary for each pay period during which the forfeiture is in effect to cover the administrative costs of the forfeiture.

(4) The supervisory committee shall treat all sums forwarded to it under this Subsection as payments by the elected official of the outstanding fines, fees, or penalties and shall immediately notify the entity which is responsible for disbursing the elected official's salary when the elected official has complied with the order or when the fines, fees, and penalties have been paid in full from the forfeited funds.

(5) For the purposes of this Subsection, an elected official shall be deemed to have complied with a final order upon paying the fine, fee, or penalty in full or upon entering into and remaining current on an agreement with the supervisory committee providing for a payment schedule. The failure to remain current on a payment schedule shall subject the elected official to forfeiture.

Acts 1980, No. 786, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1981. Amended by Acts 1982, No. 266, §1, eff. July 18, 1982; Acts 1988, No. 994, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 180, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 1046, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 1996, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 66, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 352, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1349, §1, eff. July 12, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 1208, §1; Acts 2012, No. 609, §1, eff. June 7, 2012; Acts 2014, No. 792, §1.