A. The state ethics commission and the secretary of state may conduct thorough examinations of statements and initiate investigations to determine whether the Financial Disclosure Act has been violated. Any person who believes that act has been violated may file a written complaint with the state ethics commission. The commission shall adopt procedures for processing complaints and notifications of violations.

B. If the state ethics commission determines that a violation has occurred for which a penalty should be imposed, the commission shall so notify the person charged and impose the penalty. If the person charged disputes the commission's determination, the person charged may request binding arbitration.

C. The arbitration decision shall be decided by a single arbitrator selected within ten days by the person against whom the penalty has been imposed from a list of five arbitrators provided by the state ethics commission. No arbitrator may be a person subject to the Financial Disclosure Act, Campaign Reporting Act [1-19-25 to 1-19-36 NMSA 1978] or Lobbyist Regulation Act [Chapter 2, Article 11 NMSA 1978]. Arbitrators shall be considered to be independent contractors, not public officers or employees, and shall not be paid per diem and mileage.

D. The arbitrator may take any action the state ethics commission is authorized to take. The arbitrator shall state the reasons for the decision in a written document that shall be a public record. The decision shall be final and binding. The decision shall be issued within thirty days of the conclusion of the hearing. Unless otherwise provided for in this section, or by rule or regulation adopted by the state ethics commission, the procedures for the arbitration shall be governed by the Uniform Arbitration Act [44-7A-1 to 44-7A-32 NMSA 1978]. No arbitrator shall be subject to liability for actions taken pursuant to this section.

E. Any person who files a statement or report after the deadline imposed by the Financial Disclosure Act or any person who files a false or incomplete statement or report is liable for and shall pay to the secretary of state, at or from the time initially required for the filing, fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each regular working day after the time required for the filing of the statement or report until the complete report is filed, up to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000).

F. The secretary of state may refer a matter to the state ethics commission, attorney general or a district attorney for a civil injunctive or other appropriate order or enforcement.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 46, § 44; 1997, ch. 112, § 9; 2019, ch. 86, § 29.

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, provided the state ethics commission, along with the secretary of state, the authority to initiate investigations to determine whether the Financial Disclosure Act has been violated, provided that complaints may be filed with the state ethics commission, and required the state ethics commission to adopt procedures for processing complaints and notifications of violations, and provided to the state ethics commission the procedures to follow when a violation of the Financial Disclosure Act has occurred; in Subsection A, after "The", added "state ethics commission and the", after "written complaint with the", deleted "secretary of", after "state", added "ethics commission", and after the next occurrence of "The", deleted "secretary of state" and added "commission"; in Subsection B, replaced each occurrence of "secretary" with "ethics commission" or "commission"; in Subsection C, after "provided by the", deleted "secretary of", and after "state", added "ethics commission"; in Subsection D, replaced each occurrence of "secretary" with "ethics commission"; and in Subsection F, after "a matter to the", added "state ethics commission".